Ntsiki Adonisi-Kgame is an executive in ENSafrica’s natural resources and environment department. She specialises in all aspects of natural resources and environmental law. She is an admitted attorney, notary public and conveyancer of the High Court of South Africa. She has a holistic perspective on mining matters due to her former position as general counsel for a leading mining group, where she was responsible for the group’s entire legal function. She acts for a wide range of mining companies in all mineral commodity sectors, including the base and precious metals, coal, rare earths, sand and diamonds sectors. Ntsiki’s experience covers a broad range of areas, including mergers and acquisitions; conducting mining due diligences; execution and registration of mining titles; advising on the integrity, security of tenure and variation of mining titles; and structuring, drafting, negotiating and reviewing various types of agreements, from project inception to execution. She has experience in disputes in the mining sector, including judicial review of administrative decisions. She also advises on aspects of mineral royalties, environmental aspects of mining law and stakeholders in the mining sector. Ntsiki’s experience further includes all aspects of regulatory work in the mining industry, for listed and unlisted senior, mid-tier and junior companies. Ntsiki has authored and co-authored a number of topical mining law articles in various publications.

Eunomix™ is led by Claude Baissac. Claude is a specialist in sustainable development, growth and strategy with over 20 years of practice advising government, industry, and international organisations. His combination of expertise, at the nexus of policy, strategy and research, provides him with a unique perspective on the conditions for sustainable growth in complex societies. His clients have included most international donors, many governments, and blue chip companies. It has been his ambition to serve as a bridge between these sectors of society. One of the key thrusts of his career has been the problem of diversification and industrialisation in Africa, and its impact on the crucial need for employment creation, poverty alleviation and social capital enhancement. Claude is a recognised expert on special economic zones, and was President of the World Economic Zones Association between 2011 and 2014. Claude has a strong track record on the relationship between natural resources and sustainable growth, given the central role these play on the continent. Another key thrust has been his work with corporates as a specialist in country risk management, engaging in scenario planning, strategy and proactive risk management. For several years Claude was involved in corporate integrity management. In 2001 Claude was acting Deputy CEO for Air Afrique, an experience that motivated his subsequent involvement in risk management. Claude has solid expertise in political economy: the interface between institutions of political power and economic growth. In this field, Claude has extensively worked on the issues of state capacity, fragility and their implication for the economy and business.
Finally, Claude has been committed to solid political, economic and strategy research throughout his career, publishing extensively either in my personal capacity or through Eunomix. He started his career in teaching, first as a substitute teacher in Reunion Island, then as a lecturer at Northern Arizona University.

Mr Frans Baleni is the past General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, South Africa’s largest trade Union, a role he has held since 2006. He started his career in the mining industry in 1979 and a year later was elected a Shop Steward. In 1988, he became Branch Chairman at the Western Holdings Mine in Welkom. Frans then joined the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM’s) arm and held a variety of posts until his election in 2006 as General Secretary. He was a member of the JB Marks Bursary Trust and established its mandate – the provision of sustainable funding to support the education of NUM members and their dependents. As Chairman of the Mineworkers Investment Trust, he oversaw assets in excess of R5b. During the 1980’s joined the UDF (United Democratic Front) in its battle against apartheid. In the early 1990’s, he served on the negotiating team at CODESA (the Convention for a Democratic South Africa) seeking to level the political ‘playing field’. As a board member, Mr Baleni brings sound commercial, risk, governance and compliance skills together with his expertise in health and safety, government relations, education and training, energy sector, stakeholder management and collective bargaining processes.

Rachael Bartels is the Managing Director of Accenture’s global Chemicals, Minerals and Sustainable Materials Practice.  She spends most of her time working with senior executives on transformational and disruptive change and has more than 30 years of experience in consulting, working primarily in chemicals, mining and energy. Passionate about harnessing new technologies and processes to drive innovation and create growth for clients, Rachael has been instrumental in developing new approaches to worker safety, and has created several new business areas for Accenture. These include how chemical companies can use startups to change how they interact with their clients, speeding up capital programmes and delivering new customer experiences in B2B. Rachael is increasingly focused on how these industries leveraging new technologies can enable the circular economy. She has authored a number of papers on digital transformation and on the circular economy. Rachael has a degree in Politics and Economics from Smith College, MA and joined Accenture in 1988, becoming  partner in 2000. She is also committed to women’s education  and is trustee emerita of Smith College. 

Mr Baxter was appointed CEO of the Minerals Council in 2015. He has 28 years of high-level advocacy and strategy experience in the business and mining sectors. He was involved in the first mineral policy discussions with the ANC in 1992 and has participated (and often led) discussions on all aspects of mining, economic, investment, transformation and tax policy with government.  He previously chaired BUSA’s Econpol and Growth Task Team. He has played a key leadership role in rejuvenating the brand of the Minerals Council and brings material leadership, governance, strategy, investment and transformation skills to the table. He is a member of the Minerals Council Board, the BUSA Board, the TEBA Trust Board and he chairs the World Platinum Investment Council. He is vice-Chairman of the international Associations Working Group and vice-Chairman of the Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa (MIASA). He was recently awarded the SAIMM Brigadier Stokes platinum medal for his contribution to the South African mining sector.

Robin has been in the environmental, social and sustainability field since 2000, initially as a consultant and thereafter with a management system software company. His main focus is in the mining, oil and gas and infrastructure sectors as well as with financial institutes. He has worked across Africa and parts of the Middle East. His key experience is in integrated management systems, water efficiency mechanisms, environmental authorizations, environmental monitoring, Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) analysis, auditing and feasibility studies, international lending requirements, mine closure, environmental and social risks and the environmental and social licence to operate. More recently, Robin has been involved with carbon footprint management and climate change risks. He has taken on the role of a sustainability specialist within IsoMetrix with the designation of Executive Head of Sustainability.

Emma Chapman has been the Head of Investor Relations for Anglo American Platinum for six years, having moved from the Anglo American plc Investor Relations team. She previously worked for Citigroup in mergers & acquisitions and latterly in mining corporate broking in London. She has worked on a number of transactions including the Glencore and Xstrata merger, as well as the sale of Lehman Brothers IBD and equities divisions to Nomura. She is a qualified chartered accountant, has a BsC(Hons) in Economics and has recently completed a fast track executive MBA programme at Harvard Business School.

George is a Portfolio Manager and metals and mining specialist in the natural resources team at Investec Asset Management, having joined the firm in 2007. He covers all aspects of metals and mining supply and demand including, most recently, the impact of renewable energy and electric vehicles on metals demand. Prior to this, he was a market analyst for three years at BHP Billiton, working in The Hague and Singapore. He was recruited to BHP Billiton in 2004 from CRU (Commodities Research Unit), an independent metals/chemicals-related research company based in London. At CRU, he spent three years in the carbon steel team and five years as a Research Manager – Copper, providing in-depth research and forecasts to the industry, banks and hedge funds. George began his career in 1990 in operations at British Steel Strip Products, working for three years in the tinplate division.  George graduated from the University of Oxford in 1989 with an honours degree in Classics and in 1995 was awarded an MBA from Warwick University.

