The man who went from herding cattle to running one of South Africa’s biggest mines

Ben Magara grew up herding cattle with his siblings in a small village in Zimbabwe to working as a CEO for some of South Africa’s biggest mines.

Although he came from humble beginnings, this prepared him for the difficult task of running major banking giants like Anglo American and Exxaro.

Bennetor (Ben) Magara was born in Bikita, a district in Masvingo Province in Zimbabwe, in 1967 into a family of nine children.

His father, who had a total of 17 children, worked as a storekeeper and teacher while his mother was a housewife and subsistence farmer.

He grew up herding cattle in his village under Chief Mkanganwi, dreaming of becoming a bus driver one day.

On Sundays, Magara and his brothers would push wheelbarrows 4 km to Bikita Council Beerhall and bus terminal, where they would sell vegetables from morning until evening to supplement the family’s modest income.

As reported by the Masvingo Mirror, Magara told attendees at Fletcher High that his difficult childhood helped shape him into who he is today.

“Because of my tough childhood, I can handle anything, including the rough world of mining,” he said.

“As children, we woke up at 4 am every morning and watered the garden before we went to school. We started chores at home from a very tender age.”

“I herded cattle, and one year I recall spending the whole winter using my mother’s itchy and torn overcoat as a blanket.”

“This taught me hard work, and up to this day, I wake up at 4 am every day.”

He attended Vushe Primary School until grade 7 when he went to Masvingo, where he did his Ordinary Levels at Mucheke High from 1981 to 1984.

In 1985, he went to Fletcher High School, which was renowned for only taking the best students, to complete his Advanced Levels (A Levels), winning the Best A Level Science student award in 1986.

Magara decided to study Mining Engineering at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) in 1987, following the advice of his older brother, Leonard.

“Leonard, who was already at UZ doing Civil Engineering, advised me of a new degree programme just introduced at the University,” he said.

“He said it was the best for me and recommended that I take it. I guess he knew me only too well, and I am glad I trusted him.”

He was awarded a scholarship from Anglo American and worked at Hwange Colliery, which was then known as the Wankie Colliery, a coal mining company, during his vacations.

Magara fell into a leadership position fairly quickly and was already managing 17 miners in his first job as a mining supervisor.

After completing his engineering degree, he stayed on at Hwange for a while, but he knew that he wanted to expand his horizons. To him, that meant going to either Germany, Australia, or South Africa.

He chose South Africa and came to the country one month before the first democratic election in 1994.

That year, he joined New Denmark Colliery in Standerton as a junior technical assistant and then moved to New Vaal Colliery, Arnot Colliery and Bank Colliery.

In 12 years, he worked at seven Anglo Mines and rose through the ranks to become CEO of Anglo American Coal South Africa at the age of 38.

During this time, he was also the Chairman of Richards Bay Coal Terminal and the Eskom 2008 Coal Working Group.

In 2013, he left Anglo American to join Lonmin, the third largest and only LSE/JSE dual-listed PGM producer at the time.

This move came at a very contentious time since it was only one year after the massacre at the company’s Marikana mine, during which 34 miners were killed by the South African Police Service.

Magara told CNBC Africa that, with all the challenges he has faced in his life, he believed he could make a positive contribution at Marikana.

“Coming to Lonmin for me was really saying yes, Marikana was a real tragedy. It was sad, it’s unfortunate, but I also believed in the same vein that Marikana was a tipping point and a catalyst for change,” he said.

He asked, “How can we find positive change? How can we make sure this never happens again if I’m not going to do it? If we, as Africans, are not going to solve it, who will?”

At that point, Magara had already built a reputation for turning around struggling mining operations, and he believed that Lonmin could be turned around, too.

“Mining is tough but because of the rough work I had early on in life, I am resilient. I never feel it. I find it important to go underground and engage with the rest of the miners, and this, in a way, helps me connect with them and boost morale.”

He was the CEO of Lonmin for six years, during which time he restructured and returned the company to profitability.

Notably, Magara declined a salary increase in 2016 for the second year in a row, even though the platinum mining group turned from an underlying loss of $134 million (around R1.86 billion) in 2015 to a profit of $7 million (around R96 million at the time) after a rights issue and a restructuring.

During his tenure, he restructured and returned Lonmin to profitability and subsequently consolidated its assets with Sibanye-Stillwater.

Unfortunately, Lonmin could not be saved, and Magara oversaw its acquisition by Sibanye-Stillwater in 2019. Today, Lonmin is defunct.

“That journey was marred by many storms, which we weathered,” Magara told CNBC.

“I’m particularly excited that we could, in the last two years, make a profit so the turnaround succeeded, but the structural challenges of Lonmin still remained.”

He said that a lack of diversity, particularly in terms of product base and geography, was ultimately the reason Lonmin found itself in that position.

In 2020, Magara founded Africa Mining & Metals Group (AMMG), a mining and advisory company focused on battery metals and precious metals.

He has also spent several years in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining industry, advising in the Copperbelt.

On 13 March 2025, Exxaro Resources, one of South Africa’s biggest coal producers, announced that Magara would be taking over as CEO of the company.

Exxaro explained that this appointment followed an expedited and targeted selection process wherein the board of directors selected Magara as the incoming CEO, effective 1 April 2025.

He will succeed acting CEO Riaan Koppeschaar, who will continue in his role as Finance Director.

“I am honoured to be taking up the role of Exxaro CEO and excited to have the opportunity to utilise our strong coal foundation as a base from which to expand our portfolio towards the critical low-carbon minerals essential for the future,” Magara said following the announcement.

“This is in line with our diversification strategy, which I have been part of as Exxaro’s Non-Executive Director and Investment Committee chairman.”

“I believe this strategy will enable us to deliver enhanced value to all our stakeholders while balancing enduring profitability with environmental and social sustainability.”