In the stope
Mandlakazi Semane: the‘ supercool’ face of mining
Mandlakazi Semane has an impressive track record in the mining industry and continues to pave her way to success through hard work and commitment, writes Leon Louw.
Mandlakazi, you were recently appointed as the first black female plant manager at Kumba Iron Ore’ s Kolomela Mine in the Northern Cape. Tell us a bit about your progression through the ranks.
My undergraduate degree was in chemistry at the then Technicon of Natal( today, the Durban University of Technology). At the start of my studies, I never thought of working in the mining industry. As things turned out, however, I joined Anglo American( then it was still known as Kumba Resources) in the research and development arm of the Department of Raw Materials Technology. As a technician in mineralogy, I specialised in the characterisation of iron ore. During this time, I completed an honours degree at the University of Pretoria, specialising in metallurgy, before the company appointed me as process engineer.
My responsibility was to characterise raw materials and iron ore, and to determine the value of iron ore in an iron-making environment. In this role, I worked very closely with the technical marketing teams, who actually sold our products.
In a nutshell, I started at the end of Kumba’ s value chain when I joined the mining industry in 2002.
Since then you have held a few other interesting positions?
I moved to Sishen as a senior process engineer, where I was responsible for product handling. There I was involved in the final product side of the business. Soon after that, I joined the logistics team and became the distribution manager for the Northern Cape, which included distributing Sishen and Kolomela’ s product. I worked there for two years, then went for a short stint at Thabazimbi, before moving back to Sishen where I was appointed as jig production manager from 2014 to 2016. My last position at Sishen was section manager technical services before moving to Kolomela as plant manager.
So, you have only just started at Kolomela?
Yes, my first day at Kolomela was on the first of June.
Tell me about your challenges of getting involved in the mining industry and the challenges you have experienced over the years?
I studied chemistry, and my ambition was to work in the chemical industry. I never really saw myself in the mining industry. So, it was a complete change of the initial plan. I ended up in mining by default, and I started enjoying it a lot.
When I started in the mining industry in 2002, it was not easy for a woman. Women were not always as well respected as their male counterparts. However, at the time, there were focused programmes to make workers aware that women play a vital role in the engineering space, and that they add immense value. These programmes helped, so from then on there was a lot of support, a lot of coaching, and a lot of mentoring.
The transition was needed. But yes, I suppose it wasn’ t always an easy journey. But I also learned that when people realise that you are adding value, and that you are not just a token and are very competent and delivering on your targets, their attitudes change.
Do you see a difference in the attitudes today compared to what it would have been in the past?
There has been a general change in attitudes over the years. Today, people are more open and we all know what we are supposed to do. People are more accepting, and there has been a transition.
The playing fields are now level, and it is about what value the person brings to the table. It is about your competence and not just about ticking boxes and complying. Kumba has progressed exceptionally well. We are in a good space and do not get the same complaints that we had to deal with 10 years ago. I am convinced that we have made good progress.
We have a platform at Kumba called Women in Mining. This platform was established to make sure that women’ s voices are heard at a very high level. Kumba has put in a lot of effort to ensure a safe space for all its workers.
[ 26 ] MINING MIRROR OCTOBER 2018