Paul Chimbodza is an Executive Director of Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe, the developers of Africa’s second largest drill proven hard rock Arcadia Lithium project in Zimbabwe. He is also the Executive Chairman of Geo Associates (Pvt) Ltd, a junior resources company that holds an oil and gas exploration licence over the Cabora Bassa Basin that has been historically explored by Mobil Oil. Paul is holder of a BSc Geology Honours degree, and is an Associate Member of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). Paul has held executive positions of increasing responsibility including General Manager Exploration at Metallon Gold, non-Executive Director of the Hwange Colliery Company, Executive Director at Falcon Gold, Executive Director for Wickbury Investments, the owners of Dinhidza vermiculite mine.  He is a former member of the Zimbabwe Mining Affairs Board, a member of the Chamber of Mines Executive Committee and sits on the boards of a number of public and private companies in Zimbabwe and abroad.

Mark is a member of the Board and Group Management Committee (GMC), is a non-executive director of Anglo American Platinum, Chairman of Anglo American South Africa (AASA) and Chairman of De Beers. He was appointed as an independent director of Total S.A. on 26 May 2017 and The Power of Nutrition on 12 February 2018.

Mark was previously CEO of AngloGold Ashanti Limited, a position he held from 2007-2013. Before joining AngloGold Ashanti, Mark was COO at Vale Inco where he was responsible for Vale's global nickel business. Prior to this he held senior executive positions with the Normandy Group, Sons of Gwalia, Western Mining Corporation, Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines and CRA (Rio Tinto).

Mark graduated from Wollongong University, New South Wales, with a BSc in Engineering and holds two honorary doctorates awarded by Wollongong and the Laurentian University in Canada.

Brian Dames is currently the Chief Executive of African Rainbow Energy & Power Pty Ltd (“AREP”), and the Former Chief Executive of Eskom Holdings SOC Limited, the national electricity utility in South Africa. AREP is a recently formed entity, established by its Founder and Chairman, Mr. Patrice Motsepe. AREP’s vision is to become a leading energy and power enterprise on the African continent. Brian started his career with Eskom in 1987 as the first black Graduate-in-Training at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant. The complexity and diversity of Eskom’s overall activities provided the opportunity for Brian to gain experience in the operations and management of a large national company. During his tenure at Eskom, Brian has held various positions in power stations and in the Eskom head office, including nuclear physicist at Koeberg Nuclear Power Plant, Divisional Information Manager, Engineering Manager and later Power Station Manager at coal-fired power plants, General Manager of the Nuclear Division, Managing Director of the Enterprises Division, Chief Executive Officer of one of Eskom’s subsidiaries, Eskom Enterprises (Pty) Ltd, and Chief Officer of Eskom’s Generation Business. Brian was appointed Chief Executive of Eskom on 1 July 2010 and held this position until March 2014. Brian plays a leading role in international and local business, is a member of the UN Secretary General’s and President of the World Bank’s High Level EXCO on Sustainable Energy For All initiative, as well as Non-Executive Director of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Nedbank Group. Brian is a committed family man. He is married to Stephney and the couple has two children, Christian and Nicole. Brian and Stephney love camping and the outdoors and are both keen golfers. Brian holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) [BSc (Hons)] from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and a Master of Business Administration [MBA] from of Samford University in the USA. He is also a graduate of the Senior Management Programme of the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and holds a Graduate Diploma in Utility Management from Samford University in the USA.

As Managing Director of OIM Operations Solutions, Arjen de Bruin has more than 28 years' business consulting experience within mining, manufacturing, retail and financial services. In this capacity, Arjen is deeply engaged in creating long-term client partnerships through ensuring that OIM engagements deliver significant benefits. Arjen is a thought leader on how performance coaching of supervisors can significantly improve productivity and show a sustainable ROI. A white paper called “The state of Supervisory Competencies: A frank look at supervisory capabilities in South African mining and manufacturing” was produced in October 2018 by his team. Some of the clients Arjen is currently working with include Anglo American, PPC and Gold Fields. Prior to joining OIM, Arjen worked for a major financial service corporate, an international consulting firm and a South African business consultancy. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Arjen was at the forefront of the digitisation of financial services in South Africa and was the Chairman of the Business Process Workforce, a sub-committee of the Computer Society of South Africa. Arjen believes relationships are fundamental to delivering successful projects, and enjoys working with clients who are passionate about their business, have a clear and objective realisation of the challenges and issues that they face as well as the courage and conviction to take action that cuts to the core of the critical factors, even when unconventional and unpopular. 

Henk de Hoop holds an MSc in Mining Engineering from the University of Delft, Netherlands, and he is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He started his career as a Graduate Mining Engineer at Goldfields of South Africa, followed by 2 years at Sasol as an Explosives Engineer. He spent the next 12 years as a Mining Analyst working for several broking firms, covering gold, diamond, coal, diversified, platinum and junior mining stocks. He was rated the top platinum analyst by the Financial Mail from 2005-2007. He joined Rand Merchant Bank in 2008, and is responsible for business development for the bank’s Resources industry clients, covering equity, debt, debt capital markets, M&A, global markets and corporate banking. 

Nolitha Fakude is the Chairman of Anglo American’s Management Board in South Africa. She was previously on the Board of Anglo American plc as a non-executive director from 2017 until August 2019. In her previous career, Nolitha joined Sasol in 2005, serving as an Executive Director on the board and Executive Vice President of Strategy and Sustainability until her decision to leave the company at the end of 2016. Nolitha served as Chairman of Sasol’s Sustainability, HR and Stakeholder Relations committees and was Chairman of the Sasol Mining Board. Nolitha is a non-executive director of JSE Limited and Afrox. She is a former trustee of the Women’s Development Bank, former Deputy Chairman and Lead Independent Director of Datacentrix Holdings and has served as a non-executive director of Harmony Gold and Woolworths Holdings. Nolitha holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree from the University of Fort Hare in South Africa and has completed the Harvard Business School Senior Executive Development Programme.

Alex is a professionally registered mechanical engineer and has been involved in transport and machinery, as well as new technology and innovation in mining for the majority of his career. He currently heads Sibanye-Stillwater’s technology and innovation department which is responsible for group technology and innovation strategy, as well as conceptualizing, developing and implementing innovative safety and productivity improvement solutions across the mining production and beneficiation value chain for Sibanye-Stillwater’s full portfolio of assets. 

On 30 April 2018, Mike Fraser, in his role of Chief Operating Officer, assumed responsibility for the Group’s alumina operations in Australia, and Cerro Matoso in Colombia. He retains the Group’s aluminium operations in South Africa in his portfolio and he is responsible for South Africa Energy Coal. On 30 April 2018, Mike Fraser, in his role of Chief Operating Officer, assumed responsibility for the Group’s alumina operations in Australia, and Cerro Matoso in Colombia. He retains the Group’s aluminium operations in South Africa in his portfolio and he is responsible for South Africa Energy Coal. Prior to this, Mike held the role of President and Chief Operating Officer for the Africa region from January 2015. Before joining South32, Mike was President, Human Resources with BHP. Prior to this he was Asset President of Mozal Aluminium Smelter in Mozambique from 2009 to 2012, having also worked in various roles in BHP’s coal, manganese and aluminium businesses. During his career, Mike held a variety of leadership roles in a large internationally diversified industrial business and has worked in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Mozambique and Australia. Mike holds a Master of Business Leadership and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of South Africa.

