Full Name: Alastair Stuart Macfarlane

Position: Codirector, Mandela Mining Precinct

Main Activity of the Company: Re-establishing the research and development (R&D) capacity and capability of the South African mining industry

Date and Place of Birth: January 19, 1951, Plymouth, England

Education: Associateship of the Camborne School of Mines, MSc (engineering), University of the Witwatersrand

First Job: Mining graduate, Anglo American, 1973

Size of First Pay Packet: R373 a month

Value of Assets under Your Control: An R&D budget of R100-million a year

Number of People under Your Leadership: The Mandela Mining Precinct currently has 70 people on site

Management Style: Situational – ranging from consultative to persuasive, depending on the situation

Personal Best Achievement: Becoming a nonexecutive director of Implats, establishing a true and successful broad-based black economic empowerment mining company (Sebilo Resources) and becoming president-elect of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My wife, Diane

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: The late Frank Chilton

Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un – just to understand how they think

Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Bobby Godsell

Philosophy of Life: Trust people until they give you reason not to

Biggest Ever Opportunity: To be a part of the transition to democracy in South Africa

Biggest Ever Disappointment: That South Africa lost its way and failed to reach the aspirations of a better life for all, as espoused by Nelson Mandela

Hope for the Future: That, under an ethical and transparent leadership, South Africa becomes the economic powerhouse of Africa, to the benefit of all the peoples of the continent

Favourite Reading: History and historical romantic novels

Favourite TV Programme: Eastenders and Isidingo

Favourite Food/Drink: Fresh Scottish salmon with a Viognier, followed by a single-malt scotch

Favourite Music: Classical, especially nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russian composers

Favourite Sport: Cricket, golf, rugby

Hobbies: Golf, painting, enjoying a braai with family and friends, being in the bush

Car: Toyota Prado

Pets: Three dogs and three cats

Miscellaneous Dislikes: Boring people, people with fixed ideas, spiders, snakes, the smell of cooked liver and kidneys

Married: To Diane

Children: Bruce, 35; Christopher, 31; Catherine, 25; Stevie, 7; and granddaughter Seanna, 11 weeks

Clubs: Club 140 golf