Petra is an equal opportunity employer and our Code of Ethical Conduct, Disciplinary Code and employment policies expressly forbid any kind of unfair discrimination
We aim to eliminate discrimination and encourage diversity throughout our workforce. Factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation or age may not be used to unfairly discriminate against individuals. Petra’s overall objective is to achieve equity by affording underrepresented groups the appropriate training, development and progression opportunities within the organisation across all job levels.
We embrace diversity and inclusion group-wide and believe by including a broad mix of expertise, skills and people we can improve performance. Petra’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy outlines our approach to diversity, with the aim of realising our strategic objectives and future success. Our policy’s purpose is to encourage leadership, at all levels group-wide, to think broadly about diversity and to ensure that our appointments and succession planning practices, including retention, are designed to support diversity. Simultaneously, we believe that effective management of diversity through this policy will result in a diverse succession pipeline within the Company.
From a regulatory perspective, established and functional Employment Equity Committees are in place at all of our South African mines in accordance with the Employment Equity Act, with membership drawn from employer and employee representatives. These Committees monitor the implementation of Employment Equity Plans, which detail the identified barriers to equitable employment and specify affirmative measures to be implemented by each operation.
Whilst not subject to the same regulation and legislation as the South African operations, Williamson in Tanzania has a policy to promote equal opportunity and to eliminate discrimination in the workplace. Williamson also applies affirmative action measures consistent with the promotion of women in mining, particularly during the recruitment process. The Company has procedures in place to ensure that cases related to discrimination can be reported appropriately.
Given the clear business case for gender diversity at all levels of the organisation, we are committed to encouraging women in mining and have a number of initiatives which focus on developing women into managerial positions.
Our aim is to afford women the appropriate training, development and attention to progress within the organisation across all job levels. Petra has a number of initiatives which focus on developing women into managerial positions, such as the LDP, which has since its inception focused on the advancement of women (38% of participants are female). We are focused on affording women an equal role as part of the next generation of Petra employees, and as a result 30% of our interns, 34% of our engineering learnerships, 34% of our mining learnerships and 60% of our bursars in FY 2020 were female.
As part of our commitment to gender diversity and encouraging women in the workplace, Petra launched a Women in Leadership programme in October 2018. As we have a number of women progressing through education and training into technical and managerial positions, it was important to develop a programme to support these women moving into an environment that has typically been male dominated.
Williamson in Tanzania also applies affirmative action measures consistent with the promotion of women in mining, particularly during the recruitment process.
Petra’s Women in Mining Committee (“WIM Committee”) has created a platform for women at Petra’s South African operations to share experiences, identify challenges in the workplace and promote development opportunities.
Petra formed a partnership to support the National Council for People with Physical Disabilities in Southern Africa (“NCPPDSA”) in FY 2014 and the the first initiative was to restore and reopen the Ikageng workshop in Kimberley. A car was also bought and modified for the specific requirements for people with disabilities to transport them between their homes and the workshop.
In FY 2015 we entered into a partnership with the NCPPDSA to create income-generating, self-employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for people with disabilities by establishing a glove-making factory at the workshop.