Bobby Godsell worked for 34 years as an executive in the Anglo American group of companies.  For 12 of these, he was CEO of Anglo’s gold mining interests, in the form of AngloGold Ashanti.  He has also worked in government bodies, spending 5 years as a member of the National Planning Commission and a turbulent 15 months chairing the board of ESKOM.  He is currently a Director at the Industrial Development Corporation, Chairman of Foskor (Pty) Ltd and co-chairs the Millennium Labour Council, a social dialogue body involving business and labour leaders, with Godfrey Selematsela, President of FEDUSA.   With James Motlatsi, founding President of the National Union of Mineworkers, Bobby co-chairs the active citizens NGO, Citizens ZA.

Chris has served as CEO of Anglo American Platinum since September 2012. He was previously CEO of Kumba Iron Ore from 2008 to 2012 and prior to this, served as Anglo American Platinum’s Head of Joint Venture Operations. Chris has been with the Group for over 29 years.

Evy Hambro, Managing Director, is the Global Head of Thematic and Sector Based Investing for BlackRock Active Equities and head of the London-based Natural Resources equity team. He co-manages the BGF World Gold, BlackRock Gold & General and BGF World Mining funds. He is also co-manager of the BlackRock World Mining Trust, BlackRock Natural Resources Hedge Fund and manager of a number of segregated portfolios.  Mr Hambro's service with the firm dates back to 1994 including his years with Mercury Asset Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) which merged with BlackRock in 2006. He has worked for the firm in London, Sydney and Toronto.  Mr Hambro earned a BSc degree, with honors, in Agricultural Food Marketing, from Newcastle University in 1994.

Alistair Hodgkinson is the Executive Vice President for the EMEA Region. Alistair joined DRA in 2007 and has over 23 years’ industry experience. He has been involved in large scale mining and minerals processing projects across EMEA, implementing various greenfields and brownfields resources projects.  In his current role, Alistair oversees the successful delivery of all projects across EMEA. Alistair completed his B.Sc. Eng (Mechanical) at the University of the Witwatersrand, holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town and is a registered professional engineer.

Irvin Jim is currently serving his third term as General Secretary of Numsa, having been re-elected to serve the militant metalworkers in its December 2016 elective congress, following his first election in October 2008. Following the fall of the apartheid regime in 1994, Comrade Irvin became the regional chairperson for Numsa’s Eastern Cape region. He later served as the Regional Secretary. He was at that time the youngest member of the Numsa Central Committee and remained in the regional leadership until his election to the position of General Secretary. Under his leadership, Numsa continues to be a militant and principled left trade union. Its membership has grown to over 340,000, making it the biggest trade union in the history of South Africa.

André Joubert is a Mining Engineer. He is the Chief Executive of the Ferrous Division of African Rainbow Minerals (ARM). This division is responsible for the operational activities of Assmang, which is a 50/50 joint venture between African Rainbow Minerals and Assore, which are both listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. André is the Chairman of the Assmang Exco, The Chairman of the Sakura Board (Smelter in Malaysia) and an Executive Director of Assmang. In this position he is responsible for all operational, legal, strategic and growth related to the division’s Iron Ore mines, its Manganese mines and Manganese smelters. André Joined ARM in August of 2009 as Executive Operations in the Ferrous Division and was appointed to the Chief Executive position in July 2012. Prior to working at ARM he was the CEO at Hernic Ferrochrome in South Africa for two years and prior to that he worked for Anglo American Corporation for 25 years. André held various senior and executive operational positions within Anglo American’s gold and base metals divisions and also spent some time evaluating and designing mining projects. In total he accumulated 38 years of experience within the mining industry.  André studied at the University of Potchefstroom and graduated in 1981 with a BSc in Mining Engineering from the University of Pretoria and in 1996 he obtained a MBA at the University of Stellenbosch.

With more than 20 years of post-admission legal and corporate experience, Francois Joubert is a recognized strategic advisor providing clients with legal, strategic and commercial/ transactional advisory services in the natural resources, safety & health, land use planning, power, oil & gas, mining and industrial related sectors. Francois is a member of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces, a member and past Vice-Chairman of the South African Environmental Law Association and a senior member of the International Association of Impact Assessors (IAIA). He has a B.Proc from the University of Pretoria, a Masters in Geography and Environmental Management from the University of Johannesburg and a Certificate in Biotechnology Law & Ethics from the University of Botswana. 

Ms Kerber, BCom, HDipAcc, CA (SA), has recently joined Implats as the chief financial officer and an executive director of the Implats Board. She is an experienced finance executive having served as Senior Vice President, Finance at AngloGold Ashanti Limited, prior to which she spent 11 years at Anglo American Platinum Limited, serving as Head of Financial Accounting for the majority of that period. She has also previously held the position of non-executive director at Rand Mutual Assurance.

Charl Keyter was appointed a Director of Sibanye-Stillwater on 9 November 2012 and Executive Director and CFO on 1 January 2013. Previously, he was Vice President and Group Head of International Finance at Gold Fields. Charl has more than 20 years’ mining experience, having begun his career at Gold Fields in February 1995.

Lucky Kgatle obtained a BSc in Engineering: Industrial from Wits University in 2001.  He also has an MBA from GIBS which he received in 2009. He has held a number of positions at Sasol, including Vice President, Strategy and Business Development; Executive Manager, Operations Excellence; General Manager, Syferfontein Colliery; General Manager, Coal Handling Plant; Manager, Manufacturing and Site Work, Central Workshop; Section Engineer, Central Workshop; Reliability Engineer; Technical Advisor. He is currently Senior Vice President, a position he has held since January 2016. He is responsible for initiating the design and development of systems and processes and services to ensure a sustainable coal delivery and shaping the organisation within the external socio-economic environment as a responsible player in the coal mining industry.  He is also required to maintain the organisation’s image/relationship with all stakeholders, but specifically the DMR, the local government and the local communities.  He is also responsible for the development and execution of the organisation’s long-term strategy (10 to 40 years). In addition to being a director at Sasol Mining and Sasol Mining Holdings, he is also a director of Ixia Coal, Ixia Coal Funding and the Sasol Rehabilitation Trust. He is a member of the Engineering Council of South Africa.

Lullu Krugel is the Chief Economist for PwC South Africa and a Partner in the strategy team. She leads a team of 17 economists, political analysts and regulatory specialists. Lullu and the team assist clients in understanding how the external economic and socio-economic environment might impact on their business, as well as how their own activities contribute to the creation of jobs, their total tax contributions and their contribution to GDP. In addition, Lullu and the team also assist clients in identifying investment opportunities and develop business strategies in particular for Africa expansion. Some of their past clients include, amongst others, ABInBev, SASOL, Vodacom, Naspers, Discovery, FNB and Standard Bank. Lullu is a regular commentator in the media and a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. She holds an M.Com Degree in Economics and Risk Management and post graduate diplomas in Energy Law, Competition Law, Economic Regulation and Regulatory Pricing.

