Menar Chairman’s View
Mpumelelo Mkhabela
If you follow business news headlines regularly, you will find some consistent and interrelated messages. From investors, you will hear of the need for speedy regulatory approvals for business licences. From the environmentally conscious, you will hear of the decarbonisation of economies. From policymakers worried about economic slow-down, you will hear of the need for economic recovery.
In our maiden Manganese operation, Menar and our partner Sehunelo Group combined all these concerns. On business licence approvals, East Manganese showcased what government could do to speed up investments. We invested in the project in 2018 and in September 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc in all economies, we started mining the box cut. East Manganese could serve as a model of speedy regulatory approval by all the relevant licencing authorities including the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
Regarding environmental consciousness, we are pleased to enter into the extraction of a mineral that is an ingredient to metal batteries that are an integral part of decarbonisation. Manganese is also key to the production of steel, a product useful in the manufacturing of wind turbines and solar panels. On the economic recovery front, there is no doubt that steel will be crucial to massive expenditure by governments as they try to revive their economies through infrastructure projects. So, in a small way, East Manganese is shining the light on our big ambitions as we execute our diversification strategy.
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Setso sa Sitatunga, which means the culture of Sitatunga in Setswana, a name thought up by one of our colleagues at East Manganese.
- Mpumelelo Mkhabela
