PEOPLE ARE AT THE CORE OF
EVERYTHING WE DO
The foundation of our strategy is the people who make it happen; our success depends on the skills and expertise that support our goals. Our people have specialized knowledge aligned with global best practice, which is then applied to ensure that sound, sustainable use is made of our assets, enhancing growth, productivity, and profitability.
OUR LEADERSHIP
Our executive management team has a combined total of 105 years’ experience, holding approximately 60% of the company’s shares. Master Drilling is led by leaders who are committed to innovation, sustained growth and shared value. The team remains steadfast in the pursuit and implementation of the company’s strategy, underpinned by the continued development of new, groundbreaking technologies; the expansion of Master Drilling’s global footprint; and the nurturing of client and business relationships.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Executive
Daniël (Danie) Pretorius
Daniël (Danie) Pretorius
Executive Director, Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Government Engineers Certificate of Competency, 1983
Danie founded Master Drilling in 1986 and has served as its Managing Director since its incorporation. He is certified as a government engineer and is actively involved in special projects at Master Drilling such as directional drilling, low-angle drilling, low-angle drilling for block caving and drop raising, as well as the design and modification of Master Drilling’s raise-bore fleet. Prior to founding Master Drilling, Danie served as an engineer for six years between Western Deep Levels Gold Mine and Murray & Roberts RUC.
André van Deventer
André van Deventer
Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer
Hons BAcc, University of Potchefstroom, 1998; Chartered Accountant (SA), SAICA 2000
André joined Master Drilling as a Financial Manager in 2001 and was appointed as Financial Director in 2002. Prior to joining Master Drilling, he served as an accountant at Gericke, Rademeyer & Newton Walker Chartered Accounts from 1995 to 1999 and then as Financial Manager at Beefmaster (Pty) Ltd from 1999 to 2001.
André is a professional member of the South Africa Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).
Connect with André on LinkedIn
Koos
Jordaan
Barend (Koos) Jordaan
Executive Director and Technical Director
BMEng, MBA
Koos has worked at Master Drilling since 2001, fulfilling various roles during his tenure, including that of Engineering Manager and Technical Director. Prior to this, he worked for Joy Mining Machinery, responsible for design and project engineering, and for Orsmond Aviation as a technician. As a technology and innovation specialist, Koos also holds a Bachelors in International Technology Management from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Connect with Koos on LinkedIn
Non - Executive
Hendrik (Hennie) van der Merwe
Hendrik (Hennie) van der Merwe
Chairman, Independent Non-Executive Director
BA LLB, LLM
Hennie is a non-executive director and Chairman of the Board at Master Drilling South Africa, working within the Board of Directors division. Hennie initially practised as a commercial, corporate and litigation attorney for 12 years in Johannesburg where he was involved in a number of major corporate law, merger, acquisition and JSE listing transactions. He has held various senior management positions in the banking industry as Managing Director of Finansbank Ltd, General Manager of Nedcor Bank Ltd and Chief Executive Officer of Senbank Ltd. Since 1992, he has held several senior executive positions, including positions as director and chairperson, of large listed and unlisted industrial corporations in South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom and the US, including Managing Director of Trencor Ltd (listed on the JSE).
Hennie specialises in legal tax and director of companies. He is also a member of Cape Law Society.
Akhter Alli
Deshmukh
Akhter Deshmukh
Independent Non-Executive Director, South Africa
BCom MBL
Akhter is currently the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Lephatsi/Phatsima Group. He previously worked as a Senior Auditor at Lipschitz Assin & Partners and was also Financial Director at TFM (Pty) Ltd. Akhter specialises in due diligence and acquisitions for the group, with specific experience in private equity. In addition, he is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).
Shane
Ferguson
Director
Shane Ferguson
Non-Executive Director
BCom LLB
Shane currently serves on a number of board committees, providing tax and legal advisory services to the group. He is currently employed at TW Ferguson (Pty) Ltd and has engaged in legal, tax, business and corporate solutions for listed corporations and large to medium-sized private companies since 1994. Prior to his employment at TW Ferguson (Pty) Ltd, Shane served as a staff member in the tax, legal and business unit at Arthur Anderson and Co and as a tax assessor at the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
Shane is also a member of the South Africa Institute of Tax Professionals (SAIT).
Andries Willem Brink
Andries Willem Brink (Brink)
Independent Non-Executive Director
Bachelors of Accounting Science
Andries is an independent non-executive director at Master Drilling South Africa, currently working within the Board of Directors’ division. He also serves as Chairman for both the Audit and Risk Committees and he is a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee. Prior to joining Master Drilling, he was a partner/director at PWC for 36 years. Andries specialises in financial management, strategy and risk management, business acumen and developing entrepreneurial mindsets. He is also a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).
Hennie (Hendrik
Johannes) Faul
Director
Hennie (Hendrik Johannes) Faul
Independent Non-Executive Director
B(Eng)mining engineer from the University of Pretoria, 1998; South African Mine Managers Certificate for Metalliferous Mines, AMP, University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), 2005
Hennie was CEO of Anglo American’s Copper business, based in Santiago, from 2013 to July 2019. He joined Anglo American plc (“Anglo American”) in 2004; and went on to hold the position of Anglo American’s Group Head of Mining from 2011 to 2013.