Satish Kumar is Director – Projects at Vedanta Zinc International (VZI). As Head of Vedanta’s projects in South Africa, a role he assumed in 2015, he led the development of the US$400m Gamsberg Mine in the Northern Cape. His current role includes the development of various growth projects for VZI in South Africa and Namibia, including Phase 2 of Gamsberg and its associated Zinc Smelter. Satish was previously General Manager at Skorpion Zinc in Namibia. He has over 23 years’ experience in leading both projects and operations in various leadership roles in multiple geographies (India, Zambia, Namibia and South Africa). He is a chemical engineer by profession and has also completed a general management programme at Harvard Business School.

Andrew is a senior partner at Deloitte Africa, where he leads the Energy and Resources practice in Africa, the Monitor Deloitte corporate and business unit strategy capability and the CEO programme at the Deloitte Executive Institute. Andrews professional career spans 32 years – 14 in Industry, mainly in general management in industrial companies; and 18 in strategy and operational consulting. Andrew joined Deloitte as a Director following Deloitte’s acquisition of Monitor. He had joined Monitor as a partner, after being a partner and founding member of North Road Consulting. Andrew has led strategy, operational improvement, organization redesign and implementation projects in several industries. Andrew has specific expertise in energy, resources, aviation, logistics and manufacturing. His consulting experience spans operational turnarounds, performance improvement, and strategy development for private, listed and parastatal companies. His strategy expertise spans portfolio strategy, corporate and business unit strategy, growth strategy, and sustainability strategy. Prior to founding North Road Consulting, Andrew enjoyed a successful career at Bain & Company in Johannesburg and London. During this time he led client assignments in various industries, including mining, car rental, utilities, revenue collection, general industry and media.

Boipelo joined Harmony on 1 June 2017 as Chief Financial Officer. She is a chartered accountant (SA) by profession with extensive experience in group financial management and reporting within the mining industry. Her previous roles include that of Chief Financial Officer of Atlatsa Resources Corporation and Financial Manager of Northam Platinum Limited. She served as an independent non-executive director of Trans Hex Group Limited from August 2013 until March 2017 and currently serves as an independent non-executive director on the boards of African Rainbow Capital Proprietary Limited and UBI General Partner Proprietary Limited since 7 June 2018. She also serves as a trustee of the Harmony group environmental trust funds.

Thabi Leoka is an Economist who has worked for various organisations in the financial sector. Thabi started her career as an Economist at Investec Asset Management in South Africa and London. She has also worked as an Emerging Markets Economist at Barclays in London and Head of Economic Research, SA at Standard Bank and the Chief Economist for SA at Renaissance Capital. Thabi was named the Economist of The Year 2017 by ABSIP. She writes for various publication both in South Africa and internationally. Thabi is a budding activist, loves travelling, reading, food and music.

Cobus qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte & Touche in South Africa and he is also a CFA® Charterholder. He has been a director of Pan African Resources since 2009 and served as Financial Director of Pan African Resources from 2013 until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer on 1 March 2015. Cobus has 15 years of management and investment experience in the African mining environment and has successfully executed a number of value-accretive projects and transactions during his time at Pan African Resources. Pan African Resources is focused on safe, low-cost and sustainable gold production.

Makgabo William Mabapa was elected as the NUM branch chairperson at Anglo Platinum Mogalakwena section in 1994 to 1995. In 1995 he was elected the branch secretary. In 1996 he was elected the full-time shop steward after the adoption of the first NUM Ten Year Plan at the 1996 National Congress held at Sinnodale, Pretoria to merge the branch secretary position and the full-time shop steward position. As a branch secretary/full-time shop steward, he also served as secretary for COSATU Local in Mokopane. In 1997 up until 2001 he was a branch secretary of the SACP at Molekane Village in Mogalakwena Local Municipality. In March 2002, at the 4th regional conference, he was elected as the Regional Secretary for North East Region until 2005. In 2005 at the 5th the regional conference, he was re-elected as the Regional Secretary until 2008. In 2008, at the 6th regional conference, he was re-elected as the Regional Secretary until 2011. In 2011 at the 7th regional conference, he was re-elected as the Regional Secretary until 2014. In 2014, at the 8th regional conference, he was re-elected as the Regional Secretary until 2015 when he was elected as the Deputy General Secretary at the 15^th and 16^th  National Congress held at Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg. He currently sits on the Mineworkers Investment Company Board as Executive Director, the Mineworkers Investment Trust as a Trustee and Royal Bafokeng Platinum and State Diamond Trader as a Board member.

Mosa Mabuza qualified as a geologist with a BSc (Hons) and with a PDA in Business. He has extensive exploration experience in multiple regional jurisdictions that span SADC, West Africa and Canada, amongst others. He assumed his official duties in 2006 as Director of Mineral Economics in the erstwhile Department of Minerals and Energy and later became Deputy Director-General of the Mineral Policy (and Investment Promotion) in 2012. During his tenure as an official, he was assigned with the duties of leading the preliminary strategy for sustainable development and meaningful transformation of South Africa’s mining industry with emphasis on competitive growth and transformation as symbolistic reinforcing concepts, the development of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill and the assessment of the progress impact on the implementation of the Mining Charter in 2009 and 2015, which respectively based the evidence value proposition for the amendments of the 2010 and 2017 Mining Charter. Mr Mabuza represented the Department of Mineral Resources on the boards of number of science councils and State-Owned Entities, including, albeit not limited to, the Council for Geoscience, Mintek and the South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator. In November 2016, Mr Mabuza was deployed to the Council for Geoscience and now serves as CEO (since July 2017). He is currently working with his colleagues to champion the refocused geo-scientific programme that seeks to optimise the development impact, aligned with the national developmental priorities.

Jabulane (Jabu) Mabuza currently serves as the Chairman Sun International Limited as well as the Interim Executive Chairman and Acting Group Chief Executive of Eskom SOC Limited. He is widely recognised as a successful entrepreneur and business leader, having recently retired as the Chairman of Telkom SA SOC Ltd where he played a pivotal role in turning the company around. He has also recently stepped down as the Chairman of Anheuser – Busch InBev/SAB Miller - Africa, Business Leadership South Africa, as well as the Casino Association of South Africa.  He served as the President of Business Unity South Africa until 2018. He was appointed by the Presidency as a co-convenor of the CEO Initiative together with the former Treasury Minister to look into the state of affairs of the South African economy. Jabu was recently appointed to the board of MultiChoice Group. Jabu has held a number of directorships within the Southern Sun and Tsogo Sun Groups as the Former Group Chief Executive of Tsogo Sun. He served on the Board of South African Tourism for nine years and as its Chairman for six years, ending May 2012. Outside of our South African boarders, he served on the boards of Tanzania Breweries Ltd (TBL), and Castle Brewing Company in Kenya. He served on the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) in Washington DC as a Board Member, on the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in the UK as an Executive Committee Member and as Chairman of the Regional Business Council for the World Economic Forum (WEF). Has been part of the B20/G20 Delegation to all the B20/G20 Summits and matters over the years. He was appointed to the Concordia Leadership Council based in New York, USA. Jabu holds a Doctorate in Commerce (Honoris Causa) from the University of the Witwatersrand and was also the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Awards in 2016.

