Bobby Godsell

Who is Bobby Godsell, the man who is attracting so much media attention this week after resigning as the chairman of Eskom? We all know he is a former mining boss who came out of retirement to join Eskom and that both the powerful National Mineworkers’ Union and Cosatu’s general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, came out in support of him after those twits over at the BMF and ANCYL accused Godsell of racism.

Click here for Godsell’s resignation letter at Politics.web and here for a very handy dummy’s guide to the players in the Eskom saga by the Mail & Guardian.

Now hang on a minute. The workers standing by the former big cheese? That doesn’t happen very often and herein lies the tale of a fascinating South African businessman who championed workers’ rights while simultaneously creating one of the most successful gold miners in the world, AngloGold Ashanti. Click here for the Business Report story on the workers coming out in support of Godsell.

Godsell’s rise in the mining world was extraordinary in its own right. He studied philosophy at university and joined Anglo American in in 1974, becoming a labour relations experts and getting involved in forming the company’s employment practice policies.

When he was appointed to head up Anglo’s gold division in 1995, there were many raised eyebrows as he had no operational experience but it turned out to be a genius move and he successfully drove the merger netween AngloGold and Ghanaian gold group Ashanti, creating the world’s second biggest gold miner. It was also Godsell’s idea to explore SA’s potential as a gold jewellery manufacturing centre and he persuaded the world’s central banks to limit their gold sales at a time when the gold price was plummeting.

At the same time he threw himself  into transformation in the country (and even toyi-toyed with the workers). Said the Financial Mail in 2004 when Godsell was named (with Johann Rupert) top business person of the decade:

Godsell, a former Anglo industrial relations expert, also played an important role in the constitutional negotiations in Kempton Park in the early 1990s. He engaged business with government and labour in what would later become the National Economic Development & Labour Council (Nedlac). At Nedlac he was instrumental in persuading big white business that it needed to get involved in developing appropriate legislation for SA’s transitional period. Important examples were his role in getting white business to accept both the unpopular Labour Relations Act and, later, the mining charter. His relationship with (Cyril)Ramaphosa was crucial in all this and he is trusted by SA’s top black leadership.

Click here to read the 2004 FM story.
When he retired from AngloGold in 2007, Godsell’s plan had been to spend more time with his family and lecture, says Alec Hogg at Moneyweb, but he gave it up to help do some good at Eskom. He also resisted many attempts by an international mining player to hire him overseas because, says Hogg, he believed in South Africa and wanted to make a contribution.

It says a lot about the parastatal and its main shareholder, the government, that they defeated such an pioneering, energetic, principled and creative man.

Any takers for the vacant job left behind by Godsell? Didn’t think so. Maybe it should go to Joel Santana. Then when he gets suspended (on full pay) six months from now at least he can retort: “You speaka Inglish heah? Sorry. I deedn’t get de memo.”

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