Shareholding

As an independent private company, our shareholders are drawn from across the South African gold mining industry, placing Rand Refinery in a unique position. This gives us extensive insight and unique understanding of the precise requirements of both the mining process and mining houses, ensuring we fully meet our customers’ needs. At the same time, we enjoy the full support of two of the largest gold mining houses in the world. This gives us sustainability of supply which gives comfort to our downstream customers.

Board of Directors and Management

Praveen Baijnath
Chief Executive Officer

Dean Subramanian
Chief Financial Officer

Non-Executive Directors

Teddy Daka
Independent Non-Executive Chairman

Fatima Daniels
Independent Non-Executive Director

Dr Harry Ephraim Mashego
Non-Executive Director

Marthinus (Martin) van der Walt
Non-Executive Director

Vitesh Maharaj
Non-Executive Director

Anusha (Rene) Pillay
Non-Executive Director

Alternate Director

Herman Perry
Alternate Director

Mpho Mashatola
Alternate Director

Executive Committee

Collin Naicker
General Manager: Smelter and Engineering Services

Peter Bouwer
General Manager: Refinery and Fabrication

Terance Nkosi
Executive Head: SHEQ & Technical Assurance

Unathi Sihlahla
General Manager: Human Resources

Busisiwe Khangale
Company Secretary

Our History

In the early days of South African gold mining, the crude bullion produced had to be shipped to London for refining. However, the year 1909 was the first step on our journey of independence when the Transvaal Chamber of Mines founded the Witwatersrand Co-operative Smelting Works, to treat the gold and silver bearing by-products from reduction works.

On 27 November 1920, Rand Refinery Limited was registered as a private company with initial capital raised from shares limited to gold mining companies that were members of the Chamber of Mines.

Throughout our journey to independence we constantly strive to put both our local and international clients top of mind and continue to pursue valuable change in everything we do.

Our Journey So Far

With over a 100 years of rich heritage, we have built strong relationships based on integrity and ethics, strived beyond our humble beginnings at the foot of Africa and achieved many global firsts.

We commit to constantly pursue valuable change in everything we do, from helping young and talented jewelers realize their potential. We continue to grow Rand Refinery, while doing our part to decrease South Africa’s high unemployment rates.

Going forward, we will strive harder and further – expanding our expertise exponentially, adding value beyond measure, exploring new and untapped markets and establishing key global partnerships and alliances.

Our People

Integral to driving our pursuit of excellence and constantly refining our offering are the people of Rand Refinery. We enjoy exceptional long-term loyalty matched with talent and immense experience. And as a result, we have built long-term customer relationships in the process.

See our Employment Equity Policy.

Our Values

To create value change, we first have to instil a set of shared beliefs within our organization. Our values have been developed in consultation with our employees:
Values_mindsets_web

Our Mindset

  • SSHEQ – “I take personal responsibility for security, safety, health, environment and quality”
  • Accuracy and precision – “Every milligram counts for me”.
  • Delivery Culture – “I am accountable, and results orientated”
  • Ubuntu – “I am honest, respectful, mindful of our diversity and behave with integrity in my daily interactions.”

Policies and Procedures

Rand Refinery’s values provide the framework for the development, implementation, maintenance, monitoring and review of company policies and procedures.  There are several policies but contrary to the why we do business are:

Environmental Sustainability Governance

Rand Refinery is passionate about improving the lives of people and our communities by making a positive difference and contributing towards the wellbeing of those around us.  Our aim is to:
  • To help alleviate poverty
  • Safeguard good health and well being
  • Stimulate quality education
  • Encourage gender equality
  • Empower industrial innovation
  • Develop sustainable communities
  • Ensure responsible consumption and production
Rand Refinery has a well-established Gold Zone on its premises on which it hosts the Jewellery Village. The aim of the Jewellery Village is to create an environment which will enable local communities to participate in skills development, jewellery design and manufacturing. The main Jewellery benefactors of this village are:

For more details on our ESG initiatives / reporting – for example Covid response, BBBEE, community engagement, Governance, Environment (Water, Energy usage etc) – please see the relevant sections of our annual report:

Annual Report 2020
Annual Report 2021

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Praveen Baijnath PMD, MBA

Chief Executive

Praveen is a Chemical Engineer with more than 30 years’ experience in minerals beneficiation, smelting and refining, and the chemical process industry. He attended University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business Program (PMD) in 1995 and in the year 2000 attained an MBA with distinction from the University of Wales.