Shirley was appointed as CEO, South Africa for PricewaterhouseCoopers, South Africa from 1 July 2019.  She has been a Partner in PwC’s Assurance Services division for 15 years. She is a Chartered Accountant and qualified Chartered Director Southern Africa (CD (SA)) and has over 26 years’ internal, external audit, risk management, compliance and governance experience in the private and public sectors across all industries. She has published several articles on internal audit in the professional journals of the IPFA, JUTA and IIA. She is a renowned speaker and has presented at national and regional level and at international conferences. She has had an opportunity to co-present with Prof Mervyn King on governance, risk and internal audit matters locally and regionally. She is the National Director of Faranani Rural Women Training Program since 2006, an initiative with a purpose to empower rural women in business skills with the aim to ensure that they contribute to the mainstream economy. She was a finalist of the “Africa’s Most Influential Woman in Business and in Government” awards in 2013.  She was a finalist of the “Top Black Female Leader of The Year” by Topco Media in 2014.  She was honoured by the African Women Chartered Accountants as “Audit Partner of the Year” in 2016. She was also honoured by the Black Management Forum as “Manager of the Year” again in 2016.  She was honoured by the South African Professional Services Awards with the “Big 4 Professional of the Year” as well as being named the overall “Woman Professional of the Year” in February 2018.  She was a nominee for “Business Woman of the Year” in 2018 by the Business Women’s Association. 

Jongisa Magagula is currently the Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Development at African Rainbow Minerals (ARM). She began her career in the financial reporting department of Unilever South Africa Home and Personal Care. During her time at Unilever she was seconded to the internal audit team of Ernst and Young. In 2007 Jongisa joined Absa Capital and was seconded to Barclays Capital in London where she worked in the Real Estate Group Services team originating commercial debt and structuring commercial debt securitisations. She returned to Absa Capital and joined the Mining and Metals team responsible for financing and risk management solutions for mining clients. Jongisa holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Finance) Honours from the University of Cape Town.

Thabile Makgala is the Executive: Mining at Implats. Prior to joining Implats, Thabile held various senior positions at Gold Fields, Anglogoldashanti and AngloAmerican. In 2018, she was selected as one of the “Top 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining worldwide. Thabile is the current chairperson of Women in Mining South Africa and made history by being the first female Mining Engineer Graduate at Gold fields Kloof and Driefontein division (Now Sibanye Gold). Thabile has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Stellenbosch Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering (Cum laude), from the University of the Witwatersrand. Thabile is a member of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Institute of Directors in Southern Africa. Thabile is passionate about Mining, transformation and the advancement of the industry through harnessing technology and innovation.

Trudi Makhaya is a writer, economist and entrepreneur. In April 2018, she was appointed as full time economic advisor to His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa. In this role, she provides technical support to the President on economic policy. This includes regular input on key issues and initiatives, interfacing with relevant advisory councils and engaging with economic policy stakeholders. Before taking up this role, Trudi was CEO of Makhaya Advisory, a boutique consulting firm with a focus on helping business navigate economic policy, including competition policy, that she founded in 2015. Trudi has also served as an advisor and angel investor in young companies. She has held non-executive directorships at Vumelana Advisory Fund and MTN South Africa. An active public commentator, Trudi was a columnist for various publications, including Daily Maverick, Business Day and Acumen. She has also published academic journal articles on competition economics and policy. Trudi holds an MBA and an MSc in Development Economics from Oxford University, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She holds an MCom in Economics, an honours degree in economics and a BCom in Law and Economics from the University of Witwatersrand. Trudi was an economist and later a member of the executive committee at the Competition Commission of South Africa from 2010 to 2014. Trudi represented the Commission at various international fora including the OECD, BRICS, International Competition Network and the African Competition Forum. Prior to joining the Competition Commission, Trudi held various management consulting and corporate roles at Deloitte South Africa, Genesis Analytics and AngloGold Ashanti. In her spare time, Trudi writes fiction. Her recent work has been published in New Contrast and the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Anthology Vol IV.

Mr Samson Gwede Mantashe was born on the 21st of June 1955 in the village of Lower Cala in the then Transkei (now Eastern Cape Province). He cut his teeth as an activist in the Student Christian Movement (SCM). Minister Mantashe received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 1997, where he also completed a Bachelor of Commerce Honours in 2002. He holds a Masters’ degree from the University of Witwatersrand (WITS), acquired in 2008. He is currently studying for his Masters’ in Business Administration through MANCOSA. In 1975 he was employed as the Recreation Officer at the Western Deep Levels mine and, in the same year, moved to Prieska Copper Mines where he served as the Welfare Officer until 1982. Working at the Matla Colliery in 1982, Mr Mantashe co-founded and became the Witbank branch chairperson of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), a position he held until 1984. In 1985, he was elected as the NUM Regional Secretary. A skilled mineworker and leader, Mr Mantashe served as the NUM’s National Organiser from 1988 to 1993; and became the Regional Coordinator between 1993 and 1994. From 1994 to 1998, Mr Mantashe served as the Assistant General Secretary of the NUM, whereupon he was elected as the first worker General Secretary at the union’s congress in 1998.

For his first stint in government, Mr Mantashe was elected Councillor in the Ekurhuleni Municipality in 1995 where he served until 1999. In 1995, he became the first trade unionist to be appointed to the Board of Directors of a Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed company, namely, Samancor. In May 2006, he relinquished his position as the General Secretary of the NUM at the union’s 12th National Congress. In the same year, Mr Mantashe was appointed as the Executive Director at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) where, for a period of two years, he served as the Chairperson of the Technical Working Group of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA). In 2007, Mr Mantashe was elected as the Chairperson of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and also served as a member of the Party’s Central Committee. In December 2007, he was elected as the Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) at the party’s 52nd National Conference. He was re-elected to the same position in 2012. At the ANC’s 54th National Conference, in 2017, Mr Mantashe was elected as the National Chairperson. Mr Mantashe was appointed Minister of Mineral Resources in February 2018. Following the 6th democratic elections in 2019, and with the expansion of the Ministry to include Energy, he was appointed as the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy in May 2019 where he currently serves.

Joseph Mathunjwa  is the founder and Head of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) – one of the most progressive and fast growing trade unions in South Africa’s labour landscape.  Born in Amatikulu, in the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Mathunjwa began his career as a laboratory attendant. He then worked as the laboratory assistant at BHP Billiton’s Douglas Colliery in Mpumalanga where he gained popularity among the workforce due to his interests in representing workers. It was at BHP Billiton where Mathunjwa honed and refined his skills for representing the workforce around him by managing to convince management to implement a bonus system for underground mine workers. His interest in trade unions came when he saw people being retrenched without companies making an effort to save their jobs. The first retrenchment that Mathunjwa fought for through the Labour Court was at BHP Billiton in 2005 where he successfully won the case. This paved the way for Mathunjwa to join the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) as a Chair of a local branch of the union. After parting ways with NUM in September 1999, Joseph laid the foundation for the formation of AMCU, which was formally registered in 2001, to address the swelling vein of discontentment among poor, black workers who were seeing little improvement in their lives two decades after apartheid ended. AMCU now makes a difference in the lives of its more than 200,000 members, with the Union enjoying steady growth year-on-year.  

