Executive Management

Mr. Edwin T. Elias is the Chief Executive Officer of Morupule Coal Mine. He has a wealth of experience spanning at least 20 years in the diamond mining industry of which he has served 13 years in the Executive Management of Debswana Diamond Company and the De Beers Group.

Before joining MCM, Mr. Elias was the Group Head of Ore Processing/Metallurgy at Debswana Diamond Company where he previously held various executive roles as Senior Manager – Ore Processing (Jwaneng Mine); Head of Maintenance and Process (De Beers Canada – Victor Mine); Senior Manager – Ore Processing (Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines).

Mr. Elias is the Board Chairman of the Botswana Institute for Technology, Research and Innovation (BITRI). He also serves on the De Beers Technologies (DebTech) Technical Committee as a Debswana representative and as a Board member at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST).

In addition to the experience he has amassed over the years, Mr Elias is a distinguished member of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), and the Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA).

Mr Elias holds an Executive Masters Degree in Business Administration (EMBA) from the University of Toronto – Rotman School of Management, Canada; a Bachelor of Science (Bsc.) – Metallurgical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA and Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) Certification from the London Business School, UK.

Adriaan joined Morupule Coal Mine in August 2023 as Chief Operations Officer (COO). Adriaan holds a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from the university of Pretoria and a Mine Manager Certificate of Competency (Coal Mines) from the Department of Minerals and Energy South Africa. He has also completed a Management Development Programme (MDP, Business Leadership) with UNISA.

Adriaan brings more than 30 years of experience in the mining industry, including a stint as Chief Operations Officer at ArcelorMittal Steel in Liberia from 2021 - 2023, Executive Head of Projects & Operations at Lurco Coal in 2020, Principal Mining Engineer at Ukwazi Mining Solutions from 2017 - 2019 and Head of Projects at Total Coal from 2012 - 2016.

He is coming on board to provide support to the Chief Executive Officer in the direction and control of MCM’s operations, with specific focus on coordinating and integrating all core operational functions, i.e., Engineering, Processing, Mining and Technical Services to achieve business targets safely, cost effectively, with good controls, and through motivated teams. The COO plays a fundamental role in MCM’s market agility and alignment, through cross functional collaboration to develop production plans that meet product volume and quality requirements.

Albert Meiring joined Morupule Coal Mine in July 2021 as Marketing Manager and is currently acting as Business Development Manager.

He is an experienced individual with a demonstrated history of working in the mining & metals industry both in operational and marketing and logistics portfolios. He travelled extensively for the majors that employed him for international assignments in the UK, Europe, Singapore, Japan, China and Australia. Albert brings to the role a wealth of skills in negotiation, business planning, operations management, marketing & sales, logistics, international trade, new business development, financing and strategy. A strong management professional graduated from De Montfort University (MBA) and University of Pretoria (B Eng) with various leadership and business management courses attained over the years.

Mooketsi Menyatso has over 25 years of professional experience in the work environment, 15 years of which was spent managing Safety, Health and Environmental Management Systems in the Mining industry. He holds a BSc Degree in Town and Regional Planning from the University of Botswana, a Professional Master’s Degree in Environmental Systems Analysis and Management from International Institute for Geo- Information Science and Earth Observation, Certificate in Management Development Maccuavlei, South Africa, Management Development Programme from University of Stellenbosch, and a Certificate in Safety Management from UNISA.  Mooketsi has completed course work for Masters of Business Administration with Management College of Southern Africa MANCOSA, South Africa. He has also done several short courses in line with Safety and Sustainability in the Mining Environment. He is currently acting as Head of Safety & Sustainability.

Jonathan Nhovo (BAcc, ACMA, CGMA, MBA) joined Morupule Coal Mine in January 2011 as a Finance Manager and was promoted to the position of Commercial Manager in 2016.

Prior to joining MCM he was employed as Management Accountant by Debswana. Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Accountancy Honors degree obtained from the University of Zimbabwe and an MBA in International Finance from the Oxford Brookes University. He has over 24 years as a qualified chartered management accountant with experience in various sectors including hospitality and Mining.

Tom Mongale joined MCM in January 2014 as Human Resources Manager on secondment from Debswana.

Tom holds a BA in Accounting and Public Administration from University of Botswana and MSc Strategic Management from University of Derbyshire, England. He also has a Certificate Programme in Industrial Relations from Wits University, South Africa. He has 20 years of experience in Human Resources Management.

Ernest Kelapile joined Morupule Coal Mine in April 2018. He has got 20 years’ experience in Internal Audit, Risk Management and Principles of Good Corporate Governance.

Ernest graduated from the University of Botswana (UB) in 2002 with a Bachelor of Accountancy (BAcc) Degree. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) as an Associate Chartered Management Accountant (ACMA) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). Ernest is also an Associate member of the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) and an alumni of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) where he graduated with Management Development Programme (MDP).

