Former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has joined the board of project developer Ivanhoe Mines as a nonexecutive director, the company announced last week.
He is expected to bring a “new dimension” to the company’s strategic evaluations, consensus building and decision-making by the Ivanhoe board, the company said in a statement.
“Motlanthe is widely recognised as one of the African continent’s wise[st] men. His experience in some exceptional leadership positions, spanning more than 40 years of business, political and social transformation, will add an informed and invigorating perspective to the Ivanhoe board’s business guidance,” executive chairperson Robert Friedland said.
Motlanthe was President of South Africa between 2008 and 2009 and served as Deputy President from 2009 to 2014. He was deputy president of the ruling African National Congress from 2007 to 2012, and secretary-general of the party from 1997 to 2007.
Ivanhoe is advancing its three main projects in Southern Africa, including mine development at the Platreef platinum/palladium/ gold/nickel/copper discovery on the northern limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex; mine development and exploration at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery on the Central African Copperbelt, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); and upgrading at the historic Kipushi zinc/copper/silver/germanium mine, also in the DRC.