Media coverage

The global energy transition is not unfolding in straight lines. It is a contested and uneven process in which climate ambition often collides with infrastructure gaps, and global priorities clash with local needs.

As July Ndiovu prepares to step down as ceo of Thungela Resources, he reflects on transforming a near-abandoned business into a multibillion-rand powerhouse and leading an unlikely energy crusade.

Though the company’s shares have dropped 32% so far this year, its mines are making money, in contrast with the 30% or so of South African coal producers that are not. 

Thungela Resources would consider adding metallurgical coal assets to its portfolio as there was a “natural adjacency” to its thermal coal production, said CEO July Ndlovu.

The Thungela CEO retires with coal prices at a quarter of their 2022 high. But he remains a long-term bull.

Retiring Thungela CEO July Ndlovu says South Africa should have a sovereign right to include coal as part of its energy mix in line with how developed nations had built their economies.

It was a tale of two demergers. Valterra Platinum was set free from Anglo American at the weekend, almost exactly four years after Thungela Coal was similarly liberated in 2021.

Leading corporate and commercial law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) together with the Junior Mining Council (JMC) was deeply honoured to host Thungela at a bespoke brunch event at the Hyatt Regency in Cape Town during the Mining Indaba 2025.

South Africa, like other emerging economies, relies on coal not merely as a source of energy but as a lifeline that sustains jobs, industrial growth, and economic stability. Yet, as global pressures to decarbonise mount, there is an increasing tendency to overlook the essential role that coal plays in our nation.