TUT confers honorary doctorate on mining trailblazer Daphne Mashile-Nkosi

The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) has conferred an honorary doctorate on South Africa’s mining doyenne, Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to mining, mining innovation, entrepreneurship and inclusive economic growth.

Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Tinyiko Maluleke and Dr Daphne Mashile-Nkosi. The Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa) was conferred on Mashile-Nkosi during the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment’s (FEBE) graduation ceremony at the Pretoria Campus on 28 April 2026. A total of 7 786 students will graduate during the Autumn 2026 season, which started on 8 April 2026 at the Soshanguve Campus and will conclude on 28 May 2026 at the Polokwane Campus.

In her acceptance speech, Mashile-Nkosi expressed gratitude for the honour, adding that it came with the responsibility to continue to influence change. “I stand here not as a symbol of achievement but as a witness to endurance. Before recognition, there was resistance; before celebration, there was battle,” she said.

“When I walked into the manganese fields, the path was closed. At Kgalagadi Manganese, we pioneered firsts – commissioning a sinter plant before the mine was complete and building the world’s largest manganese beneficiation plant before the national framework was imagined,” she said, adding that African beneficiation renaissance arose from exclusion, doors that refused to open, and institutions that saw extraction but not transformation.  

Mashile-Nkosi founded Kalagadi Manganese in 2007, which operates the world’s largest manganese sintering plant. With South Africa currently accounting for 37% of the world’s manganese production, Mashile-Nkosi is at the forefront of increasing this share through constant innovations at Kalagadi Manganese.

She established Eyesizwe Coal in 1999, which, after only seven years, listed on both the Johannesburg and London Stock Exchanges. In 2006, the company merged with Kumba Coal to form Exxaro, the largest coal producer in South Africa.

She was born in Pilgrim’s Rest, Mpumalanga and raised in Soweto. She attended Sekano-Ntoane Secondary School in Senaoane, Soweto where she participated in the June 1976 Soweto student uprisings. She holds a Master’s degree in International Business and Law from the University of Salford, in the UK, and a Small Business Management Diploma from Wits Business School.

Mashile-Nkosi has won multiple national and international awards for leadership and mining, testimony to her excellence in this industry. Her achievements include, among others, the following:

• Black Star: Industrious African Woman Award at the GUBA Awards USA (2019)
• Africa Economy Builders’ Lifetime Achievement Award (2018)
• BBC Pioneer Entrepreneur Award (2016)
• African Female Business Leader of the Year at the 6th African Leadership Forum and Awards in the UK (2015)
• African Mining and Metals Deal of the Year at the IJ Global Europe and Africa Awards in the UK (2014)
• Africa CEO of the Year at the Africa CEO Forum, Switzerland (2013)

Through the Stanley and Daphne Nkosi Foundation, she built and donated the Zakithi Nkosi Haematology Centre of Excellence at the Chris-Hani Baragwanath Hospital, named after her daughter, who passed away from hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. The 24-bed and 20-isolation ward centre, which she handed over in 2019, addresses backlogs in the treatment of blood disorders, including leukaemia, lymphoma, and aplastic anaemia. 

She is a trailblazer in South African mining and continues to inspire and empower individuals and communities through her mining businesses and philanthropic projects.

Dr Daphne Mashile-Nkosi speaks of the challenges and opportunities in mining. Dr Daphne Mashile-Nkosi was awarded the Honorary Doctoral Degree in Engineering.