In a joint statement to commemorate women's month and recognise the role women played in mining and society, the group said putting an end to the abuse of women in South Africa was "both an industry and national imperative".

Citing South African Police Service crime statistics, they said the country had among the highest rates of gender-based violence and harassment in the world, with a woman murdered every three hours and 84 rape cases reported every day in 2019.

Their call for action was part of a This is Gold awareness campaign, to inform employees about COVID-19 issues and against a backdrop of a surge in gender-based violence during the lockdown period.

"The gold producers recognise their responsibility to ensure that women are treated equally, fairly and with dignity and respect and aim to advance diversity in the workplace," they said.

The group said progress had been made and referred to initiatives including each Harmony operation establishing a Women in Mining Forum, while AngloGold had a Global Women's Forum.

Gold Fields was also committed to addressing systemic barriers and harassment and Sibanye-Stillwater had set up a working group to establish strategies to increase female participation in mining.

They said they actively participated in Women in Mining initiatives outlined by the Minerals Council South Africa, which had acknowledged the national day of women in mining on August 9.

The council had launched a "stop abuse of women" campaign ahead of International Women's Day in March, with CEO Roger Baxter saying at the time activism against violence should be upheld 365 days a year.

Women made up 12% of South Africa's total mining labour force of 454,861 people in 2019, according to the council, lagging Australia's 17%.