Speakers

Vusi Mabena is a qualified teacher with a Secondary Teachers’ Diploma and holds a BA (Hons) Degree from the University of South Africa. He furthered his studies by obtaining a Post Graduate Diploma in Management and a Master of Management Degree specialising in Human Resources at the Wits Business School. He also completed a number of certificate programmes on business management including a Certificate Programme in Financial Management from UNISA and a Programme in Applied Business Ethics. His management career started in the public sector as a teacher and he became a Principal of a secondary school and Head of Department in a college of education.

After serving fourteen years in the public sector, he moved on to the private sector. He has worked at such companies as AFROX, ABSA Bank, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Chamber of Mines of South Africa (now known as the Minerals Council South Africa). He started as a Training Development Specialist at AFROX for four years and thereafter moved on to be appointed as Management Development Consultant at ABSA Bank for a further four years. He then moved on to be Head of Training and Organisational Development for four years at the IDC. He also held positions as a Skills Development Advisor as well as a Senior Executive at the Chamber of Mines responsible for skills, transformation and stakeholder relations for fifteen years. Vusi was also elected to serve on the Boards of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), the National Skills Authority (NSA) and JIPSA where he represented the South African Business Constituency.

He also served on the Board of Business Unity South Africa. Vusi is passionate about people development and has always been involved with policy development in the mining sector. In his role at the Minerals Council South Africa he was involved with engaging with mining companies, mining communities, traditional authorities, unions, Parliament and government where he was mainly involved in influencing and improving mining policies in South Africa. He is currently the Executive Secretary of the Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa, a lobby and advocacy organisation of Chambers of Mines in the SADC region. He is also serving as the Secretary General of the Association of Chambers of Mines and other Mining Associations in Africa. This is a lobby and advocacy organisation of private sector organisations in the mining sector. It aims to represent the voice of the mining sector at the African Union and plays a lobbying role on behalf of the mining sector at international investment platforms.

Vusi is the immediate past Chairperson and continues to serve on the Board of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism on TB (RCM-TIMS) in the mines that is funded by the Global Fund. RCM-TIMS is a multi-stakeholder organisation that aims to reduce the burden of TB in the mines, amongst ex-mineworkers and mining communities.