The imminent retirement of Sibanye-Stillwater’s CEO Neal Froneman is the latest change at the top of SA’s largest mining companies, with the bosses of Harmony, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), Exxaro and Thungela all stepping down in the past year or so — starving the industry of more than 150 years of combined experience.
The retirements and resignations have seen a new breed of mining executives coming to the fore to take the industry forward — in the biggest C-suite shake-up in more than a decade.
The change of guard at SA’s top mining houses has largely been smooth, with many internal candidates appointed as CEO designates/successors.
Mining veteran Peter Steenkamp retired as CEO of SA’s leading gold producer by volume, Harmony, in December — bringing down the curtains on a career stretching 45 years, including eight at the helm of the group.
Steenkamp holds a BSc degree in engineering (mining) and has in his long career held roles of, most recently, senior president of mining at Sasol Mining and executive positions at ARM and Pamodzi Gold.
He was replaced as Harmony CEO by Beyers Nel who took over at the beginning of the year.
Nel has been Harmony’s group COO since January 2023 and COO of the group’s SA operations since 2016.
With 24 years’ experience in the gold mining industry, Nel also previously served as president of the Association of Mine Managers SA and is chair of the Mines Rescue Service.
Harmony appointed Floyd Masemula to the newly created role of deputy group CEO.
Thermal coal miner Thungela Resources — which was born in 2021 after the demerger of Anglo American’s SA coal assets, is also on the verge of a leadership succession.
CEO July Ndlovu is set to retire in July, and will be replaced by Moses Madondo — the CEO of De Beers Group Managed Operations.
Ndlovu has more than 30 years’ mining experience, while Madondo brings to the table 25 years’ experience.
Froneman brings down the curtains on a career stretching back nearly 40 years, a period in which he has worked at Gold Fields, Harmony and JCI.
During his 12-year stay at the helm of Sibanye, he led the transformation of the group into a top primary producer of platinum group metals (PGM) and built an international portfolio of battery metal operations along with growing involvement in the circular economy and tailings reprocessing businesses.
Richard Stewart, Sibanye chief regional officer for Southern Africa, will take over from Froneman in October. Stewart brings 24 years’ experience in SA’s geological and mining industries to the Sibanye stable.
Industry veteran Michael Schmidt in 2023 stepped down as African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) CEO after just more than a decade at the helm and was replaced by then-COO Velile Phillip Tobias.
Exxaro, SA’s largest coal miner, is on the lookout of a new CEO after the acrimonious departure of Nombasa Tsengwa this month, after her suspension in December.
Tsengwa, who has more than 20 years’ experience, took over the reins at Exxaro in 2023, the year in which Mxolisi Mgojo reached retirement age.
The exit of Tsengwa and that of Natascha Viljoen as CEO of Amplats at the tail end of 2023 to take up a senior post at Newmont, the world’s largest gold producer, leaves Kumba boss Mpumi Zikalala as the sole female CEO of a JSE-listed mining house — a blow to transformation of the sector.
Viljoen, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the industry was swiftly replaced by Amplats’ then CFO Craig Miller — who is armed with 25 years’ experience having worked in SA, Brazil, and the UK, with expertise spanning Anglo American’s PGMs, base metals and bulk commodities businesses.
With Jacob Webster
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