Dawn Mokhobo

THE amazing aspect about Dawn Mokhobo’s position is that she still has a job — not because of any shortcomings on her part — but because Wesizwe Platinum’s Bakubung looks like a zombie mine. It should have been shut down years ago like a number of other failed start-ups in the platinum group metals sector. Yet it survives. Its resilience is courtesy of major shareholder China Africa Jinchuan. 

Two years ago, when Bakubung was expected to get into production — and let’s not forget the initial target was 2018 — Wesizwe’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets by R4.2bn. The directors prepared the accounts on a “going concern” basis because they were confident Jinchuan would provide further funding if needed. Fast-forward to October last year, when the auditors again questioned whether the “going concern” basis of accounting was appropriate for the interim results. The Wesizwe directors again stated Jinchuan had undertaken to continue to provide financial support and were “unlikely to abandon the project”. 

On the operations front, mining should now ramp up from the first quarter but concentrate will only be produced from the fourth quarter because of “rectifications” needed on the newly built concentrator plant. Shares in Wesizwe Platinum peaked at R16.50 in 2007; it’s currently worth 40c/share. This is despite the fact that the company was supposed to be “derisked” financially when Jinchuan bought control, guaranteeing the funding of the mine, including a proviso that it would pay for any cost overruns.