CEO Today Africa Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 68 CEO Today Africa Awards 2018 SOUTH AFRICA NEAL FRONEMAN CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater Being a game-changer in today’s mining sector requires courage, agility and vision. When he was appointed in 2013, to become the CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, Neal Froneman, with 30 years in various spheres of mining saw the future on the company as a South African-based global player. With the mindset and skillset of an entrepreneur, he has built Sibanye- Stillwater from a South African gold business into a locally and NYSE-listed, multi-commodity, global precious metals business employing nearly 70,000 employees and impacting 3% of South Africa’s population. “ Mining employs the most committed and courageous workers in the world ”, says Froneman. Over his three-decade career he has succeeded by focusing on creating a values-based culture as the means to protect workers and ensure safe production. It hasn’t been easy as his career has taken him across the spectrum of the diverse cultures of the top mining houses. His first CEO position was in 2003 where he was appointed CEO of Aflease Gold Limited, which, through a series of reverse take-overs, became Gold One International Limited (Gold One) in May 2009. He was primarily responsible for the creation of Uranium One Incorporated from the Aflease Gold uranium assets. He held the CEO position at Gold One until his appointment at Sibanye-Stillwater in 2013. Upon driving the formation of and taking on the CEO role at Sibanye-Stillwater, he aimed to grow the business by expanding the workforce, positioning the company in a globally competitive environment through diversifying into other minerals such as platinum and palladium, and most importantly, by creating a purpose for the company; to improve lives through mining. Under his leadership, he has assembled what he calls his “ dream team ” of best in class industry experts. Operating under his creation of the Sibanye-Stillwater “ Tree of Life ”, he uses the metaphor of the tree to dramatize his belief that successful companies all have deep clear values as roots. “ Great companies have great values ,” says Froneman. Guided by those values he has propelled the company forward in implementing a strategic positioning as a leadings precious metals miner with an international operating footprint. The mining company started off with 41,000 workers when Gold Fields’ unbundled Kloof, Driefontein and Beatrix operations, and today, the company employs 64,000 workers. The diversification success story began when the company successfully completed four big acquisitions. One in gold, with the acquisition of Gold One’s Cooke operations in 2013 and three in platinum, with the acquisition of the Rustenburg operations from Anglo American Platinum in 2016, the acquisition of Aquarius Platinum also in 2016, and lastly the acquisition of the US-based Stillwater Mining Company in 2017. All these goals, Froneman achieved before even reaching the five-year mark at the helm of the company. However, he did not anticipate that the fifth-year mark would prove to be the toughest and most testing of his character in all his thirty-years in mining. Froneman has been humbled by being recognised and listed on the Top 50 best CEOs in CEO Today Magazine’s CEO Africa Awards in 2018. “ There is no question this is an honour. But it isn’t mine alone. A CEO is only as successful as the team around him ,” added Froneman. On a regular basis he reminds his team that only through perpetual reflection on the year ahead can Sibanye-Stillwater maintain its momentum, overcome the challenges inherent in mining and create a company that contributes to the growth and welfare of its employees, the communities it serves and the country while exceeding investor expectations. When Sibanye- first listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 2013, the company’s market capitalisation was R9 billion. By the end of December 2017, The company’s market capitalisation was R34.3 billion and had concluded one of the biggest acquisitions of the year when it acquired ABOUT NEAL FRONEMAN & SIBANYE-STILLWATER