Mbali entered the mining industry as a chemical engineering graduate at BHP Billiton, from the BHP Billiton bursary scheme. She quickly moved on to working on projects at the Mine and commenced her career as a project engineer, this is where she discovered her passion for projects. She has managed diverse projects in the manganese mining and smelting industry having mainly worked in the Hotazel region. She has managed complex projects valued up to 100 Million ZAR. She is driven and efficient and in 2017 she completed some of her projects planning and assigned 100 million ZAR of project capital within 4 months.
Her efficiency, drive and need to help others drew the attention of the vice president for the manganese asset, who seconded her to be the PM of the Maatlafatso scheme project whose aim was to facilitate an inclusive homeownership program for the Mines workforce. This involved working with, operations management, labour unions, local communities and consultants. In all her projects, she has worked with different contractors from small businesses in construction to world-renowned specialists in their fields. She is well versed in dealing with government officials, especially on critical projects. Her career has helped her gain interpersonal, project management and entrepreneurial skills.
Mbali has a zeal for business and in August 2017 she co-founded Tshepa Basadi Group. This business was well received in the mining community and currently manages the United Manganese of the Kalahari’s capital portfolio which is an annual contract based on the Mines capital spend.
She holds a BSc Hons in Chemical Engineering, from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Master of Engineering degree in Project Management (MPM) from the University of Pretoria (accredited by PMI). In 2017, she obtained her PMP (Professional Manager of Projects) certification from the International Project Management Institution (PMI). She has an outstanding academic history and has presented her paper titled; The effects of project management on organisations with centralised procurement in the matrix mining organisation, at the Project Management Institute Australia Conference 2017 in Sydney, Australia. Her research interests make her a great asset for feasibility and directional studies where extensive research is required.
She is extroverted, enthusiastic, self-directing, calm and composed under stressful situations, she is enterprising and dynamic which means she can adjust well to change and leverage it as an opportunity. She has a track record of delivering on her commitments and is fantastic at building relationships.
