Motooane Thinyane, Head of Operations

Motooane Thinyane (AMT) is a Mechanical Engineer and Engineering Manager by training and profession. He has more than 20 years of professional experience mainly in operation, maintenance and management of Engineering facilities, which he acquired while working initially for the Water and Sewerage Authority, where he served in the roles of Maintenance Engineer, Plant Manager and Corporate Planner; for the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority where he served as Operations Branch Manager and Operations Divisional Manager; and for Maluti Mountain Brewery where he worked in the roles of Engineer, Engineering Manager and later Technical Director. AMT holds Master’s in Engineering Management from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. His other qualifications include Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering and Diploma in Industrial Studies both acquired from Loughborough University in 1994 in the United Kingdom and has undergone several Management Development Programmes. He joined Letšeng Diamonds in March 2015 as Engineering Manager.

‘Makhomo Motaung, Head of Finance

‘Makhomo Motaung is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of extensive professional accounting experience. She has held several roles within Finance: starting as a Financial Accountant and later Senior Financial Accountant (IFRS Specialist) at the Central Bank of Lesotho. She joined Letšeng Diamonds in 2011 as a Financial Accountant. In 2014 she was promoted to the position of Financial Manager, a position she held until 1 March 2020 when she was appointed Chief Financial Officer. ‘Makhomo obtained her first degree in Economics and Accounting from the National University of Lesotho in 1999 and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Cape Town in 2002. She went on to further her studies and qualified as a Chartered Accountant at the University of Brighton and Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. She also completed the Programme for Management Development with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) of the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She was appointed Head of Finance in April 2021.

Thabang Mohapi, Mineral Resource Manager

Thabang is a Geologist by profession, with more than 15 years’ experience acquired in mineral Industry, mostly in projects at varying stages of development. He started a career at the Department of Mines and Geology of the Government of Lesotho. He also worked for Kao Diamond Mine and Mothae Diamonds, when both projects were at the trial mining stage. He joined Letšeng Diamonds in 2011, leading a team of geologists until he was promoted to the Mineral Resource Manager position in December 2018. Thabang holds a Master of Science Degree in Mineral Resource Exploration from the University of Twente in The Netherlands. His other qualifications include BSc. Degree in Geology and Chemistry from the University of the Western Cape and Management Development Training from Gordon Institute of Business Science of the University of Pretoria. He has attended short courses and conferences in geology, mineral evaluation, mine planning and geotechnical engineering in various universities in South Africa and abroad. He is registered as a professional geologist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) and a Project Management Professional (PMP) certified by the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Khoetha Masehlela, Mining Manager 

Khoetha is a technically competent and financially astute professional, who has a commendable track record of delivering results by engaging in every aspect of business, operations management, continuous improvement and business opportunities analysis. He holds a BSc (Hons) Degree in Technology Management from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, a BEng Tech (Mining Engineering) from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa and a Diploma in Civil Engineering from Lerotholi Polytechnic in Maseru, Lesotho. Khoetha is also a graduate of Programme for Management Development from the Gordon Institute of Business Science of the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Khoetha cut his professional teeth as a Junior Civil Engineer at Mafube Consultancy in Maseru from 2005 to 2006.  He joined Letšeng in 2009 as Mine Engineering Graduate Trainee. He rose through the ranks, starting as Drill & Blast Foreman from 2011-2012, as Pit Superintendent from 2012-2016, as Acting Continuous Improvement Manager from 2016-2018. He was appointed Mining Manager in August 2021.

Siphiwe Buthelezi, Metallurgical Manager

Siphiwe has over 13 years of professional experience in Ore Processing; eight of which were at the Managerial level (four of the eight, as Senior Ore Processing Manager). He worked as Section Manager at Voorspoed Mine from 2010-2014; where he was responsible for the development of the Ore Processing overall strategy, maintenance strategy and spearheaded organisational structure optimisation projects within Ore Processing Department. In 2014, Siphiwe moved to Kimberly Mines, where he worked as Senior Ore Processing Manager. During his tenure at Kimberly Mines, he helped the Kimberly CTP Plant realise its plant targets, which had not been achieved since 2010. In 2016, he moved to Venetia Mine, where he held a similar position of Senior Ore Processing Manager. His achievements while at Venetia Mines included reducing ore processing annual expenditure from M700 million to M450 million while also increasing throughput by 15%. Siphiwe holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town, Diamond Professional Graduate Certificate from the University of Leicester in the UK, the Anglo American Leadership Program from the University of Navarra in Spain and is pursuing Masters in Mineral Resource Throughput Management at the University of the Free State in South Africa. He joined Letšeng in August 2020.

Posholi Jonathan, Health, Safety & Environment Manager

Posholi holds a Master of Science Degree in Occupational Safety and Health Management from Curtin University of Technology in Australia and a Postgraduate Diploma in Industrial Hygiene from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He further received training in Management Development at Gordon Institute of Business Science in South Africa. His 30-year professional experience includes working as Director of Occupational Safety and Health and as Occupational Safety and Health Inspector at the Ministry of Labour and Employment. He also worked as Risk Manager at Lesotho Electricity Company. He joined Letšeng Diamonds in July 2011.

Moeketsi Ramohai, Human Resources Manager

Moeketsi is a human resource practitioner with extensive experience in several senior human resources roles in banking, telecommunications and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). He cut his teeth in human resources practice at Vodacom Lesotho in 2007. While at Vodacom Lesotho, he rose through the ranks, starting as Human Resources Assistant and ending up as Human Resources Manager/Business Partner. His other experience includes working as Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development at ActionAid International Lesotho in 2015 and as Human Resources Manager at First National Bank Lesotho in 2013, where he also had a brief stint as Head of Human Resources in 2015. Moeketsi holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management and an Executive Development Programme (Postgraduate) from the University of the Free State in South Africa. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration and Political Science from the National University of Lesotho. He is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of the Free State. He joined Letšeng in November 2020.

Moitheri Kulehile, Security Manager

Moitheri holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Humanities from the National University of Lesotho. His professional development includes Programme in Security Management, Course in Security Practice, Course in Anti-corruption and Commercial Crime Investigation from the University of South Africa. He has over 20 years of professional experience, having worked as Senior Investigation Officer for the Police Complaints Authority, as Security Superintendent for Letšeng before leaving to join Storm Mountain Diamonds (Kao Mine) as Security Manager. He re-joined Letšeng in January 2016 as Security Superintendent; a position he held until he was appointed Security Manager in March 2017

Nkuebe Letsie, Information Technology Manager

Nkuebe was appointed Information Technology Manager in January 2021, after spending 15 months as Senior Business Systems Analyst. He has over 16 years of management experience ranging from donor-funded projects in the government environment, the banking sector and the telecommunications industry. His professional experience includes working as a Project Manager for the Government of Lesotho’s Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) upgrade project, as IT and Special Projects Manager for First National Bank Lesotho, as Applications and Development Manager and IT and Billing Manager for Econet Telecom Lesotho and as Systems Support Officer at the Office of the Ombudsman. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of the Free State, a BSc Honours in Computer Science from the University of the Witwatersrand and a BSc in Computer Science and Statistics from the National University of Lesotho. He is also a certified Business Systems Analyst from the University of Cape Town.