Challenging the Status Quo: Navigating Women’s Leadership Barriers in the Mining Sector of Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa
Anele Xulu 
, MacDonald Kanyangale , Cecile Gerwel Proches & Admire Mthombeni
Issue: Vol.6 No.12 Article 19 pp. 3150 – 3165
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202561219 | Published online 27th November, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The mining industry is historically male-dominated, and women face significant obstacles in accessing leadership roles, particularly within its core operational and technical functions. This study explored strategies to overcome barriers to women’s leadership in the mining sector of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Grounded in the Gendered Organization Theory. The study adopted an interpretivist research philosophy, a qualitative approach, and a phenomenological research design. The study relied on the lived experiences of 13 women purposively selected in middle to executive-level roles within the mining sector in KwaZulu-Natal. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and thematically analyzed using NVivo. The results revealed three major strategies women leaders use to navigate the male-dominated environment: adopting a situational leadership style to adapt to changing team and operational dynamics, actively engaging in empowerment initiatives such as leadership development and mentorship programmes, and leveraging anonymous reporting platforms to promote workplace safety and voice concerns without fear of reprisal. The study concludes that fostering women’s leadership in mining requires multi-level interventions that incorporate leadership flexibility, structural support through training and development, and psychologically safe work environments. It recommends sustained institutional commitment to gender-transformative practices, including leadership pathways tailored for women, stronger enforcement of anti-harassment protocols, and amplifying women’s voices in organisational decision-making. This study contributes to scholarship by offering context-specific insights into the lived leadership experiences of women in South Africa’s mining sector, thereby enriching the discourse on gendered organizational dynamics in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
Keywords: Women in Leadership, Mining Sector, KwaZulu-Natal, Situational Leadership, Gender Equity.
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Anele Xulu is a Production Superintendent at a mining company in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He holds a BSc Chemical Engineering degree, a BA Psychology degree, and an MBA. He has worked in the mining industry for 12 years and champions inclusion by representing the LGBTQ community. His MBA research further looked at the inclusion of women in the mining industry and what can be done to have more women participate in the industry. Email: anelexulu3@gmail.com
Prof. MacDonald Knayangale is a full Professor at the University of Free State, Business School, South Africa. He is a focused and result-oriented individual with over 15 years of hands-on senior management experience, which includes British American Tobacco, Air Malawi, Red Cross and Malawian Entrepreneurs Development Institute. He has also been engaged in a variety of entrepreneurial development work with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in Malawi, and also Leadership and Management Development Programmes with leading automotive organisations in South Africa. Email: KanyangaleM@ufs.ac.za
Prof. Cecile Gerwel Proches is an Associate Professor based in the Graduate School of Business and Leadership, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in Durban, South Africa. She holds a PhD and a Master of Commerce in Leadership Studies, a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in Industrial and Organisational Psychology, and a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Business Management as well as Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Her teaching, research, supervisory, and consulting interests include leadership, organisational behaviour, and change management. Email: Gerwel@ukzn.ac.za
Dr. Admire Mthombeni is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Graduate School of Business and Leadership South Africa. He is a Senior at the Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences, Zimbabwe, in the Department of Applied Business Sciences. Previously worked as a researcher and lecturer at the Police Staff College, Zimbabwe (An affiliate College of the University of Zimbabwe). His publications and research interests lie in strategic business leadership, corporate governance, environmental social governance, business management and entrepreneurship. He has served as an external examiner for MBA and DBA students and has also reviewed for refereed journals. Admire Mthombeni holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Business Management and Entrepreneurship. Email: mthoadmire@gmail.com
Xulu, Anele, MacDonald Kanyangale, Cecile Gerwel Proches, and Admire Mthombeni.“ Challenging the Status Quo: Navigating Women’s Leadership Barriers in the Mining Sector of Kwazulu-Natal Province, South Africa ” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no. 12 (2025): 3134 – 3149, https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202561219.
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
