Full Name: Sietse van der Woude

Position: Senior executive: modernisation and safety, Chamber of Mines

Main Activity of the Company: Representing our members in the interest of our beloved country

Date and Place of Birth: February 1, 1965, Johannesburg

Education: MSc, MBL

First Job: Cleaner at Fokker, the Dutch aircraft company

Size of First Pay Packet: Enough for an extended self-discovery travel through Europe

Value of Assets under Your Control: Not applicable

Number of People under Your Leadership: Nobody is under me – I aim to serve

Management Style: It depends on the situation

Personal Best Achievement: Paying lobola and marrying at the age of 47

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

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Philip Metcalf, Dr John Stewart, Zoli Diliza, Dr Frans Barker, Bheki Sibiya and Roger Baxter

Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Not one specific person – from every person I can learn to live and love better

Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Lebo Malepa, of Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers

Philosophy of Life: All that really matters is the love you give and the love you receive

Biggest Ever Opportunity: Playing a role in the modernisation of South African mining by working with many others

Biggest Ever Disappointment: That it is so hard to accept that disappointments are God-given gifts to learn and grow

Hope for the Future: An all-gain, no-pain modernisation of South African mining

Favourite Reading: My two-year-old son’s books with him

Favourite TV Programme: We have no TV

Favourite Food/Drink: Unhealthy – toasted cheese and tomato with a vanilla milkshake; healthy – my wife’s vegetarian meals with an amazon cocktail

Favourite Music: Powerful music from different genres, including Verdi’s Requiem and The Gathering’s Saturnine

Favourite Sport: Rugby

Hobbies: Discovering ways to reduce any family’s carbon footprint, water use and waste through technology, behaviour change and other means

Car: Lexus Hybrid

Pets: None

Miscellaneous Dislikes: Politicians who serve themselves more than those who elected them

Married: To Marli

Children: Two-year-old Simo – short for Simangaliso, which means ‘miracle’

Clubs: None