On 20 October 2022 – our Grootegeluk family celebrated 10 years fatality-free – an incredible milestone for Exxaro’s flagship mine and the world’s largest coal beneficiation complex operating from a single open pit.

This incredible milestone is anchored in Exxaro’s Khetha Ukuphepha (Choose Safety) campaign, with Zero Harm remaining the organisations’ key safety objective. Mongezi Veti, Executive Head for Sustainability, said: “The safety of our employees is something we work towards consistently throughout the business, and we strive to achieve this through collective responsibility, commitment, and ongoing focus.

“The management team never rests when it comes to ensuring safety in the workplace, which is why we are currently engaging with employees on several different safety campaigns, including one focused on the festive season.”

As part of the 10-year celebrations at Grootegeluk, employees were welcomed to work with a special snack pack as a gesture of the mine’s appreciation. The management team stationed themselves at various entry and exit points to make sure they congratulated each employee on this collective achievement.

Impact Catalyst has launched in Mpumalanga, bringing this innovative public-private partnership to the province to drive large-scale, socio-economic development initiatives, including supporting the re-purposing of power generation infrastructure, sustainable mine closure and environmental management for agricultural development.

Impact Catalyst is a joint partnership between Exxaro, Anglo American, the CSIR, World Vision South Africa and IDC, which creates public-private partnerships to drive large-scale, socio-economic development initiatives. It also aims to improve capacity within local municipalities by facilitating mentor capability development to drive service delivery. In 2022, Mzila Mthenjane, Exxaro’s Executive Head of Stakeholder Affairs, was appointed Chairman of Impact Catalyst.

The launch of Impact Catalyst Mpumalanga comes at a time when South Africa is navigating its Just Energy Transition (JET). Mpumalanga is an essential economic contributor and one that presents new opportunities for renewable energy sources, like solar and wind, as well as access to the electricity grid infrastructure.

Impact Catalyst Mpumalanga is the third province to benefit from this exciting private-public partnership. The first was launched in Limpopo, followed by the Northern Cape. The programme has established a solid track record since its inception in 2019, including: