Mine Ventilation Society of South Africa

By Jolene Wiese

The formation of the Mine Ventilation Society follows the fascinating history of the mining industry in South Africa. A number of farsighted professionals recognised the need for a forum to discuss common ventilation problems and in 1944 The Mine Ventilation Society of South Africa was formed.

The Mine Ventilation Society of South Africa is about:

• Promoting teamwork among employees in tasks required to create and keep a safe and healthy workplace.

• Establishing a venue for the expression and discussion of perspectives on mine ventilation engineering and occupational hygiene.

• Serving as a venue where members' and the industry's ideas on mine ventilation engineering and occupational hygiene may be shared with the industry and regulatory bodies.

• To represent the Society's and its member’s interests both domestically and abroad.

So Believe it or not, two hundred years ago, there were more women in the mining industry than today. In 1842 women were banned from working underground, out of concern for their safety. In fact, it was made a crime to even allow women to work underground. No doubt, mining was dangerous, and women were known to be taken advantage of.

As you can imagine, this left many women jobless and disadvantaged.

In South Africa, we first saw this law in 1898. The ban on women working in mines was again repeated in the Mines and Works Act of the Union of South Africa in 1911.

In 2018, the Minerals Council of South Africa estimated that female representation in mining went from 3% to 15% between the period of 2002 and 2018.

Although the increase is commendable, it is far behind other industries. But it should be noted that South Africa is doing better than most jurisdictions on female representation in mines, especially in senior management and executive levels.

It took the Mine Ventilation Society 78 years to reach the stage when a woman was selected as President. Some may argue that the ventilating fraternity has only just begun to fully celebrate women. If we are honest with ourselves, however, the Mine Ventilation Society of South Africa generally moved very quickly to engage women after they were introduced to mining! I am a proud associate of the Mine Ventilation Society. There is progress made by industry but there is room for more.