Praveen Baijnath was appointed as Chief Executive of Rand Refinery on 1 June 2015. He is also an Executive Director on the Rand Refinery Board. His other board directorships include Prestige Bullion and the Ekurhuleni Jewellery Project.

He was previously (2009-2015) Group CEO of JSE listed Delta EMD and remains on the Board of Delta EMD Limited as independent, non-executive director. He also served as CEO of Gold Reef Speciality Chemicals. His previous roles spanning a period of 20 years was with Huntsman Corporation in process and chemical engineering, plant management and executive management roles in Operations, EHS, Technical and Strategic Development.

He is a member of the South African Institute of Directors, South African Institute of Chemical Engineers and an Associate of The Institution of Chemical Engineer (IChemE).

Dean Subramanian BCom, Hons Accounting CA (SA)

Chief Financial Officer

Dean Subramanian is a Chartered Accountant and has extensive CFO and Finance Executive experience.

Dean Subramanian held the position of Chief Financial Officer at ArcelorMittal listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Dean also held the position of Finance Director at Aveng Steel, an operating group of Aveng Limited, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Dean worked both in the construction and manufacturing divisions of Aveng. Prior to that, Dean held various positions in the Banking, Construction, Aviation and Property industry. Dean has extensive experience in Africa and served his articles at EY in Johannesburg where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant; he was seconded by EY to New York where he worked.

Dean joined Rand Refinery in the position of CFO and Executive Director on 1 August 2018.

Teddy Daka

Master of Business Administration and a BA in Business Management

Non-Executive Chairman

With a career trajectory that spans chairing and serving on several major boards, public sector task teams and committees as well as being a senior corporate executive, Teddy is highly respected across South African businesses as an entrepreneur, business consultant and trusted advisor to both blue-chip companies and public sector entities. He has significant corporate experience as a non-executive director and corporate executive to various industries spanning defence, mining, aviation, telecommunication, infrastructure engineering, railways, information technology, cybersecurity and management consulting. With over 17 years’ experience as a non-executive director, this includes listed and non-listed companies, and private sector firms and state-owned companies as well as local and foreign multinationals based in South Africa and overseas.

Teddy holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management. He has also completed numerous executive programmes over the past 25 years and was awarded the Africa CEO of the Year 2018 as well as the IT Personality of the Year in 2018.

Fatima Daniels BSc, CA (SA)

Independent Non-Executive Director

After spending several years in the auditing profession, Fatima went on to lecture in financial accounting and then spent over a decade in various positions in corporate South Africa. Fatima currently serves on several Boards.

Fatima has previously served on the Boards of Telkom, Metropolitan, Woolworths, South African Reserve Bank, SA Mint, SA Banknote, and Impala Platinum Holdings. She is currently a director of the MTN Group (various subsidiaries), Clicks Group, MMI Holdings, Tongaat Hulett, AfriSam Holdings and JSE Ltd Board.

Fatima was appointed as a non-executive director of Rand Refinery in June 2012 and also serves as the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Harry Ephraim "Mashego" Mashego

BA (Education), BA (Hons), (Human Resources Management) Joint Management Development Programme, Global Executive Development Programme

Non-Executive Directors

Mashego joined Harmony in 2005 and has been responsible for group human resources development, transformation and, most recently, government relations. He has more than 20 years’ experience in human resources, acquired largely in the industrial sector. Mashego was appointed as an executive director at Harmony on 24 February 2010.

