MPUMI ZIKALALA TO BECOME CEO OF ANGLO AMERICAN’S KUMBA IRON ORE

Process under way to identify successor, with Mpumi to move into new role on 1 January 2022

De Beers Group has announced that Nompumelelo ‘Mpumi’ Zikalala will leave her role as Managing Director of De Beers Group Managed Operations at the end of 2021 to take up the position of CEO of Anglo American’s Kumba Iron Ore business.

The process to identify Mpumi’s successor as Manging Director of De Beers Group Managed Operations is well under way, with the successful candidate to be announced once the process has been finalised. Mpumi will remain in her current role until the end of the year, helping to ensure a seamless leadership transition, supported by the strong senior management team she has established at De Beers Group Managed Operations. 

Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “I thank Mpumi wholeheartedly for her outstanding contribution to De Beers’ successes over the many years she has been with the business, where she started out as an engineering graduate trainee before taking on various leadership roles in different parts of the company, from mine management, to sales and distribution, and most recently as Managing Director of our Managed Operations responsible for our mining operations in South Africa and Canada. It’s great to see Mpumi’s career at De Beers positioning her for continued success.  Her exceptional track record as a leader, with a strong focus on operations, safety, community development and most recently Covid response, will stand her in good stead for this exciting new opportunity within the Anglo American Group.

“We have already initiated a robust and comprehensive process for identifying Mpumi’s successor, and in the meantime Mpumi will continue to lead the Managed Operations business, with excellent support from her experienced senior team, as it continues to focus on making life brilliant for its various stakeholders.” 

Mpumi Zikalala, Managing Director of De Beers Group Managed Operations, said: “It’s been a huge pleasure to have had such an interesting and varied career with De Beers, learning from a range of outstanding colleagues in an endlessly fascinating industry. Taking on the role of CEO for Kumba will be a great natural progression for me within Anglo American, giving me the opportunity to apply my skills in a different business, while continuing to work with many of the stakeholders with whom I have built valued relationships over the years. I will look back very fondly on my time with De Beers and the great teams I have had the pleasure to work with and lead, and I look forward to starting an exciting new journey in the new year at Kumba.”