Women in Mining

Credit: Modern Mining

Spotlight on Multotec’s Sally Khambule

Multotec South Africa, an industry leader in metallurgy and process engineering, remains focussed on progressing diversity in the workplace and advancing gender equity. The East Rand-based company currently employs 333 women in South Africa alone, constituting 22% of its workforce, Sally Khambule, Multotec Sales & Field Service Manager tells Modern Mining. I believe this is good progress considering that the overall statistics for the number of women in mining stands at just 12%.”

“We currently have Employment Equity (EE) plans in place, which have been well implemented. We have set targets for increasing the representation of women in our workforce, and I am actively involved in the EE committee. Our workforce comprises skilled women in positions such as machine operators, management, process engineers, sales engineers, and research and development.

According to Khambule, various practices can be implemented to increase the number of women in the mining industry. This includes setting targets for gender representation and implementing training and hiring programmes specifically for women.

“It's also important to promote work-life balance by offering flexible work alternatives that accommodate the needs of women. By making the sector more accessible and attractive to women, we can encourage their participation and contribution. Women should believe in their capabilities and pursue their desired fields of study and careers in mining.”

Although there has been a steady growth over the past few years in the number of women in her field, however, the main challenge is the retention of women in the industry.

Discussing some of the challenges that women face in the male-dominated industry, Khambule says that the stereotype that men “take charge” and women “take care” puts women leaders in various double binds.

“For example, women are judged as being too hard, or too soft, and never just right. Women leaders are often perceived as either competent or likable, but not both. Men may be seen as having the "default" leadership style, requiring women to continually prove their leadership abilities. This effort often results in women having to work twice as hard compared to their male counterparts. At Multotec, we address these challenges by providing diversity and inclusivity training to help employees understand the effects of gender stereotyping.”

She says that it is interesting to note that perceptions related to female competency in the sector has changed over the recent past.

In general, women and men are considered equal in terms of competence, however, among those who do perceive a difference, most view women as more competent than men. Communal stereotypes have started to change, with women being portrayed as more compassionate, affectionate, and sensitive than men. On the other hand, men are sometimes still seen as more ambitious, aggressive, and decisive.

“The perception that leadership roles require more agency than communion has not substantially changed, and women may face disadvantages in relation to leadership due to ascribed lesser ambition, aggressiveness, and decisiveness. Nonetheless, as jobs increasingly reward social skills, women's greater communion can be seen as an additional advantage.”

Sally Khambule – a leader in the spotlight

Having grown up in a family of metallurgical engineers, Khambule was attracted to the mining sector early on in life. The extraction metallurgical engineer by profession says that although mining is not considered a glamorous occupation, it offers fantastic career opportunities.

“Through my experience in the mining industry, I have gained a wide range of expertise. Success is not accidental; it requires faith and hard work.” Khambule began her mining career in 2005 as a Management Trainee at Driefontein Gold. In 2006, she was awarded a bursary by AngloGold Ashanti to study her B-tech in Extraction Metallurgy, and in 2008 she was appointed as Metallurgical Engineer. In 2010, she moved into mining projects where she was responsible for implementation of the RIP project.

In 2013, Khambule joined DRD Gold as a Plant Superintendent of the new flotation plant. The core areas accredited to her experience included managing processing plants, commissioning, running pilot plants and projects and conducting field services. She joined Multotec in 2016 and brings this substantial wealth of experience to the company. Khambule represents Multotec as the Rubber Sales & Field Services Manager, serving customers in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

Discussing the value of her mining experience to her job at Multotec, Khambule says that it allows her to bring valuable solutions to assist the plants in achieving their production targets. She has been in plant operations for about eight years. So how does she handle discrimination in the workplace? “I don't take gender discrimination personally; instead, I challenge it. If someone is being too hard on me, I respond with confidence in my abilities as a hard worker. I believe in treating people well and not engaging in unnecessary confrontation. When you treat others with respect, you are more likely to be treated well in return.”

Side-bar: Agency vs Communion

Agency refers to an individual striving to master the environment and to assert the self, whereas communion refers to a person's desire to closely relate to and cooperate and merge with others.

Side-bar: Sally Khambule, Multotec Sales & Field Service Manager

• As a triple qualification holder, she follows her business philosophy, nothing beats hard work.
• Khambule holds the following qualifications: BTech Extraction Metallurgy, Intermediate Management Development Program (UCT BS), and Programme Management Development (GIBS).