Sasol hosts girl child initiative

Sasol Secunda in partnership with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and Gert Sibande TVET College hosted 20 girls studying in mining and energy-related fields.

This was done under the banner of Take a Girl Child to Work programme, aimed at giving work environment exposure to learners.

The Take a Girl Child to Work initiative has been in existence since 2003 and is celebrated annually in the last week of May.

This year’s programme was implemented as part of DMRE’s empowerment and upliftment of youth and persons with disabilities.

Sasol Secunda, being the major stakeholder in the coal mines and energy sector in Mpumalanga, took this opportunity to support and provide a conducive learning ground for the learners.

Young female professionals at Sasol, who are already making strides in the mining sector, were paired with learners for the day and used it to share their work experiences.

This provided an opportunity for mentorship, the sharing of insights on the day-to-day activities in mining operations, and the different career paths available in this industry.

“Sasol believes in promoting the inclusion of women in mining and technical fields by ensuring that a conducive working environment exists that would enable them to thrive,” said Ms Mashudu Ndou.

“We also enable this by providing study and learnership opportunities to employees wishing to further their careers in these fields.”

Currently, there are about 1,328 women working at Sasol mining.

The Take a Girl Child to Work initiative remains the largest South African collaborative act of volunteerism, focusing on encouraging the private and public sector to empower and expose female students from disadvantaged backgrounds across the country to the world of work.