Mine’s ‘Iron Lady’ fights for control
Mashile-Nkosi accuses IDC of trying to take over her company
Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, the "Iron Lady" of South African mining, is fighting to maintain her hold over the R21bn manganese mining company she started in the Kalahari 20 years ago, after her oldest and biggest funder went to court last month to force it into business rescue.She says the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which has demanded she step down as executive chair of Kalagadi, is trying to use business rescue to "usurp control" of the company from her.But she's not going anywhere, says Mashile-Nkosi, 62. "I have skin in the game. I have R4bn of my own money in this business. I've run it for 20 years with sweat and blood."The IDC says the Northern Cape miner is in deep financial trouble with a debt of R7.1bn it is in no position to repay. It owes the IDC and African Development Bank R3bn each and defaulted on an initial R241m repayment in March. Mashile-Nkosi says they haven't been able to repay because the mining contractor IDC appointed has not met its production target...
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