Hon House Chair, Minister, Deputy Ministers in the House, Members of Parliament, guests in the gallery, officials of the department. I am humbled by the opportunity to participate in this important debate. Today marks three and a half years since the Lilly Mine tragedy in which mineworkers were trapped underground, two women and one male. The container, in which Pretty Nkambule, Yvonne Mnisi and Solomon Nyirenda got trapped, sunk to the bowels of the earth, never to be found again. The recovery efforts of the three mine workers were stalled when mine officials said the operations were deemed unsafe for the rescue teams. This incident is extremely painful,
particularly to those of us from Mpumalanga province where it took place. It is hurtful when we consider that the families of these workers still do not have closure and equally the children who will never see their mothers and fathers alive again. Difficult and painful as it is, it does indicate how the ANC-led government is doing to transform the mining sector.
Mining has been known for centuries as a male dominated industry. Our fathers and brothers left their families in the former homelands and neighbouring countries to work as cheap labour on the coal, diamond and gold mines. Up until the 1990s, legislation in South Africa meant that women were not permitted to work underground. This changed when the South African Mining Charter introduced quoting urging mining companies to employ a 10 percent female staff complement. Today, roughly 17% of the mining industry globally comprises female employees.
As at the end of 2018, there were about 53 O00 women out of a total workforce of about 460 000 in the mining industry in our country. This means that women representation is at about 11%. About 22% of these women are employed in platinum and gold mines
where they have to go deep underground with their male colleagues. The mining sector is not without its challenges, especially for women miners. Reports of sexual assault and harassment are quite prevalent and disturbing as reported in the news when nearly 300 miners went on strike underground. The case in point is that of Pinky Mosiane, who was murdered six years ago at Anglo Platinum's Khomanani mine. Cynthia Setuke, who was fatally attacked, last year at Aquarius Platinum's Kwezi Shaft. These incidents led to the formation of Women in Mining Rustenburg Tripartite Forum, to encourage women to speak out against women abuse and harassment in mines.
We are calling on the mining industry and the department to take decisive action to ensure the safety of women in South African mines. These measures must include better access to toilets and changing facilities. Equipment including protective clothing must be custom-made for women. Several women are participating and competing in the mining industry while raising children. We also would like to appeal to our society to accept that, raising a family should be a shared duty between the genders.
Hon Chair, since the ANC came into government 25 years ago, we have seen the opening up of opportunities for women to participate in the industry both as workers, and as business people having ownership stakes in mining operations. However, more still needs to be done to transform the sector. We pay tribute to women such as Bokgoni Matla who was featured in the Women in Mining Business Feature this month. As the department says in this Budget Vote, transformation of the mining sector is not only a political necessity but a business imperative by involving women in mining. There are obvious benefits that research has shown, which include amongst others, but not limited to the following:
Mines can show social responsibility. Women's employment on mines will bring positive benefits to the entire community. Women on mines will contribute to social normalization. Women will play a role in reducing poverty. Entrepreneurship is promoted and the generational wealth gap, which tends to be racially defined in South Africa, can be reduced.
As the ANC, we would like to call on the department to play a greater role as the regulator, to monitor the transformation of the sector in line with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, MPRDA, and the Mining Charter. We would like to receive regular reports during our five-year term in Parliament showing greater inclusion of women, youth and persons with disabilities in this strategic sector of the economy. We are encouraged by the commitment of the department under Programme 3: Mineral Regulation, to strengthen the branch so that it has the capacity to monitor the empowerment of historically disadvantaged South Africans, especially youth, women and people living with disabilities. The branch structure has been reassessed to optimally deal with challenges emanating from outcomes of compliance, monitoring and evaluation inspections. The ANC accepts the budget vote hon Chair. Thank you.