ABSTRACT
Women's inclusion in South African mines, particularly in underground occupations, is a relatively new phenomenon, dating back to the early 2000s. Prior to that, legislation such as the 1911 Mines and Works Act No. 12 prohibited women from doing mine work. South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994, the prohibitive laws have been repealed and replaced by the Mine Health and Safety Act of 1996 and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002, thus opening underground occupations to women. The legislative shifts and increase in numbers of women in underground occupations since 2004 does not, however, mean that women's inclusion in mining has been easy. It has been received with both enthusiasm and hostility, precisely because on one hand it signifies a victory for women, but on another hand, it challenges the masculine occupational culture and "gender regimes" in mining.