Kolobe Nala Investment Company (Pty) Ltd (KNI) is a family-owned business focused on investments in mining, energy and aviation and is headed by Billy Mawasha, who has extensive mining experience with Anglo American, Rio Tinto, De Beers and AngloGold Ashanti to name but a few. Until recently, Billy was the Country Head in South Africa for Rio Tinto and the MD of Richards Bay Minerals. In addition, Billy serves on the Board of Metair Investments Ltd (MTA:SJ – Automotive Components and Battery Manufacturer) and is the Chairman of their Investment Committee and a member of the Audit and Risk and Nomination Committees. Billy is also a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Billy’s experience, a strong network of relationships in the mining industry and his understanding of doing business across the continent, enables KNI to bring long-term value-adding perspectives, hands-on and pragmatic expertise and solid operational and technical know-how to projects they invest in. This is realised through strategic guidance and active participation in the board of directors and associated committees, in particular the investment, technical and risk committees and through working collaboratively with relevant parties and management teams. 

Sandy joined Allan Gray as an investment analyst and economist in October 1991. Previously he was employed by Gold Fields of South Africa Limited in a variety of management positions for 24 years, where much of his experience was focused on investment-related activities. His current responsibilities include the management of fixed interest and individual client portfolios and he is a fund manager for the Allan Gray Bond Fund. He was a director of Allan Gray Limited from 1997 to 2006.

Jabu Mdaki’s role is to lead and manage the operations and contribute to the strategic initiatives of Richards Bay Coal Terminal. He manages the engagement with key stakeholders including coal exporting parties, Department of Minerals, Transnet Freight Rail and Transnet National Ports Authority. Jabu has served RBCT for 17 years, having previously worked for Sasol Synthetic Fuels and Eskom.

Mxolisi Mgojo has been in the mining industry since 2001. Prior to that, his career includes 10 years as a software engineer and 8 years in the finance industry including Societé Generale Investment Banking. Mxolisi has been with Exxaro Resources since its inception in 2006, heading the Base Metals and Industrial Minerals business before being appointed as the Executive Head of Coal in August 2008.  In May 2015 Mxolisi was appointed as CEO Designate and took over the reins from Sipho Nkosi as Chief Executive Officer on 1 April 2016.  Before joining Exxaro, Mxolisi was a founder member of Eyesizwe Coal where he was the Marketing and Logistics Manager.  Mxolisi sits on the boards of Exxaro Resources and Tronox Limited. On 24 May 2017 Mxolisi was elected as the President of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa after serving on the Executive Council of the Chamber since 2015 and the Collieries Committee of the Chamber prior to becoming a member of the Chamber’s Executive Council.  On 27 May 2017, Mxolisi received the Paul Harris Award from the Hatfield Branch of the Rotary Foundation. Mxolisi has a BSc degree in Computer Science (Northeastern University, USA), an Honours degree in Energy Studies (Rand Afrikaans University), a Diploma in International Financial Management and an MBA (Henley Management College, UK).  He has also completed a Societé Generale Investment Banking and Corporate Finance Programme (Kellogg, USA) and an Advanced Management Programme (Wharton).

Ntombi Mhangwani is the Director for Integrated Marketing and Communications and Women’s Forum Lead at Accenture Africa. She joined Accenture in 2015, tasked to build strategic value and deliver personalised, unique marketing as well as communications experiences. She also drives initiatives to attain Accenture’s vision to achieve a 50/50 gender-balanced workforce by 2025. In September 2019, Mhangwani won the Gender Mainstreaming Awards’ Positive Role Model for C-Suite award. Prior to joining Accenture, Mhangwani held senior marketing and communications roles in various multinational companies such as Schneider Electric South Africa, Dimension Data and MTN – to mention a few – with a scope that covered the rest of Africa and the Middle East. Mhangwani’s journalistic, marketing and communications experience spans a period of more than 20 years. She has a huge hunger for continued learning and an ability to master and implement the new knowledge she gains. She holds an MBA from Henley Business School and an Honours Degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University. She is also studying towards her PhD in Management with a focus on technology and innovation from The Da Vinci Institute.

Mpumelelo Mkhabela is the chairperson of Menar. He is an experienced media practitioner and business leader. He is a political and policy analyst who regularly comments on South Africa’s political economy. He has edited the Sowetan and the Daily Dispatch newspapers. He is a former chairman of the South African National Editors’ Forum. He holds a BA Hons (Political Science) from the University of Limpopo, a BA in Journalism (Hons) from Stellenbosch University and an MA in International Politics from the University of South Africa. He obtained a certificate in economic and political risk analysis from Stellenbosch University.

Themba Mkhwanazi was appointed CEO of Kumba Iron Ore in September 2016. Prior to that, he held the position of CEO for Anglo American’s Thermal Coal business in South Africa. He has extensive experience in the resources industry, including 18 years in his native South Africa, as well as in the USA and Australia. Themba was a Managing Director of Huntsman Tioxide in South Africa until 2007 when he was appointed COO of Richards Bay Minerals, a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. In 2011, Themba was seconded to Rio Tinto’s Australian coal business, before taking up the role of Regional General Manager for the Americas in 2012. Themba holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Chemical Engineering.

Pleasure is the leader for Exxaro coal business strategy, digital transformation and operational performance optimisation. Exxaro is currently the largest coal mining company in South Africa and a leader in digital transformation. Pleasure is an internationally experienced change agent with over 10 years’ experience in mining operations performance improvement (South Africa, Chile and Australia) and an internationally certified world class manufacturing instructor with five years’ experience in different manufacturing industries (France, South Africa and England). Besides his professional engineering and operations experience, Pleasure Mnisi is a passionate, active entrepreneur and industrialist at heart. He believes every leader of a large traditional organisation should strive to make their organisations feel like a “start-up company” in order to create a culture that allows them to disrupt their operating business models and come up with new innovative solutions to improve safety, productivity and reduce costs in their organisations.

Fortune is a mining entrepreneur with a strong exploration and development track record, Fortune has played a leading role in the origination, establishment and project development of several junior mining companies in Africa including New Kush Exploration and Mining (Gold in South Sudan), AfriTin Mining (Tin), Bushveld Resources Limited (Iron Ore), New Horizon Minerals (Iron Ore), Bushveld Platinum Limited (PGMs) and Eagle Resources Limited (Uranium). As Chief Executive Officer of Bushveld Minerals since its inception, he also serves as a Non-Executive Director of ASX-listed Lemur Resources Limited.

