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Leadership

Board and Management: Non-Executive Directors

Dr Lelau Mohuba

MBChB

Chairman

Modilati Gustav Mahlare

BCom (Accounting),
BCompt (Hons)

David Twist

BSc (Hons), PhD

Carlo Baravalle

BA (Economics), MBA

Board and Management: Executive Directors

Rob Wagner

BSc Eng (Elec), GCC
(Mines and Works)

Chief EXECUTIVE Officer

Kogi Naicker

CA (SA)

Chief FINANCIAL Officer

Senior Management

Pierre Becker

BEng, BCom

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Loek van den Heever

National Higher Diploma: Mechanical Engineering, GCC, BCom

SALES AND TECHNICAL MANAGER

Chris Mulder

BLC, LLB

LEGAL AND CONTRACTS MANAGER

Johan Brits

MCom (Project Management), MEng (Extractive Metallurgy)

PROJECT DIRECTOR: SepFluor

Shibe Rose Matjiu

MA (Medical Social Work), BA (Hons) (Social Work), Certificate in Mining and Minerals

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Ntando Nonoise

BSc (Hons), PMD, PGDip

EXPLORATION MANAGER

Sabatha Mahote

BSc (Eng) (Chemical), MBA

PROJECT MANAGER: SepCHEM

Lelau is a retired medical officer with 23 years’ experience in the medical field. He transitioned to business in 2001 with Shikisha Tyre and Rubber Pty Ltd, a joint venture with Goodyear Holdings and entered the mining industry as Business Development Director for Boynton Platinum in 2003, facilitating its dual listing in 2006. He co-founded Sephaku Holdings in 2005 and served as Executive Chairman until its listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2009, later becoming chief executive officer (CEO). He is currently the chairman of SepFluor in addition to holding chairmanships in other ventures. During his esteemed career, Lelau has received accolades including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2013 and Black Business Executive Circle Kaelo Award in 2014.

Gustav has in excess of 25 years’ experience in auditing and advisory and has held positions at companies including PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is currently a director at MMM Advisory Services (Pty) Ltd where he is responsible for internal audit, corporate governance, risk management and management consulting.

David is a PhD geologist (University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1980), entrepreneur and businessman with more than 40 years’ experience in mineral exploration, research and mining. He was a founding director of various companies including Platmin, Taung Gold, Sephaku Holdings and a founder partner of African Minerals Exploration & Development (AMED), a private equity fund focused on exploration and development projects in Africa. David is a registered natural scientist (SACNAS), a member of the Society of Economic Geologists and a fellow of the Geological Society of London.

Carlo began his career in finance with Italian fashion group GFT. He then spent several years in strategic consulting, working on global assignments for large French conglomerates. Carlo moved to the telecoms industry, firstly with BT, then to SBW Warburg as a Director of the Corporate Finance Telecoms team and finally to Lucent Technologies. At this point Carlo became involved in the private equity industry taking a senior assignment with a company owned by Apax Partners as MD International and main board member at The Exchange FS, and later as senior Vice-President for EMEA, Asia and LatAm for LCC. In 2006 he co-founded NCP, a private equity fund of funds aimed mainly at Italian institutional investors, focussed on mid-cap buyout funds and co-investments globally. In 2011 he co-founded AMED Funds.

Rob has widespread experience in mining with a career spanning more than 36 years in the industry. He started as an engineer at JCI working on a number of gold, coal, platinum and antimony mines. Thereafter he held senior positions across several commodities including gold, chrome, nickel/copper and manganese. Rob joined SepFluor as CEO 2015 and was instrumental in progressing the development of the Nokeng Fluorspar Mine.

Kogi, a qualified Chartered Accountant, completed articles with Ernst & Young (South Africa). She has more than 20 years’ finance experience and 13 years’ experience in the mining industry within the PGMs and coal sectors.

Pierre has gained extensive experience over his 30 years in the mining industry and has held general manager positions in both opencast and mechanised underground mines. He has wide-ranging project management experience with a key focus on embracing the latest technologies.   

Loek’s career spans more than 30 years in mining. Prior to joining SepFluor in 2008 he fulfilled various roles within Transvaal Mining and Finance, IMP Buffalo Fluorspar, Witkop Fluorspar and Sasol.

Chris is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa who started his career as a mineral rights lawyer at BHP Billiton. He joined SepFluor in 2006 and has extensive knowledge gained over more than 25 years in the mining industry of various aspects of mineral and exploration law, as well as project finance agreements and corporate relationships.

Johan brings over three decades of experience in the mining and minerals sector, excelling in operational, design and managerial capacities. His expertise spans a diverse range of commodities including PGMs, nickel, copper, cobalt, gold, coal and fluorspar.  Starting as a metallurgist in the platinum industry with JCI and Anglo Platinum, Johan transitioned into project management roles. His multifaceted career reflects a deep commitment to excellence and innovation in the mining industry.

Shibe has extensive experience in community-related social work and corporate social investment in both public and private sectors. Her familiarity with and knowledge of stakeholder engagement and management, Social and Labour Plans, the Mining Charter, Employment Equity compliance and company social strategy development supports SepFluor’s aspiration to contribute to the social and economic value of neighbouring communities.

Ntando has more than 15 years’ experience in exploration and operations management. He has done extensive work in greenfields exploration in sub-Saharan Africa and has worked on commodities including gold, nickel, PGMs, phosphates and fluorspar.

Sabatha is a seasoned process engineer with over 25 years’ experience in his field. Prior to joining SepFluor in 2012, he held senior roles at Sasol, De Beers and Metorex. While at Metorex, Sabatha oversaw the Alfluorco Project (hydrogen fluoride, sulfuric acid and aluminum fluoride).