SIBANYE-Stillwater has appointed Melanie Naidoo-Vermaak as chief sustainability officer, effective immediately, said BusinessLive citing an announcement from the miner today.
Naidoo-Vermaak has over 20 years’ experience in sustainable development in both the private mining and public sectors in South Africa and globally. Before joining Sibanye-Stillwater, she worked at various mining companies, including Harmony Gold, De Beers Consolidated Mines, BHP Billiton and Anglo American.
“As the group has grown and evolved, we have continued to attract exceptional talent externally while retaining our top talent internally to ensure efficient delivery of our strategic priorities,” CEO Neal Froneman said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Melanie’s appointment will further diversify and strengthen our senior leadership team. Sustainability/ESG is a strategic imperative for the group and we look forward to Melanie making a positive contribution in our journey to be a force for good.”
Naidoo-Vermaak holds a Bachelor of Sciences (Hons), a Master of Sciences in sustainable development and a Master of Business Administration.
Sibanye-Stillwater said in December it had procured 178MW of renewable power from two projects taking total wind and solar power supplied to its South African mines to 267MW, about 45% of its total target.
Both projects – the R3.4bn Witberg wind project and a R2.8bn solar project – will be commercially operational in third and fourth quarters of 2025 respectively. The independent power producers behind them are financing the projects with Sibanye-Stillwater buying the energy in a wheeling agreement with Eskom.
