WOMEN are better represented in executive management and board committees in the biggest South African mining companies than in any other country’s mining companies, according to a PwC survey released on Thursday.
Women made up 23.8%, or almost a quarter, of executive management among South African mining companies in the world’s top 100, compared with the next-highest country, Canada at 14.8%. South Africa had the highest proportion of women on board committees in the top 500 mining companies, at 21.3%, showing they are actively involved. The US was next highest at 8.7%.
It is a positive indicator for an industry that is still criticised by the government and unions for failing to make much progress in changing its apartheid legacy.
The Mining Charter, which mining companies must meet to acquire and retain mining licences, requires that 10% of employees be women this year.
PwC director for human resources services in Southern Africa Gerald Seegers said the enforcement of the charter was probably the main reason South Africa was ahead in this respect. Other countries had quotas for women in management, which were far higher, at 25%, but mining companies were clearly falling well short of that target. By next year some countries were expected to start introducing regulations on the representation of women.
PwC carried out its survey in the UK, and it was sponsored by Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. It analysed the top 100 and 500 listed mining companies by market capitalisation and will use the findings to track changes in trends in development and retention of women by the industry over the next three years. Globally, mining companies have fewer women directors than any other industry, the survey showed. Overall, women make up only 10.3% of the boards of the top 100 mining companies and 7.2% of the top 500 mining companies.
Since Cynthia Carroll’s resignation as Anglo American CEO, there is only one woman CEO in the top 100 mining companies, Kay Priestly of Turquoise Hill. There are only seven female CEOs among the top 500 listed miners. There were seven South African mining companies in the global top 100 and 16 in the top 500.
The representativeness of women on JSE-listed mining companies’ boards of directors has also improved between last year’s survey and 2012.
Mr Seegers said there was a strong correlation between having women on the board and company performance on governance, financial, social and environmental aspects. But this was only fully realised when female representation on boards passed 30%.
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