• BUSINESS
MEMSA ON A MISSION TO
SERVE THE MINING MANUFACTURING COMMUNITY IN SA AND ABROAD
Mining Equipment Manufacturers of South Africa ( MEMSA ) CEO , Lehlohonolo Molloyi , met with Sharyn Macnamara at African Mining , to discuss MEMSA as an organisation , its role and vision in the mining industry , and the organisation ’ s perspective on African trade and investment .
Lehlohonolo Molloyi has been appointed CEO of MEMSA at a time when the organisation is focusing on revisiting its marketing strategy and value proposition to the industry with a strong emphasis on sustainability , member recruitment and retention .
He comes with 30 years of experience in the mining industry . Molloyi started his career as a Metallurgist at Anglo American , moving on to Anglo Gold and later Goldfields . He has also worked extensively in the R & D , marketing , and operational executive spaces within the industry across processing plants , open-cast , and underground mining operations . In addition , his entrepreneurial spirit saw him starting and running his own business in the mining metallurgical consulting space . Molloyi spoke candidly with African Mining about MEMSA ’ s role in the industry and its vision for the future with its drive to add value to the mining industry – particularly in the R & D and innovation space . He also shared his perspective on African trade and investment – although MEMSA members are based in South Africa , they are able to supply to the continent of Africa and the world .
MEMSA
Lehlohonolo Molloyi , MEMSA CEO , addressing industry stakeholders at the official inaugural MEMSA Golf Day , 15th October 2021
Formally established in 2016 , MEMSA has functioned as an industry cluster organisation and a voice for the South African mining equipment manufacturing industry , serving as a point of liaison for the government and private sector . It is based at the Mandela Mining Precinct hosted by the CSIR , where the association is able to collaborate with industry partners such as the Department of Trade , Industry and Competition ( dtic ), the Department of Science and Innovation ( DSI ), the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy ( DMRE ) and the Minerals Council South Africa .
Molloyi has taken on the first full time CEO role at MEMSA and has been given the mandate to grow MEMSA with the assistance of funding for a two-year period from the DSI .
MEMSA is revisiting both its Marketing and PR strategies in a drive to make the association more visible and relevant . Some
30 • African Mining • February 2022 of the funding that has been available will be used to this end , keeping the two functions strategically separate to maintain an unbiased trajectory in ultimately defining MEMSA ’ s value proposition and relevance to the industry at large . “ We are confident that at the end of the journey , we will have a strategy that resonates with the industry , and a strong visibility so that when somebody thinks mining products and local , the first entity that comes to mind is MEMSA .”
Import displacement and tariffs Molloyi ’ s first port of call has been to interact extensively with the current local OEM MEMSA members to understand the challenges they currently face in the industry in order to better service them . He highlights their plight when it comes to South African import displacement , and tariffs charged on the import of components such as engines , axels , and transmissions for manufacture , versus a foreign
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