Mashego joined the Board of Rand Refinery on 9 August 2017, and is also a member of the Social and Ethics Committee.

Marthinus (Martin)
van der Walt

Non-Executive Director

Martin is currently the acting senior vice-president and head of finance of the South Africa gold segment at Sibanye Stillwater Limited.  Martin joined Rand Refinery in October 2021 as a Non-Executive Director and is a member of the ARC and SEC.

Vitesh Maharaj BSc

Non-executive Director

Vits was head of asset strategy and reliability at Angle American Corporation and head of engineering at Anglo American Platinum and previously held various operational and head-office roles at De Beers. He is currently senior vice-president of technical at AngloGold Ashanti. During his 27-year career he worked both on operational support and projects.

Vits has both multi-product (diamonds, gold and platinum) and multinational exposure with a deep understanding of all facets of the mining business. Vits joined Rand Refinery in May 2021 as a non-executive director and a permanent member of the Social and Ethics Committee

Anusha (Rene) Pillay

Non-Executive Director.

Rene is currently the senior vice-president integrated services SA Region at Sibanye Stillwater Limited. Rene joined Rand Refinery in December 2022 as a Non-Executive Director.

Herman Perry CA (SA)

Non-executive Director – Alternates

Herman Perry is a Chartered Accountant by profession with over 15 years’ experience within the finance and treasury functions of gold mining Companies. He has been in the finance function at Harmony Gold for the last 9 years, having previously worked in similar functions at AngloGold Ashanti. In addition to directorships of certain Harmony Group Companies, he is a director and member of the Investment Committee at the Rand Mutual Assurance Company and is a member of the Audit Committee at Rand Mutual Assurance Company.

Herman served as an alternate director to Marian van der Walt and is now alternate director to Harry Mashego.

Mpho Mashatola CA (SA)

Non-executive Director

Mpho is a qualified CA(SA) and completed her tertiary education at the University of the Witwatersrand. She spent 6 years at KPMG South Africa in the Energy and Natural Resources business unit. After completing her articles in 2014 she was seconded to KPMG LLP in Detroit. She was promoted to an audit manager in 2015. During this time, she was responsible for managing JSE and NYSE listed clients within the gold mining industry. On 11 June 2018 she was appointed Group Financial Controller at DRDGOLD Limited and is involved in IFRS and US financial reporting, integrated reporting, sustainability reporting, technical accounting matters and Sarbanes Oxley compliance.

Collin Naicker

HND Mechanical Engineering, BCom, MBA, Government Certificate of Competency (Factories)

General Manager: Smelter and Engineering Services

Collin is a certified Mechanical Engineer with 28 years’ experience in the manufacturing, minerals beneficiation and the metals industries. He also completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (BCom) with specialisation in Management, Transport Economics and Logistics from the University of South Africa in 2006 and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business’s in 2009. Collin also holds a government certificate of competency (GCC) for the factories environment.

Collin’s career initially commenced with Bell Equipment (Pty) Ltd, then BHP Billiton’s Aluminium South Africa and later Delta EMD Limited, where he held various technical and senior management positions in Engineering, Capital Projects, Business Improvement, Maintenance, Reliability, Production and Operations Management. Collin also held the senior executive role of Operations Director for JSE listed Delta EMD Limited and served on the Board of Directors.

In May 2016, Collin resigned as Operations Director of Delta EMD Limited to join Rand Refinery on 1 June 2016, as Head: Asset Care and Capital Projects. Since 1 November 2016, Collin has taken on the executive role of General Manager: Smelter and Engineering Services.

Peter Bouwer

General Manager: Refinery and Fabrication

Peter’s career initially commenced in 1992 as junior engineer with Sasol Secunda in the engineering department, with later roles in the business process information and strategy departments.  From 2004 he held positions in strategy develop at Sasol Technology, Sasol Head Office and Sasol Petroleum International before joining Rand Refinery in 2010.  In his various roles, Peter has worked in the fields of electrical and instrumentation engineering, process control systems, business information systems, business intelligence, corporate strategy development, operations management and manufacturing. His business experience spans the coal mining, energy and petro-chemical industries, upstream oil and gas industries as well as the precious metals refining industry.