He currently sits on the Board of Botswana Trade Commission (a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade & Industry) as the Deputy Board Chairman and a member of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee (FAC). He is also a member of the Risk and Audit Committee of the BICA Council.

Keneilwe Goitsemang Orapeleng is currently the Head of Mining. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Mining Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA, she joined MCM in 2008 as a graduate trainee where she served in respective positions at various levels. She is an experienced individual with a demonstrated history of establishing and leading a skilled workforce in the mining industry both in the production and technical functions. 

Keneilwe has undergone the Management Development Program with University of Stellenbosch

With a solid 13 years of industry experience, Keneilwe is the first female to attain an underground blasting license in Botswana. A woman of many firsts, Keneilwe has paved a way for fellow female mining engineers through the years. She has been appointed as the first female in various roles throughout her career in MCM (Underground Coal mine environment), including that of section miner, shift overseer, mine overseer, and underground manager – all responsible for underground.

Tshephang Motimedi is Engineering Manager at MCM, a position he has held from 2020 to date. Motimedi joined MCM in 2007 as a Learner Official under the Engineer Development Program. He holds a BEng (Hons) Automotive Engineering from the University of Leeds.

He rose through the ranks in the engineering field until he was appointed Maintenance Engineer – Underground before joining Botswana Ash 2014 as Plant Engineer. Motimedi rejoined the MCM family in 2016 as Maintenance Engineer – Underground and would later join Debswana Jwaneng Mine as Maintenance Engineer - before retracing his footsteps to MCM as Motheo Open Cast Project Engineer in 2019.

Lefika was appointed as a Senior Project Manager in June 2021 where he is responsible managing and delivering the development of the open cast coal mine, coal processing plant and associated Infrastructure (Motheo Project). He is also responsible establishing a Maiden Project Management Office that will govern and support Project Development and Delivery across the mine.

Prior to that, he was a Project Manager and Project Controls Manager within MCM since 2016. He has also held various consulting project management roles in Debswana Diamond Company.

He has significant expertise and experience in areas of corporate strategy, brownfields and greenfield capital projects, feasibility studies, project evaluations, risk management and decision support.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Electrical from Multimedia University in Malaysia, a Post Graduate Certificate in Enterprise Risk Management from Botswana Accountancy College in Botswana, Post Graduate Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice from Chartered Management Institute in United Kingdom and an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from Sheffield Hallam University in United Kingdom). He has also completed the Management Development Programme (MDP, Business Leadership) with the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa.

Lefika is also certified as a Prince2 Registered Practitioner in Project Management with Axelos in the United Kingdom and is also Registered as a Practicing Engineer with Botswana Engineering Registration Board (ERB) and Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) respectively.

Ms. Mpho Leteane joined Morupule Coal Mine (MCM) on the 1st January 2022 as the Company Secretary. Before joining MCM, Mpho was the Legal and Compliance Manager (Board Secretary) for Mmila Fund Administrators- a Fund administrators for the Debswana Pension Fund (DPF). Her role included ensuring compliance with Regulatory requirements, managing any emerging risk, providing strategic leadership to the legal department and advising the Board on statutory requirements and insights on good corporate governance. She has extensive legal practice experience spanning over 10 years.

She has also held various senior leadership roles as an attorney and legal advisor in both public and private institutions.

Ms Leteane began her career at the International and Commercial Division of the Attorney General’s Chambers with a focus on commercial and international law. That is where she gained vast experience in contract management amongst other disciplines. She also served in various national committees in a legal advisory role. She has also worked for Botswana Oil as a Legal Officer and Assistant Board Secretary where she dealt intensively with procument issues, contract negotiation. She further worked as Legal and Compliance Coordinator at Debswana Pension Fund.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) from the University of Botswana (UB), a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management and Compliance Management Training from the University of Cape Town. She was admitted to practice as an attorney, notary, and conveyancer in 2011. Ms. Leteane is a member of the Compliance Institute of Southern Africa. She is currently an Executive Master in Entrepreneurship Candidate at the University of Botswana.

Mpho currently sits as a Board Director in the Board of Human Resources Development Council (HRDC) where she is the Procurement Committee Chairperson as well as Ticano Group.

Mpho brings in a wealth of experience that makes her an invaluable addition to the MCM Team.

Nelson Nareetsile joined Morupule Coal Mine as the Head of Beneficiation on the1st October 2023. A results-oriented professional engineer, Nelson brings a wealth of experience with over 18 years of experience spanning across diamond processing and petroleum industries.

Nelson began his career with Debswana as a process engineer and progressed through different roles of increasing responsibility up to the most recent executive role of Senior Manager Ore Processing at Orapa. Nelson has also worked BP Botswana as Site and Operations Manager and Puma Energy Botswana as Country Manager for Mining and Lubricants business segment.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical and Mineral Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering Project Management, both obtained from the University of Leeds. He has also completed a management development programmes from the University of Stellenbosch and University of Cape Town. Nelson is registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Registration Board of Botswana.