22 May, 2025IndustriALL Global Union affiliate the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is condemning the dehumanising body searches that women miners are being subjected to daily at Kopanang gold mine - about 170 km southeast of Johannesburg.
Kopanang Mine was sold to Hong Kong based Heaven-Sent SA Sunshine Investment company by AngloGold Ashanti in 2018.
Over 12 women miners have reported violations of the degrading body searches including being stripped naked by the mine security under the pretext of looking for stolen gold. The number could be higher as some workers have been intimidated and are afraid to speak out. Those who have challenged the humiliating searches which happen at the end of miners’ shifts have been suspended. For example, one worker was suspended after she refused to take off her underwear and open her legs during the searches.
Further, the workers say that they are working for long hours and not allowed to take food underground. The NUM is considering taking legal action against Kopanang Mine and calling upon the department of mineral resources to investigate. The union is also meeting with Kopanang mine management and demanding that they desist from the violations. Additionally, the union says there are technologies that can be used in body searches that are designed in ways that respect workers’ rights to privacy and dignity instead of security guards stripping women miners naked. The ministry of women, youth and persons with disabilities, mine affected communities, and civil society organizations have also condemned the horrific violations.
At the NUM women’s conference in March, Magrett Gabanele, chairperson of women’s structure, said the union remains committed “to fighting against gender-based violence and harassment for women miners.”
“This is not only about labour violations and or privacy breaches, but also about gender-based violence at its most invasive and brutal. It is about the commodification of women’s bodies in the name of security. It is about the silent consent of those who benefit from systems that allow such dehumanization. When women’s bodies are sites of surveillance, suspicion and violence, it is not just an issue of poor management; it is a manifestation of entrenched patriarchy at the workplace,”
wrote Tania Bowers and Lebo Mncayi-Poloko former NUM women’s structure members in the Sowetan.
Paule France Ndessomin, IndustriALL Sub-Saharan Africa regional secretary, said:
“The reprehensible actions of security guards at Kopanang Mine, which gravely violate the dignity of women, must be unequivocally condemned. The mine must urgently enact robust policies to stop this humiliation and gender-based violence.”