Peter was appointed to the position of Chief Strategy Officer of Rand Refinery with effect from March 2010.  From 1 December 2014 he fulfilled the role of Chief Operating Officer of Rand Refinery with the appointment into his current role as General Manager: Refinery and Fabrication from 1 November 2016. Peter also served as director on the board of the Ekurhuleni Jewellery Project (EJP) NGO.

Peter has a passion to find the synergy in teams that will unlock desired performance and meaningful work experiences for every team member.

Terance Nkosi

BEng (Chemical), BEng Honours (Environment), IMDP, PGDip (Human Sciences), MBA

Executive Head: SHEQ and Technical Assurance

Terance started his career at Samancor as a graduate metallurgist in January 2000. He later joined Rand Refinery as a plant metallurgist in August 2001, where he held various positions with the department. He was appointed as the Head: Smelter in May 2008 which is the position that he held until January 2016 when he was appointed as the Executive Head: SHEQ and Evaluation.

In 2012, Terance was nominated as the rising star in the minerals and mining category. Since the commencement of his career, he has been involved in the successful completion of several capital projects.

Unathi Sihlahla

BA Hons Industrial Psychology, BA Human Resource Management

General Manager: Human Resources

Unathi holds an Honours Degree in Industrial Psychology from UNISA and has also completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resource Management from Nelson Mandela University. She is an experienced HR professional with extensive experience in using Strategic Human Resources to drive value creation. Unathi has worked across a variety of different industries with vast geographical coverage – mainly multinational companies where she has provided HR support to the local South African market and the African continent with some regional responsibilities in EMEA. Her career started in the Uitenhage plant of Volkswagen Group South Africa, she has worked for and occupied generalist and niche HR positions in companies such as Sasol Limited, the JSE, ABB South Africa, BASF and Roche Diagnostics.

Unathi was appointed to the position of General Manager: Human Resources of Rand Refinery with effect from 1 March 2021.

Alexandra Strobl (46) CA (SA)

Non-executive Director – Alternates

Alex has in-depth mining operational African experience gained during her 16 years employment at AngloGold Ashanti focussed on the Continental African operations. She has previously been employed both at mine sites and at regional level in a senior financial management capacity and also led the Continental African regional supply chain function for 3 years. In 2019, Alex was appointed vice-president: group financial reporting.

Alex qualified as a charted accountant in 2009 after completing her articles at KPMG. Alex is an alternate director to Ian Kramer.

Mark Burrell

BCom (Acct), MDP (Mining Management)

Non-executive Director

Mark joined DRDGOLD in 2004 to assist with the evaluation of their ERPM operation and thereafter transferred to Blyvooruitzicht Gold Mining Company as Financial Manager. In 2012, Mark was appointed as Financial Director of DRDGOLD’s Ergo Mining. He is a director of East Rand Proprietary Mines, Crown Consolidated Gold Recoveries, Ergo Business Development Academy and Ergo Mining.

Mark was appointed as an alternate director to Themba Gwebu on 24 May 2012 and currently serves as an alternate director to Charles Symons.

Mark joined the Board of Rand Refinery on 24 May 2012.

Ian Kramer (50) CA (SA)

Non-Executive Directors

Ian qualified as a charted accountant in 1993. He spent 20 years at KPMG, 11 years as an external audit partner as part of KPMG’s mining group. During this time he was seconded to Canada and subsequently appointed the KPMG head of mining for Africa. Ian joined AngloGold Ashanti in 2012 as vice- president: finance. He was promoted to senior vice- president: group finance in 2019 and interim chief financial officer from September 2020. Ian has considerable experience in IFRS as well as US GAAP.