Dr Molefe is the current Chairman of the Transnet Board of since May 2018. He has previously chaired, among others, the boards of Petroleum and Gas Corporation of SA (Petro-SA), Armaments Corporation of South Africa (ARMSCOR); Morvest Information and Communication Technology Ltd, later renamed Xantium, and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and (PRASA). He is the Executive Chairperson of the Lereko Investments Company which he established with the former Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mr Valli Moosa, after he retired from government in 2004. He subsequently founded the Popo Molefe Foundation, whose primary role is to support youth from disadvantaged communities to access education at tertiary levels. Dr Molefe has been a political activist, community leader and national leader in the Soweto Civic Association (SCA) and the United Democratic Front (UDF). He was elected to the position of General-Secretary at the inception of the UDF in August 1983. He was arrested for his anti-apartheid struggle activities in April 1984. In June 1985 he, together with 21 others, were charged in the infamous Delmas Treason Trial that ran from 1985-1988 and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He was incarcerated on Robben Island but was released in December 1989 after a successful appeal and the setting aside of their sentences by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). In 1994 Dr Molefe served as the Chairperson of the African National Congress’ (ANC’s) National Elections Commission whose role was to co-ordinate the campaign and election machinery of the ANC. After the ANC won the general election of April1994 he was appointed the first Premier of the North West Province. He served two terms as Premier until his retirement from government in 2004. He served as the Chancellor of the University of the North West from 2004 to 2009. More recently, he appeared at the Commission on State Capture where he laid bare the intricacies of the phenomenon of State Capture at Transnet.

Gerick Mouton, a Mechanical Engineer by profession, is a global mining professional with over 22 years’ experience in strategic mine development, implementation and execution of multifaceted capital intensive mining projects on the African continent. He has held senior and executive management positions within various mining development projects and established international mining companies, and is currently a Senior Vice President role at Ivanplats Limited and the multi-billion dollar Platreef Project in South Africa (an Ivanhoe Mines Company). Gerick’s experience includes countries like Botswana, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Madagascar where he held senior and executive positions. Given his experience and social knowledge and importance over the years, he enrolled towards his Masters in Philosophy (Sustainable Development within the Minerals Resource Sector) through the University of Cape Town. Gerick enjoys the strategic development of mineral projects, optimising alternative development scenarios by creating maximum shareholder value and economic benefit to local affected parties.

Abigail Mukhuba qualified as a Chartered Accountant (SA) in 2005 and has over 16 years working experience in the financial reporting and tax specialist environment in both the automotive and mining industries. Abigail started her career at BMW SA. In 2009, she commenced her career in the mining industry at TSA Sands, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exxaro Resources Limited. She joined Exxaro in 2010 as the Group Manager: Financial Reporting responsible for Financial Reporting as well as Investor Relations. Abigail joined African Rainbow Minerals Limited in 2016 as the Chief Financial Officer and in 2017 she was appointed as ARM's Financial Director.

Nico Muller holds a BSc Mining Engineering degree from the University of Pretoria and has a 28-year mining career across a range of commodities, including platinum. He has a proven track record as a successful operator and is a highly-rated leader and strategic thinker. Nico was appointed to the board of Implats as both Chief Executive Officer and an Executive Director in April 2017. Prior to this he served as Executive Vice-President of Gold Fields’ South African operations (South Deep) for three years, where he fulfilled a pivotal role in re-energising and repositioning the mine for a sustainable future. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer at Royal Bafokeng Platinum, and in various other high-level positions at Anglovaal, African Rainbow Minerals, Avgold and De Beers.

July was appointed CEO of Coal South Africa in September 2016. Prior to that, he held the position of Executive Head of Processing at Anglo American Platinum and was employed by Anglo American subsidiaries in Zimbabwe, where he held senior managerial positions in metallurgical operations and technical services. In 2001, he transferred to Anglo American Platinum, where he was first appointed business manager of the Polokwane Smelter, then head of process technology. July graduated in Engineering and Business Leadership from the Universities of Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively, and completed the Senior Executive Programme with Columbia Business School.

Delia is the Managing Director for the Deloitte Africa Tax & Legal business. Deloitte Africa Tax & Legal serves 14 countries Anglophone speaking countries across Africa and has a staff complement of over 600 people with more than 50 Partners / Directors. Delia currently serves on the Executive board for Deloitte & Touche Africa and has also been appointed to the Deloitte Global Tax & Legal Executive. Delia has had more than 20 years of experience in the Tax field, which has been primarily focused on providing employment and individual tax solutions to expatriates and executives of multinational companies. Her prior experience included leading the Africa Tax Desk, which helped multinational companies with setting up in Africa. Delia believes in using technology as an enabler and leveraging off Deloitte’s powerful suite of technology tools. She is particularly interested in the tax function of the future, the impact of BEPS and the evolving tax landscape. She is also passionate about spending quality time with clients. Deloitte’s purpose, “to make an impact that matters”, resonates with Delia. She is passionate about women in leadership and growing new talent. Outside of her work, she is an advisor to the Kgosi Neighbourhood Foundation, which has built a school focusing on early childhood development. She also supports the Thuli Madonsela Foundation, which promotes social justice in South Africa. Delia also enjoys spending time at the Orlando children’s home in Soweto where they accommodate orphans. This is Delia’s way of making an impact that matters and ploughing back to the Soweto community, where she grew up.

Fiona Perrott-Humphrey is an independent senior adviser to Rothschild & Co’s Mining Team. Her focus is on the constantly changing trends in the sector which impact on both corporate strategy issues as well as on the communication process between companies and their shareholders. She believes that current developments underway in new technologies and ESG issues are reflecting in some of the most seismic shifts in investor perceptions of the sector in decades. Before joining Rothschild & Co in this role in 2003, she had 17 years of experience in the City of London at major financial institutions where she was consistently rated as one of the top investment analysts in mining, ending up as head of the European Mining Research at SSMB (part of Citigroup). In 2006, Fiona formed AIM Mining Research and, in the same year, published "Understanding Junior Miners" in conjunction with three geologists and a mining engineer. Prior to arrival in the City of London in 1986, she had six years of experience in financial journalism and academia in South Africa, building up a broad knowledge of managerial and financial topics. Fiona served as a non-executive director on the board of Dominion Diamond Corporation from February 2014 to January 2016.

Steve Phiri is an admitted attorney to the High Court of South Africa. His qualifications include a B Juris degree, University of the North; LLB, Vista University; Diploma in Corporate Law, Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and an LLM degree from the University of Johannesburg. Steve was appointed CEO of RBPlat in April 2010. Prior to this appointment he was the CEO of Merafe Resources, a public company listed on the JSE, for a period of six years. He has served as a non-executive director on the Board of Impala Platinum Limited and brings to RBPlat a significant wealth of mining and business experience, gained over a period of more than 15 years. He has also served as a non-executive director on the boards of Zurich Insurance Company SA and the South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator. In 2017, Mr. Phiri was elected as one of the Mineral Council South Africa’s three Vice presidents.

Myuran Rajaratnam is a portfolio Manager at MIBFA, a large pension fund in South Africa. He is also the lead analyst in the Resources/Mining sector as well as various industrial sectors such as Telecoms, Food and the Small/Mid-cap space. He has previously worked in operational/management roles in telecommunications companies, banks and asset managers in South Africa and the UK. He holds a PhD in electronic engineering and has authored academic research papers in international finance journals on probability-based valuation models for equities and corporate credit. He enjoys reading, is addicted to contract bridge and subscribes to the principles of value/valuation investing.

