Address by Minister of Minerals and Energy Ms Buyelwa Sonjica at the 10th anniversary of Women in Mining and Technology for Women in Business (TWIB) Awards

Programme Director
Esteemed guests
Representatives of the private sector
Representatives of labour unions
Directors-General
Officials from the three spheres of government
TWIB finalists
Ladies and gentlemen

It is indeed a great privilege and honour for me to address this gathering tonight, especially as it takes place during August, the Month of Women. Our challenge is to make every month, a woman's month; every day, a woman's day throughout the year. The struggle for the emancipation of women in this country is intertwined with the struggle for liberation. It is truism that if women remain oppressed, the real emancipation of South Africans is a job half done. If we fail to advance women empowerment, we shall have failed the masses of women who, in the preamble to the Women Charter of 1954, declared:

"We, the women of South Africa, wives, mothers, working women and housewives, Africans, Indians, Europeans and Coloured, hereby declare our aim of striving for the removal of all laws, regulations, conventions and customs that discriminate against us as women, and that deprive us in any way of our inherent right to the advantages, responsibilities and opportunities that society offers to any one section of the population".

Programme Director, tomorrow, we, the women of South Africa, joined by captains of the mining and energy sectors, labour unions and other important stakeholders, will march to the Union Buildings, retracing the footsteps of those courageous women of 1956, to present our commitments to the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. This will also be an opportunity to acknowledge the strides that we have made.

While we will commit ourselves to the ideals espoused in the Liquid Fuels and the Mining Charters and report on the achievements attained, we dare not be oblivious to the challenges along the way. For instance, I still want to see more women play a meaningful role in the private sector. There is still a sprinkling of women in executive positions and on boards of directors. That is not good enough. This dearth of participation by women can partly be attributed to the policies and legislation that we had in this country before 1994. It is a historical fact that women in this country were denied a place in the sun through well-orchestrated legislative measures.

The present government prides itself in the strides made to undo the damage caused by such oppressive measures since it came into power in 1994. Government has over the years developed a body of progressive legislation. Most significantly, these pieces of legislation have broken the chains and released the bondages that have kept women down for so long. The Mines Health and Safety Act of 1996, for instance, removed the restrictions on women to work underground. The Employment Equity Act of 1998 is another ground-breaking law that has put women on the same footing as men, by doing away with discrimination on the grounds of gender, among others. Let me congratulate the mining sector for taking advantage of this enabling environment by employing women in positions that were previously the domain of men. Today we have women working underground as hoist and locomotive drivers, winding engine drivers, mechanical engineers and conveyor belt attendants.

I am also proud that women are not sitting back and waiting for the fruits of liberation to come on a silver platter. South Africa is full of stories about women who have taken their destiny in their own hands. These women can be found in all spheres of our society. German novelist Louise Otto once wrote: "The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves". These words are as true as they were in 1849.

Programme Director, South African women have not forgotten to think about themselves. Inroads that they have made in the field of technology bear testimony to this. Tonight we will be honouring women achievers in technology in the mining and energy sectors. Through the Technology for Women in Business initiative, enterprising women have over the past decade shown how the application of science and technology can lead to business growth, especially in the small, medium and macro enterprises (SMMEs) in mining and energy.

It is my sincere hope that winners of the awards tonight will be an inspiration to other aspirant entrepreneurs and de-mystify the fear of technology. This country needs entrepreneurs who embrace technology. As pioneers, you have a responsibility to lift others in your respective communities. We want more women, especially those in rural areas, to be aware of the benefits of technological interventions as they strive to catapult their respective small enterprises into big business.

Programme Director, the Department of Minerals and Energy is aware of the challenges and hurdles that women face in their endeavours to make inroads in mining and energy. I want to assure you that we are here to lend a hand. We are all in this together.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
30 August 2007