While some strides have been made to increase the participation of women in business, gender parity is still way below the level it should be in the country, as is women’s participation in leadership roles.

This was highlighted by speakers during Creamer Media’s Women in Business webinar, held on August 21.

Facilitating the webinar, Genesis Analytics partner Lael Bethlehem pointed out that while some progress had been made, women still faced considerable challenges and barriers in the workplace and society.

Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone executive services corporate manager Nombuso Nsele cited figures published by Statistics South Africa, which showed that only 22% of executive management positions in the country were held by women, a very low figure, and of this, only 6% of women were CEOs.

Moreover, there are still companies with no women executives at all.

She said there were significant barriers for women to reach the top, including gender biases, unequal networking opportunities and an unfair work-life balance.

In terms of the latter, she expanded that women were often encouraged to prioritise family and have more family responsibilities than males.

There is also the challenge of gender-based violence (GBV).

Sibanye-Stillwater Women in Mining project manager Fatima Collins added that with many people working from home or remotely, GBV in domestic situations remained a concern.

Meanwhile, Shell Lubricants South Africa marketing head Gamase Sodaba said women had proven their capability to perform in the workplace and that there should not be segmentation of job roles.

She said segmentation was an issue that started in communities, where gender biases began, and certain roles were only deemed fit for males. She called for change to be driven from a home level, which would set the foundation so that less work needed to be done in the workplace.

Sodaba also emphasised that companies’ values must be reflected in how workplaces actually operate, with these to be safe and comfortable places for women and for gender policies to actually be implemented.

Collins said mining was still largely male-dominated. She warned that as a considerable employer, it could not afford to exclude such a large percentage of the population, especially given the country’s high unemployment rate.

Moreover, the industry would not be able to bridge the skills shortage gap without including women.

She called for policies and procedures that enabled women to participate properly in the industry, as well as a zero tolerance approach to GBV.

This includes providing appropriate personal protective equipment for women, ensuring proper lighting underground so that women are safe, mechanising the industry so that more women can participate, cultural and diversity training, educating women about their rights and ensuring consequences for GBV transgressors. 

Collins stressed that GBV was not simply a social ill, but a criminal matter that must be considered and addressed as such.

Identity Partners principal partner Sonja De Bruyn, meanwhile, touched on the issue of “catchup”, that is, how to cater for women who were discriminated against in the past – who would have done the same level of work as their male counterparts, but were not fairly compensated. She said that this was an area that needed consideration.

Speakers also emphasised the importance of women collaborating rather than competing, and supporting each other to drive further transformation in the industry.

Nsele called on industry to prioritise mentorships and sponsorships of women to improve gender parity, and for companies to focus more on their development.