Africa-Press – Lesotho. THERE were days in the past when mining companies would get to an area, burrow into Mother Earth, only to leave when the minerals were completely depleted.
They did so with little regard for the damage they inflicted on the environment. Thankfully, today, the majority of mining companies have moved away from such reckless endevours.
At the centre of their operations is the issue of mining responsibly with greater concerns on the environmental impact. All this is meant to ensure that mining companies operate sustainably with one eye on future generations.
’Maphoka Taole, 33, is a young woman whose sole task is to ensure that Storm Mountain Diamond (SMD), which operates Kao Mine in Butha-Buthe district, protects the environment.
Taole told thepost last week that their goal is to live up to the company’s motto “to strive through the storms in the mountains and mine safely, cost-effectively and sustainably”.
She says even when Covid-19 was at its peak between 2020 and 2022, the mine did not have to retrench any workers. “The mine withstood the impact of Covid-19 and did not experience any serious job losses,” she says.
“Our motto is that our diamonds are our people hence we take priority to ensure job security and strive to be the employer of choice.
” Taole works as the Sustainability Manager at Kao Mine. She reports directly to the Corporate Chief Executive. Her role is to ensure that the mine complies with the Environmental Social Government (ESG) on issues of sustainability.
Taole says their task is to ensure that mining activities have minimal impact on the environment by putting mitigation measures in place to reduce the impact on the environment. She also handles the mine’s corporate social investment programmes.
Taole says their goal is to ensure that they improve the livelihoods of the communities close to the mine by delivering sustainable income generating projects, skills development, improved infrastructure and capacity building.
Taole says it is gratifying to see people’s lives being transformed through the work that she does with her team. “People do not respect you because you are the manager but they respect you because of your conduct,” she says.
‘‘It is all about how you conduct yourself and how you treat others.
” She says the job requires a lot of integrity. One has to have strong moral principles and an equally strong work ethic.
She says integrity is required to foster trust between her and her employer and the communities she works with. “Transparency is very important in my line of work”, she says.
She says she receives equal treatment with her male colleagues in the mining industry. “You get the equal respect that a man gets, you also get a fair chance and the same wage,” she says.
She says there is a drive in the mining industry to recruit and empower more women. “Every company wants more women at the top, they want more ladies in the company structures.
That is why we have more opportunities for women at the moment,” she says. Taole joined SMD in 2013 as an intern in the department of Health Safety and Environment.
She was later appointed an Environmental Officer and served as such until 2016 when she joined the environmental sustainability department. She was only 25 when she got the big job.
Taole says although she was excited by her new job, she was very anxious as she was worried if she would be able to live up to the expectations of her colleagues.
She says what helped calm her nerves was a realisation that her bosses could not have given her the job if they did not have confidence in her. Taole says there was no Sustainability Department at the time and she had to set it up from scratch.
She says it was quite a daunting task. What kept her moving was that she was well supported by her colleagues who provided the necessary resources. “Kao is now basically my second home,” she says.
She says Kao is the best place for a graduate to work at because “you get to learn first-hand how to do things for yourself”. “One does not have to depend on other people or consultants to do their work,” Taole says.
Taole says the management system at SMD is dynamic, diverse and very innovative. Kao Mine currently employs slightly over 700 workers with 200 of these drawn from the nearby villages.
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