Pieter Henning BCom, BCompt (Hons), CA (SA)

Non-Executive Directors

Pieter is the divisional Chief Financial Officer of Sibanye Gold Limited’s (‘Sibanye’) gold and uranium business and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (South Africa). He started his career at KPMG Inc. after which he joined Western Areas Limited in 2005 as Financial Manager. He was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Western Areas Limited in January 2007 and, with Gold Fields Limited (‘Gold Fields’) acquiring Western Areas Limited later that year, he joined the Gold Fields financial reporting team. From 2009 to 2013, Pieter was part of the Gold Fields corporate finance division responsible for various capital raisings in the international and local debt markets. With the unbundling of Sibanye in 2013, Pieter was appointed as Vice President: Corporate Finance responsible for finance and the external financial reporting functions of Sibanye.

Pieter was appointed on 21 October 2005 as a non-executive director of Rand Refinery. He serves as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Remuneration and Nominations Committee.

Rams Ramashia BIuris, LLB, LLM

Independent Chairman

Rams has held senior positions in various international and domestic Non-Governmental organisations which he used as a platform for anti-apartheid activism prior to 1994, culminating in his election as founding President of the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO). Following the democratisation of the South African society, he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the National Department of Labour and later elevated to the position of Director-General (DG) of the Labour Department.

As DG of Labour, he was Government Chief Negotiator and overall Convenor of the government caucus at the National Economic and Labour Council (NEDLAC). He also represented the South African Government at the International Labour Organisation (ILO). As Labour DG, he also presided over the process of amending the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), respectively.

Prior to joining government Rams also served on the then Deputy President Mbeki’s Advisory Committee on the National Development Agency (NDA) as Head of its legal task team.

In 2004, Rams was appointed Regional President of BP Africa and Executive Chairman of the Board of BP Southern Africa. In 2011, he became non-executive chairman of BP Southern Africa.

Rams is a practicing advocate of the High Court and member of the Pretoria Society of Advocates.

He is a non-executive director of AECI where he serves on its Risk, Social and Ethics, Remuneration and Nomination Committees, respectively. He is also a non-executive director of Anglo American South Africa, where he chairs its Social and Ethics Committee and also serves on its Risk and Audit Committee. Rams is also a non-executive director of the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC).

Rams also serves as a member of the NDA Ethics Board chaired by former Constitutional Court Judge Yvonne Mokgoro and is a member of the Human Resource Development Council.

Rams was appointed as the Independent Chairman of the Board of Rand Refinery in October 2010 where he also serves as Chairman of its Remuneration and Nominations Committee.

Responsible gold and silver policy statement

Rand Refinery is opposed to activities which, directly or indirectly, finance or benefit armed conflict and the extreme levels of violence which contribute to abuses of human rights. Rand Refinery is also committed to sourcing mined gold from operations which conform to internationally-accepted environmental practices.

Consequently, Rand Refinery commits to refraining from knowingly sourcing gold and silver bearing material from regions and operations which contribute to the financing of conflict or the degradation of the environment and further commits itself to comply with the relevant United Nations sanctions, recommendations and protocols from other appropriate supra-national bodies, in this regard.

In the event that gold and silver bearing material is sourced from conflict-affected and high risk areas, Rand Refinery will neither tolerate nor by any means profit from, contribute to, assist with or facilitate the commission by any party of any forms of inhuman treatment, any form of forced labour, use of child labour, gross human rights violations, war crimes or other crimes against humanity.

Rand Refinery will not tolerate any direct or indirect support to non-state armed groups through the extraction, transport, trade, logistical assistance, handling or export of gold and silver bearing material by such groups or their affiliates. Rand Refinery will apply a robust Know Your Customer (KYC) policy in order to identify upstream suppliers where dealings with such suppliers would be in contravention of this policy, would represent money laundering or other related criminal activity. Rand Refinery will not engage with suppliers identified in this way and will not accept refining or smelting deposits from such suppliers.