The Managing Director of Debswana, Blackie Marole, says he remains steadfast and resolute in his efforts to transform the diamond miner into a truly global company that competes head to head with international mining giants like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
Marole says postponing or deferring reforms will put Debswana at a disadvantage against its peers in future.
He says going forward Debswana is going to be much more cost conscious than it has ever been in its history.
“If a financial crisis was to happen today, you will find that Debswana is much more prepared than has been the case in the past.”
In a wide ranging interview with The Sunday Standard Marole candidly admitted that Debswana remains behind in many areas vis-à-vis other household mining names, but underscored there was no halting the reforms he started when he arrived six years ago.
He said a review by the company has laid to the fore a number of structural deficiencies that can only be corrected by concerted efforts to change the company.
“When I arrived here I found that this company, which is a diamond mining company, also had interests in such diverse areas like agriculture and tourism. I went to the board with a strong recommendation to refocus on our core business, which is diamond mining.”
He said his reforms have included streamlining the headquarters and empowering General Managers at the mines to take decisions that have traditionally been made at headquarters.
The next step, he said, is to empower junior employees downstream like foremen to be able to take decisions in their line of duty.
He says one of the worst decisions that companies make is to concentrate all decision making powers on the board. This, he said, is not only time consuming but also adversely disempowers people who are best placed to make operational decisions.
He takes issue with the fact that for far too long, Debswana project planning and design was done at head office with little input from the people who would ultimately be expected to implement and deliver the actualization of the projects.
“We still have a long way to go. What we need to do is to cascade responsibilities down to the levels of a foreman,” said Marole.
This will be a total departure from the strategy employed by his immediate predecessor when key decisions were made, not even by the Board, but by De Beers executives in Johannesburg.
He makes no effort to hide the fact that while Debswana has become a more efficient organization, “many guys have had to leave” because their mandates had become redundant, especially in the wake of increased emphasis on outsourcing.
He reckons that were it not of the financial crisis that hit the resource prices starting 2008, Debswana would be far ahead in its restructuring exercise.
“Of course, there has been some resistance. But what I am saying is in the environment of today, do I have the right structures to carry this company to new levels? What we are basically doing is to update our structures and have a leaner, high performing company. Ultimately our goal is to get the best out of our people.”
He says while traditionally emphasis was on employment creation, mining houses have recently shifted towards creating more value and more profits so that the resultant money could be used to create employment efficiently in other areas of the economy.
“There has been some resistance, but the objective is to continue to manage those who are resisting change. People will be expected to do things differently. Our objective is to move towards international benchmarks, especially in the cost per tonne. Take, for example, that we have been mining Orapa for 41 years. How can we be able to see new opportunities if we do not change the way we have been doing things. Only leaders who do not want change will not want to review their operations,” Marole said emphatically.
But does he have the support of the Board in his crusade to turn Debswana traditions upside down?
“Once a Managing Director has been appointed it is obligatory that all board members support him or her. It is not a choice, it is a duty.”
This he says fundamentally in reference to public perceptions that there are about two or three Debswana Board members who have continually harboured ambitions to oust him from the position of Managing director for themselves.