Hennie served as a Non-Executive Director of Palabora Mining Company from 2011 to 2013 and served in the same position at Amara Mining Plc from 2012 to 2016.
Hennie is currently a Non-Executive Director elect of Centamin mining company effective 1 July 2020
Connect with Hennie on LinkedIn
Eddie
Dixon
COO Master Drilling Exploration
Eddie Dixon
Chief Operating Officer, Masterdrilling Exploration
MTech (Civil Engineering), MBA
Eddie held various positions in project management and production at Arcelor Mittal and joined Drillcorp Africa as general manager in 2007 where he also served as a director on the board. He was appointed as Chief Operating Officer at Master Drilling Exploration in 2012 and served as director on the board. He is also an alternate member of the Master Drilling International board and serve on various board committees
Mamokete
Ramathe
Mamokete Ramathe
Independent Non-Executive Director
Master of Arts in Leading Innovation and Change, York St John University (UK), Masters degree in Development Finance, University of Stellenbosch Business School, B Com Honours in Business Management, University of South Africa, Post Graduate Certificate in Economics, Wits University, B Com in Financial Accounting & Finance, Wits University.
Mamokete is the founder and current CEO of investment company Mamor Capital. She is a seasoned investment executive with more than 18 years’ experience in financial services; spanning corporate finance advisory, private equity, mergers and acquisitions and infrastructure finance. She possesses hands on entrepreneurial and top management skills, and her board experience includes serving on local and international companies, at both listed and unlisted company level. Prior to her current role she was the Executive Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at Vodacom Group, and previously worked for the Development Bank of South Africa, Vantage Risk Capital, National Empowerment Fund and Cazenove South Africa.
She currently serves as a non-executive director for OUTsurance Holdings and is a non-executive director for a JSE listed Bell Equipment Limited, where she serves as Chairman of Social Ethics and Transformation Committee, and a member of the Audit Committee.
Connect with Mamokete on LinkedIn here.
Gareth (Gary) Sheppard
Gareth (Gary) Sheppard
Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer
BSc Eng (Mining), MBA
Gary joined Master Drilling in 1999. He was appointed as a director of Master Drilling Perú SAC and Master Drilling International Ltd in 2001. He joined the Board of Master Drilling Mexico SA de CV in 2005 and the Board of Master Drilling Australia (Pty) Ltd in 2011. Prior to joining Master Drilling, Gary was employed by AngloGold Ashanti (then Anglo American) as a mining engineer and also holds a Mine Manager's Certificate of Competency.
GENERAL MANAGERS
Joakim Furtenback
General Manager, MD Europe
Sweden
Robert C Schumm
General Manager
North America
Roelof Swanepoel
Chief Operating Officer
Latam and Europe
Izak Bredenkamp
Group New Business Development Manager
Fernando Vivanco
General Manager
Chile
Paulo Meideros
General Manager
Brazil
Belisario Tijero Pajuelo
General Manager
Peru
Shunqing Xu
General Manager
China
WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE MASTER DRILLING?
CAREER
OPPORTUNITIES
WORK FOR MASTER DRILLING
We offer an incredible range of career opportunities worldwide for both seasoned professionals and those starting
out in their careers who embody our RAISE values.
Our aim is to drive employee engagement through:
DEVELOPMENT
An inclusive, diverse workplace focused on development and wellbeing
OPPORTUNITIES
Enhanced growth and career opportunities
SAFETY
A safe working environment that is conducive to ongoing learning and the stimulation of innovation
RESPECT
Harmonious relationships built on trust and respect
BENEFITS
Fair remuneration and competitive employee benefits
PEOPLE CAPACITY AND DEVELOPMENT
Internally, Master Drilling focuses strongly on skills development across all business units, including compliance, technical and soft skills training. Employee need assessments are conducted annually, in conjunction with workplace skills and career development plans, which outline training and skills-development targets.
At an operational level, we offer a company induction as well as training awareness programmes in safety, human rights, and labour; supporting employees through a multifaceted learning approach, combining e-learning and classroom sessions that leverage international best practice.
Our Group Academy offers courses in capability improvement, while employees have the option to pursue paid-for training and development courses, on a part-time basis, through accredited institutions.
At Master Drilling, we also recognizes the need for enhanced skills development and capacity building in the mining, construction and engineering sectors across all our markets of operation. As such, we regularly partner with various training authorities and colleges as well as tertiary institutions to provide bursaries and learnerships for students focused on our business’ core disciplines.
Interested in finding out more about a bursary or internship?
Our training strategy
The journey isn’t knowing more, it’s doing more.
Dedicated focused training programs and supporting systems
Return on investment focusing on people development and talent acquisition
Invest in our people capacity and development of skills
Lookout for new innovative ways to improve our training services
Long-term strategy for training that is aligned with industry and global trends
JOIN OUR TEAM
Join our dynamic, talented team of experts. Are you:
- Passionate about technology and mining?
- All about safety, efficiency, accountability and respect?
- Innovative, always bringing new ideas to the table?
- A problem solver ready to change the “status quo”?
If you want to take your career to the next level and be part of an innovative, global team, we would like to hear from you.