Mentoring is a natural process found in all cultures throughout history where a more experienced person assists another less experienced person to develop. Today our understanding is that mentoring is a relationship where one person professionally assists with the career and personal development of another, outside the normal manager/subordinate relationship.  

Khanye Colliery Engineering Manager Tshepho Mokwele (41) is responsible for overseeing all the engineering learnerships and internships programmes at Khanye Colliery. “The training programmes are crucial for ensuring that there is succession planning in place for the company,” he states. Tshepho has been with Canyon Coal for 4.5 years and is the mine’s Engineering Manager appointed under regulation 2.13.1 in terms of the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) no 29 of 1996 and Regulations. 

Tshepho started working in the coal mining sector in 2002 as an Engineering Learner Official and last year celebrated his 20th year in the mining industry. He holds a B-Tech Degree in Mechanical Engineering; a Government Certificate of Competency (GCC) Mine and Works from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and has completed a Management Development Programme through the University of Stellenbosch.  

In addition to his mentoring responsibilities, Tshepho is responsible for the Open Pit Mining and Processing Plant at Khanye Colliery and the implementation of reliable centered maintenance strategies on all Khanye Colliery assets through condition monitoring strategies; life-cycle costing (LCC) of assets in the support of production.  

He is also responsible for the Safety; Health; Environmental and Quality (SHEQ) which is driven through the DMRE Mandatory Code of Practices, Voluntary Code of Practices, Safe Work Procedures, safe operating procedures, baseline risk assessments, issue base risk assessment and critical Tasks management. 

“I also issue permits to work, such as working at heights; lockouts; working in confined spaces, lifting, and rigging and hot work permits. I provide authorisation of trackless mobile machines (TMMs) licences to operators; quarterly authorisation of TMMs operating onsite; conveyor belt authorisations; signing-off on legal logbooks; performance of visible felt leadership (VFL) through interaction and intervention with employees. CAPEX and OPEX budget control and development of subordinates are also part of my responsibilities.  

He says that working for Khanye Colliery has been a wonderful experience in his career as he has been able to participate in many memorable projects and initiatives. These include the commissioning of major projects such as 88/11 kV Khanye/Eskom Substation; Khanye Colliery Main Plant; 0-50mm Large Nut Conveyor upgrade; filter press additional conveyor installation and purchase of South Pit TMMs.  

“I would like to thank my great team at Khanye Colliery for the support and role they have played in my career and also special thanks to Menar MD Vuslat Bayoglu for affording me this opportunity to be part of the Canyon Coal team,” Tshepo enthuses.