MACUA slams Kopanong Gold Mine over alleged mistreatment of women in mining

Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) has strongly condemned the alleged abuse of female workers at Kopanong Gold Mine in the North West, where women are reportedly forced to strip naked during security searches.

The organisation has called for immediate accountability, saying such degrading treatment not only traumatizes the women involved but also undermines broader societal safety.

According to the Forum For South Africa (FOSA), security personnel at the mine are instructed to conduct invasive searches on female workers, including forcing them to strip and spread their legs. Women who refuse are allegedly dismissed from their jobs.

MACUA says this kind of abuse makes it almost impossible for women to feel safe in the workplace, at home, or in society.

Magnificent Ndebele, from MACUA’s women’s wing, Women Affected by Mining United in Action (WAMUA),says the humiliation experienced by these women reverberates throughout their communities.

“It tells them they are not safe—not at work, not in their homes, not even in institutions meant to protect them,” said Ndebele.

He adds that the systemic mistreatment of female mineworkers exposes deep flaws in leadership across both the mining industry and government.

“It shows that those in power feel entitled to treat workers, especially women, as less than human. There is a culture of impunity where profit is protected but people are not,” Ndebele remarked.

He criticised political leaders for speaking of reform while ignoring the lived realities of those at the coalface.

“The story from Kopanong Mine is not new. It’s part of a larger system of injustice where the hardest workers are met with cruelty and contempt.”

Calling for urgent action, Ndebele says the women deserve immediate protection, justice, and an official apology.

“We need independent investigations, worker protection, community-led monitoring, and above all, a new social compact based on dignity. This system is broken.”

The Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) has also weighed in, urging a full investigation into the allegations. MRM’s Pastor Lesiba Kgwele said such acts degrade the dignity of women in a country still grappling with structural inequality.

“We are concerned that atrocities in the workplace continue to undermine equality, dignity, and human rights—especially for Black women who have borne the brunt of exploitation and abuse in male-dominated sectors like mining.”

Kgwele also criticised the use of invasive physical inspections for gold theft, saying they amount to “slavery and repugnant treatment,” and called for the adoption of modern, rights-respecting security technologies.

Written by Odirile Rabalao