Moroka lands at De Beers

GREG KELEBONYE
Staff Writer | Thursday January 28, 2010 00:00

 

This is a new post in the organisations' Botswana office. Moroka lost his Kgalagadi South parliamentary seat to John Toto in the last general election.

He becomes the third minister, who lost in the elections, to be appointed to a high profile job. The other two are former Education Minister, Jacob Nkate, who was appointed to head Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA) and Kavis Kario, who rejoined BCL mine as ore production manager.

With the appointment of Moroka, it is not clear what has happened to De Beers Botswana chief executive officer, Sheila Khama. A statement by De Beers Botswana chairman, Stephen Lussier, suggests that she might be given a different role in the company.

'Sheila Khama has made a tremendous contribution to both De Beers and Botswana in communicating the role that diamonds play in the country's economy.  We are therefore looking to continue her work in this space, and will communicate more about this in the coming weeks,' Lussier said. Information reaching Mmegi is that Khama might be considering her options. De Beers could also not shed light on whether Moroka was headhunted or was hired under pressure from the Botswana government. De Beers could not even say whether the post was advertised or not.

Meanwhile, Gareth Penny, De Beers group managing director has hailed the appointment of Moroka saying that they are excited to have the former minister on board.

'As our partnership with Botswana grows, so too must our commitment to ensure we are actively managing and optimising our investments, while delivering on the aspirations of our partners and stakeholders in Botswana.  We are excited to have somebody of Neo's capabilities join us and are looking forward, in the years ahead, to further enhancing Botswana's position as a leading player in the global diamond industry,' he said.

De Beers Botswana communications officer, Chipo Morapedi said that Moroka will take up his new position in the coming weeks.  He will be responsible for ensuring that a compelling vision is in place for all De Beers Botswana operations.