# Sephela Makete Thema Head of Operations ## Career chronology - **From 1 May 2026 per selected company roster: West Wits Mining** — Head of Operations. [Board & Executive Team, May 2026 investor presentation]() (career/role passage) - **Reported from 2024; end date unstated: Fraser Alexander** — General Manager, Tailings and Remining South Africa. [Makete Thema – Young Professionals Council profile]() (career/role passage) - **As reported in SAIMM profile; dates partly unresolved: Sibanye-Stillwater** — Mine Manager, Bathopele; earlier Mine Overseer and Unit Manager. [Makete Thema – Young Professionals Council profile]() (career/role passage); [Benefits of using Internet of Things technology for fuel management at a mechanised underground platinum bord and pillar mine: A Bathopele mine case study]() (career/role passage) - **Started 2008; dates unstated: Anglo Operations / Anglo American** — Mining engineering bursar then mine operations roles. [Makete Thema – Young Professionals Council profile]() (career/role passage) ## Industrial safety ### Fatal Qala mud rush during Head of Operations tenure [wwi_thema_mudrush] 19 March and 7 June 2026; review 3 September 2026 · documented · high materiality Issuer technical presentation states a contractor driver died in a 7 June 2026 mud rush; it also records an earlier 19 March event, geological/tailings-runoff mechanisms, and investigation/remediation still underway. Minerals Council lists Thema as West Wits presenter of the technical overview. Sources do not attribute fault to him. **Attribution:** Role overlaps event; causation unproven. Selected roster dates his Head of Operations role from 1 May 2026, before the fatal event. He presented the company technical review, but this does not establish cause or personal control. **Relevance:** Material to operational safety leadership, incident learning and ramp-up readiness. [Mud Rush Incident at Qala Shallows Mine: A Technical Overview]() (pp.6,9,15-17: events, company cause assessment and response); [Mud Rush Day of Learning 2026]() (lines 193-198: presenter attribution); [Accident at Qala Shallows causes death of contracting employee]() (lines 61-66: DMPR notification/investigation) ## Environmental record ### Technical review identifies potential water ingress from tailings runoff [wwi_thema_environment] March-June 2026; reviewed 3 September 2026 · issuer reported · high materiality The company review reports acidic low-pH water from the tailings facility travelled through unlined surface trenches as a water-ingress pathway and says geological structures plus tailings runoff led to the mud rush. It calls for wider hydrological study and stabilisation; it reports no regulator breach or personal responsibility. **Attribution:** Role overlaps event; causation unproven. Finding occurred during Thema’s Head of Operations tenure, but no source assigns him personal responsibility for water-management arrangements. **Relevance:** Relevant to operational controls and water management; not a proven statutory violation. [Mud Rush Incident at Qala Shallows Mine: A Technical Overview]() (pp.15-17: pathways, stated cause and remedial plan) ## Suitability for the current role ### Mining operations experience and academic record [wwi_thema_fit] 2008-2024 published education/career record · analyst inference · medium materiality SAIMM records mining-engineering study at Wits, a Pretoria business-administration postgraduate diploma, a Wits mining-law certificate, mine-manager/overseer certificates, and progression through Anglo Operations and Sibanye-Stillwater. Wits repository identifies his 2024 MSc Engineering dissertation. Prior role dates remain partly approximate. **Attribution:** Responsibility not applicable. Education has professional-body and university-repository support; some role dates are approximate and current West Wits role comes from selected issuer roster. **Relevance:** Relevant underground operations and technical background for Head of Operations. [Makete Thema – Young Professionals Council profile]() (Qualifications and career history, lines 202-210); [Benefits of using Internet of Things technology for fuel management at a mechanised underground platinum bord and pillar mine: A Bathopele mine case study]() (repository metadata lines 74-80); [Board & Executive Team, May 2026 investor presentation]() (May 2026 presentation, current role) ## Evidence gaps - Exact transition dates among Anglo, Sibanye-Stillwater and Fraser Alexander are not fully reconciled. - Selected roster gives a 1 May 2026 West Wits start; no dated appointment release was located. - Statutory mine-manager and engineering registration records were not independently checked. - Open-web searches are not exhaustive adverse-record or credential checks.