From The COO’s Desk

Dear Colleagues, Contractors and Community members, I am delighted to share the inaugural, bumper edition of S’fun Ukwazi with you. This bilingual (English-isiZulu) publication has been in the making for some time and has now become a reality. S’fun Ukwazi is an isiZulu phrase meaning ‘We want to know’ and as the name suggests, it aims to provide all Kangra’s stakeholders with updates about what we are doing to take Kangra forward.

The name of the publication was selected from among hundreds of suggested names submitted by staff members at Kangra. The winning name was given by Malibongwe Gumbi who is also, coincidentally, profiled in this edition of the publication, as one of our rising stars at Kangra.

Since Menar, our main shareholder, acquired the operations in December 2018, it has been a great challenge to take a mine with a lot of obstacles to a stable state. It required a huge effort from our shareholders, employees, unions and community members working together.

2019 was at times a challenging year for Kangra. Although we became the first mine to allocate shares to workers and communities, since Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe issued Mining Charter III, the steep decline in the coal price had a negative effect on the operation. Kangra has been a high cost operation, with low production tonnages from the underground workings, which put the mine in a situation that washing the raw coal was no longer viable. This resulted in the biggest lowlight of the year, when the plants were put on care and maintenance and Kangra was placed in the unavoidable and undesirable position of having to let go a number of staff members to ensure the sustainability of the business.

On a more positive side, since the decision was made to close the plants in May 2019 and put the focus on production, Kangra has ramped up underground production from an average of 47 000 tons per month to 100 000 tons per month in the Gus seam. The investments made in the new and refurbished equipment for the H Block is paying off and the continuous rise in production has been a major positive for the mine.

Six months ago, when I joined the Kangra team, I can remember sitting in the board room with my hands on my head thinking it was impossible to turn this titanic ship around. But with team work, long planning sessions, cost cutting and many hours of hard work, we the workers and management team of Kangra have collectively managed to implement a plan to stabilise the mine. Although we are not at the production levels we need to be at, we are continuing to improve and one can finally see some light in the tunnel.

Not only have we made head way to stabilise the mine, Kangra has come a long way with the community this year. A community forum has been established with the host communities, Driefontein, Donkerhoek/Kransbank, Gehoutboom, Mahhashini - all aligning together to create one forum. We have also established a Business Forum with Driefontein, Donkerhoek and Kransbank to give the locals from the community a platform to deal directly with Kangra for procurement opportunities and upliftment.

Kangra has also implemented a ‘Strategic Intent Programme’ to empower local communities. This came about owing to the inability of poor mining communities’ inability to compete with major contractors for larger mine contracts. The programme seeks to provide these under resourced communities with the guidance and support they require to share in business opportunities arising from the mine.

For the first time in 62 years, Kangra awarded one of its largest contracts to businesses established in the community of Donkerhoek/Kransbank and Driefontein. The contract for the hauling of coal was awarded under a mentorship programme, partially funded by Kangra and a strategic partner to enable the two local businesses to own 100% of the contract over a 3-5-year period. The local businesses which represent the entire area surrounding the mine also brought about collaboration between the community leaders. The contract was carefully planned to ensure that all parties concerned have clear roles identified with targets set for each company over the period. The local businesses have commenced operations and already have a 37% stake in the coal haulage contract.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the continued support that you have given the mine in assisting us to make Kangra a better place for all our employees, contractors and community members. A special thank you to the Union members for your assistance and hard work this year to get Kangra back on track and support in stopping the terminal decline that was facing the mine.

I am looking forward to the growth that we will all achieve together, as this is extremely important for the future of the mine, and the sustainability of the business. 2020 will host another year of challenges for us all to overcome with the opening of the Kusipongo reserve together with the new C Block opencast section. Teamwork, good communication and consistency will help us overcome these challenges and together, we will keep pushing Kangra to new levels.

Lastly, but the most importantly, I want to remind all mine employees that safe production remains the number one priority of Kangra. Please always ensure to look after yourself as well at all times as the team members around you.

Our motto at Kangra “The only good type of production is production that is done safely”.