Exxaro Resources, Chief Executive Officer
Energy Council, Deputy Chairperson

Education: Ph.D. (Agronomy), University of Maryland, College Park, US, Executive Development Programme (EDP) (Insead, France) Dr Nombasa Tsengwa started her career in the mining industry in 2003 when she joined the then, Kumba Resources as the General Manager Safety Health and Environment. With the unbundling of Kumba and the inception of Exxaro Resources, she was appointed as Executive General Manager Safety and Sustainable Development. In 2010 she was appointed as Regional General Manager Coal Tied Collieries, overseeing three underground and four opencast operations. In 2015 she was appointed as acting Executive Head Coal Operations before formally taking hold of this position in May 2016. In this position she was responsible for oversight in the operations and functioning of the coal business and its ventures managed by Exxaro Coal. In this position she was also responsible for the marketing and logistics of all products. In July 2020, Dr Tsengwa was appointed as Managing Director Minerals, a new division, which was an expansion of her Coal and FerroAlloys portfolio to include new low carbon minerals. In March 2021 Dr Tsengwa was appointed CEO Designate, until she moved into the role of CEO from 1 August 2022 with the retirement of Mxolisi Mgojo.

Before she joined Kumba, Dr Tsengwa worked in various South African Government departments, amongst others, as Deputy Director General of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. Dr Tsengwa is a member of the Exxaro Board and serves on the Boards of the Minerals Council of South Africa, Cennergi Holdings, Energy Council South Africa and on the Mining Advisory Board at the Department of Mining Engineering (University of Pretoria). Previously, Dr Tsengwa served on the Astral Foods Pty Ltd Board of Directors as a non-Executive Director for nine years (2008–2017), during the last two years, she was also the Chairperson of the remuneration committee and a member of the nominations committee.

In 2017, Dr Tsengwa was awarded the coveted Standard Bank Business Woman of the Year Award. This was followed by the Winner of the “Africa’s Most Influential Woman in Business and Government – Mining Industry Category” at the Pan African Awards in 2018. Exxaro Resources applauded her outstanding leadership and her role in advancing women in the workplace by awarding her an Evergreen Award in the category CEO Special Nomination in 2018.

Dr Tsengwa believes in a balanced lifestyle with regular exercise. She is a keen runner and finished nine Comrades marathons.