WhyAfrica talks African mining

WhyAfrica talks African mining

Boots on the ground doesn’t always mean getting your boots dirty.

By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine.

I swopped the hard hat, safety boots and overalls for a collared shirt and proper camera in the cool Menar studio in Sandton on a scorching hot Johannesburg morning recently.

Menar uses the studio during the company’s annual Mining Journalism Training (MJT) programme.

The MJT is a knowledge-sharing platform created to promote mining literacy skills.

MJT falls under the umbrella of the Menar Academy which aims to become a hub of continual learning and sharing of knowledge.

Teaching mining literacy

Initially, the programme was designed for practising journalists and journalism students with an interest in covering mining related stories.

However, MJT was later expanded to include professionals and students across different sectors who are interested in mining literacy.

In the hotseat

Luckily, I was on the other side of the camera. In the hotseat is Ricardo van Rooi, who joined Menar at the beginning of February 2024 as the Group Health & Safety manager.

Ricardo is a natural in front of the camera and told us more about what his day-to-day activities as health and safety manager entails, and why health and safety is so important to the Menar group and to the growing African mining industry.

You can listen to Ricardo next week on the WhyAfrica YouTube Channel (@whyafrica4709).

While you are there, please check out all the other WhyAfrica YouTube video clips. They are unedited and without filters. What we see and hear, is what you get. Together all these snippets tell you WhyAfrica’s unique African story over the last four years.

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WhyAfrica talks African mining