Dawie Roodt is a founder, Director and Chief Economist of the Efficient Group. He serves on a variety of investment committees within the Efficient Group. Dawie’s latest role is that of Chairman of Efficient Private Clients, of which Efficient Group is the majority shareholder. Dawie is a nationally-renowned economist, with over 30 years’ experience. He specialises in monetary and fiscal policy and is currently doing extensive research on the possible impact of “crypto” currencies on monetary policy. He is closely involved with the management of client asset portfolios. His interest in international and local politics has grown and he has become knowledgeable in the field of politics as well. Dawie is ranked one of the most referenced economists in the country and received the prestigious Economist of the Year award by Sake 24, a media house. He has been the anchor/presenter of the television programme Ontbytsake for the past 13 years.

Andries is PwC’s Africa Energy, Utilities and Resources leader and an experienced JSE accredited audit partner. He has been with the firm since 1997 and partner since 2007. He has experience in numerous stock exchange transactions, including IPOs, fund raisings, and reporting accountant work for acquisitions. He has a specific focus on mining clients across commodities and mining methods. Andries is the project leader for the firm’s SA Mine and Global Mine publications which gives him excellent insight into industry wide issues.  Although he has a specific focus on mining and construction clients, Andries also has a variety of cross industry exposure with previous involvements in retail, manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, banking and insurance clients. His core industries has given him the opportunity to work with cross border teams on a regular basis. 

Errol is a geologist, registered with the South African Council of Natural Scientific Professionals. He has more than 25 years of industry experience across all aspects of exploration, mine development and operations with experience in precious and base metals. Errol has held positions in Anglogold, Cluff Mining, Metallon Gold, Clarity Minerals, LionGold Corporation and African Stellar Holdings.  His senior executive roles have been on several boards of companies listed on the TSX, ASX and JSE.

Peter Steenkamp is Harmony’s chief executive officer and executive director from 1 January 2016. He has some 30 years’ experience in the mining industry, which include his last position as Senior Vice President: Mining of Sasol Mining Proprietary Limited, executive positions at Harmony from 2003 to 2007, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Pamodzi Gold. He is a member and past president of the Association of Mine Managers, and a member of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the South African Colliery Managers’ Association.

Richard Stewart has 20 years’ experience in South Africa’s geological and mining industries, is a Fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa and is a Registered Natural Scientist. Prior to joining Sibanye-Stillwater in 2014, he served on the Gold One Executive Committee, from 2009 to 2014, in both Technical and Business Development related roles. Richard was also the CEO of JSE listed Goliath Gold Limited, from 2013 to 2014. Prior to that he was an Investment Consultant for the Private Equity Group, African Global Capital Proprietary Limited and held management positions at Uranium One and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Mining Technology division.  He was a co-founding member and director of Shango Solutions, a geological consultancy firm.

Bernard is the Chairman of the annual Junior Indaba and Joburg Indaba as well as an Executive Director of the SBI. He is a Partner at To-The-Point Growth Specialists as well as a Partner in THINKspiration. He served as Non-Executive Director on the boards of Impala, Zimplats, Eqstra and African Rainbow Minerals Limited. Previous roles include Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Village Main Reef Limited and CEO of Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited. He is Chairman and Managing Partner of MMC (Manganese Metal Company) as well as a non-executive director of African Rainbow Energy Producer (AREP).

From his beginnings in education to his career in Human Resources, Mike has gained extensive experience in people and business management in BHP and Impala, as well as CEO of Optimum Coal Holdings (prior to it being taken over by Glencore). Mike is the Chairperson and controlling shareholder of the Masimong Group and serves as Chair/Non-Executive Director at the Anchor Group, Rofles Holdings and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal. He is also a past president of the Chamber of Mines and serves on the Council of the Chamber. In keeping with his passion to leave a legacy for the next generation, Mike serves on the board of the University of Johannesburg.

Dr Tsengwa has a Ph.D. in Agronomy from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA and has completed the Executive Development Programme at Insead. She has more than 17 years of executive management and board experience in the public and private sector. In 2003 she joined Kumba Resources (subsequently renamed Exxaro) as General Manager Safety, Health and Environment. In 2007 she became Executive General Manager Safety and Sustainable Development. In 2010, she became directly involved with the management of coal operations, as the General Manager of Captive Mines and General Manager of Mpumalanga operations. In 2015, she was appointed as the Acting Executive Head of Coal Operations and was subsequently appointed as Executive Head of Coal Operations in July 2016. She is the 2017 winner of the Standard Bank Business Woman of the Year award and the 2018 winner of the Pan-African Awards’ Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government - Mining Industry Category.

Arnold van Graan has extensive international mining-related financial experience. Arnold joined Nedbank in 2016 as an Equity Analyst covering platinum and gold producers. Prior to joining Nedbank, he worked in equity research at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Royal Bank of Canada and Investec Securities. Arnold started his career with Ernst & Young's mining team in Johannesburg, with secondments to practices in Manchester and New York. He is a Chartered Accountant.

Andries van Heerden has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Afrimat Ltd since November 2006. He is also a member of the company's board of directors. Prior to serving in this role, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Lancaster Group (Pty) Ltd (2005), the Managing Director of Prima Quarries (Pty) Ltd. (2003-2005) and served in various other operational management roles, mostly in the mining and quarrying industries. Andries is well known for his visionary leadership and was instrumental in 2006 in the formation and listing of Afrimat on the JSE from the merger of Prima and Lancaster. Being a results-driven, performance-oriented people person, Andries is constantly investing time and energy in refining the business' strategy. He is passionate about people and leadership development and further enhanced his knowledge on these subjects when he attended the four-week "Advanced Management" programme in July 2017 at INSEAD, The business school of the World in Fontainebleau, France. With his extensive experience in strategic positioning, engineering, marketing and finance, Andries was humbled in November 2017 when he was named the winner of the masters' category of the Ernst & Young World entrepreneur of the Year award for the Southern African region.

Paul focuses on the natural resources sector in Sub-Sahara Africa. He graduated with a B(Commerce) Honours (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria and is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst. Paul started his career at KPMG which included working in the KPMG Corporate Finance team based in New York and focused on private equity, information technology and infrastructure and mining focused clients. He started his banking career at Rand Merchant Bank where he spent five years in the Corporate Finance division and was mainly focused on Anglo American and Kumba Iron Ore. Paul joined J.P. Morgan in 2012 and have been involved in transactions for a wide array of clients such as Sibanye Gold, Goldfields, Lonmin, Kumba Iron Ore, Harmony Gold, African Rainbow Minerals, Seplat Petroleum and Indorama Eleme.

Mpumi was a De Beers bursar and officially joined the De Beers Group in 2001 as a process engineer. As part of her production journey, she worked on process improvement and plant design projects and also worked in various leadership levels within production management. She was appointed General Manager at De Beers Kimberley Mines in 2007, becoming the first female General Manager in the De Beers Group. In 2010, she was appointed General Manager of the Group’s Voorspoed mine and three and a half years later became Senior Vice-President of De Beers Sightholder Sales South Africa, the company that sorts, values and sells all De Beers production in RSA. She was made Deputy CEO of De Beers Consolidated Mines in November 2017, rising to her current position as the first head of the Group’s Managed Operations business 17 months later. Managed Operations includes De Beers operations in South Africa and Canada. Mpumi holds a BSc in chemical engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand and completed leadership development at the London Business School. Mpumi previously served as a non-executive director of various companies including the Black Management Forum and Mintek.