Thungela Resources has picked De Beers executive Moses Madondo to replace July Ndlovu, who is retiring from Aug. 1, the South African thermal coal exporter said on Tuesday.
Thungela said in a statement Madondo is taking over from Ndlovu, who will reach the age of 60 years in July and has to step down according to the company’s retirement policy.
Ndlovu, an engineer, has been at the helm of Thungela, which mines coal burned in power stations, since it was spun off from Anglo American in 2021. Prior to that he had headed the Anglo coal division.
He steps down as South African coal producers including Exxaro Resources and Glencore struggle with a failing rail network system that is affecting shipments of the fossil fuel to ports for export.
Madondo, who is currently CEO of De Beers’ Managed Operations – the diamond giant’s operations in South Africa and Canada – was chosen after a “comprehensive selection process”, Thungela said.
He joins Thungela as the coal producer is expanding its operations in Australia in a bid to lessen volume losses in South Africa where the lack of sufficient rail capacity has hit income.
South Africa’s state-owned port and rail operator Transnet is struggling to provide adequate logistics services due to equipment shortages, cable theft and vandalism of infrastructure.
(Reporting by Nelson Banya, Additional reporting by Felix Njini; Editing by Louise Heavens and David Evans)
