Economic Growth Key to Gender Justice
Every August, South Africa celebrates the extraordinary women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956, challenging injustice and reshaping the country’s history. Nearly 70 years later, the right questions are not being asked. Much of the Women’s Month conversation centers on representation, debating how opportunities should be shared and how quickly industries can be transformed.
The theme of this year’s Women’s Month is “Empowered women empower nations”. However, gender justice cannot be achieved without economic growth that creates opportunities for women. According to the World Bank and many economists, economies where women participate more fully are more productive, resilient, and grow faster.
The importance of strengthening women’s economic rights as a foundation for inclusive growth has been consistently highlighted by economist Nthabiseng Moleko. These rights become most meaningful when they are matched by an economy capable of creating real opportunity. This requires intentional investment in women through bursaries, targeted recruitment, leadership succession planning, mentorship, sponsorship, and inclusive workplace cultures.
Mentorship has played a defining role in the author’s own career, and it is believed that empowering women in this way strengthens not only individuals but also the future of the industry. Simply reallocating a limited number of opportunities cannot, on its own, deliver economic justice. South Africa needs to broaden the conversation, removing barriers to women’s participation while building an economy capable of generating more opportunities.
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The mining industry illustrates this point well, with over 70,000 women now helping shape one of South Africa’s most important industries. Women work underground, operate heavy equipment, manage processing plants, lead billion-rand projects, and head mining businesses. However, this progress cannot be the finish line. The next frontier of transformation is creating more opportunity, developing new mines, expanding existing operations, and improving logistics.
Every investment that makes South African mining more competitive creates jobs, supports new businesses, and opens more doors for women to build careers, develop expertise, and realize their ambitions. A growing mining industry creates opportunities not only for geologists and engineers but also for entrepreneurs, technology companies, logistics providers, and countless other businesses across the value chain.
Throughout her career, the author has worked alongside remarkable women who have become engineers, metallurgists, mine managers, operators, and entrepreneurs.
As the country marks Women’s Month, it is essential to remember the women who led the historic march, demanding dignity, freedom, and equal opportunity, and to build an economy capable of turning those aspirations into reality, much like the efforts to regain former glory in other areas.
