Majwe celebrates women in mining
Lebogang Baingapi | Tuesday August 29, 2017 17:08
Women who have assumed male dominated roles within the industry were also recognised for their resilience and boldness. The Project Manager, Ron Day said Majwe Mining strived to advocate for equal opportunity for all by employing women where they deserved.
He said when the Cut 8 project started in 2011, the expectation was that more men will be absorbed into the posts due to the nature the of the job, but the company changed the stereotype and hired a sizeable number of women.
Day said Majwe women have been paramount in ensuring safety, timely completion and execution of some projects. He mentioned that Majwe women have demonstrated passion and ability to handle the challenging environment.
“We recognise women who drive dump trucks, bowsers, heavy plant equipment as well as those who assumed the engineering posts. This simply shows that women are capable and they should not limit nor restrict themselves to the traditional chores,” said Day. One of the longest serving ladies who rose through the ranks, Kenanao Supang of Lobutse settlement joined the company in 2011 as a cleaner/ office assistant and she proved to be a valuable asset to the organisation. She was later promoted to the post of Maintenance planning clerk.
Supang said her work included maintenance dispatching, attending to breakdown calls from the starting of the shift to the end. She indicated that the job is stressful in its nature and requires resilience and hard work.
“I had to prove that though the industry is male-dominated, I could also be a trusted assert to deliver. As women we are valuable for economic diversification,” she added.
Another woman who has also defied odds is Onalenna Candie Godie, a senior mining engineer with Debswana Jwaneng Mine. She does not only lead a team of engineers, but she has been consistent in an equally male-dominated field. She has endured the harsh conditions of working around men and still stood the test of time.
She quotes “If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together”. This is simply to emphasise the spirit of teamwork that has led her to her current post. She said in order to make it in life, one has to know the basics, control his/her emotions and never to give in to intimidation.