Trustees & Trust Advisory Committee

According to the Trust Deed, the Tshiamiso Trust is governed by a board of seven trustees. Of these, three have been nominated by the companies, two by the claimants’ attorneys, one by government and a consensus trustee has been nominated by the mining companies and the claimants’ attorneys jointly. The Trust and the seven nominated trustees were all registered by the office of the Master of the High Court by 6 February 2020 and is expected to be functional for at least the next 12 years.

Tshiamiso Trust Deed (1.21MB)

The Current Board of Trustees

Dr May Hermanus
Chairperson of the Tshiamiso Trust

Dr Sophia
Kisting-Cairncross

An Occupational Medicine Specialist with a strong pro-poor, social justice, and human rights focus. Her experience includes being the Executive Director of the National Institute for Occupational Health and work with the International Labour Organisation. In 2019, she received an award for Global Achievements in Worker Health and Safety from The American Public Health Association.
Dr Barry
Kistnasamy

Dr Kistnasamy is a medical doctor with additional training in public, occupational, and environmental health. Currently, he is the Compensation Commissioner for Occupational Diseases in the National Department of Health, dealing specifically with mineworkers and ex-mineworkers with occupational lung diseases.
Ms Janet
Love

A seasoned human rights and social justice activist, Ms Love served as the National Director of the Legal Resources Centre from 2006 to 2018. Thereafter, she assumed a full-time role as Vice Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa, where she currently serves as Commissioner.
Ms Taryn
Leishman

As the former Executive Vice President: Group General Counsel and Head of Compliance at Gold Fields Limited, Ms Leishman holds BCom (Law), LLB, an Advanced Corporate Law I & II Diploma, and was admitted as an attorney to the High Court in 2000. Having joined Gold Fields’ global legal team in 2004, Leishman has deep experience in the mining landscape.
Mr Michael
Murray

A corporate lawyer with extensive experience of South Africa’s mining legal landscape. Before joining Bowmans in 2018, he worked at Anglo American South Africa for 25 years as in-house counsel. Murray was extensively involved in the conclusion of the Settlement Agreement out of which the Tshiamiso Trust was born.
Mr Ridwaan
Essay

Mr Ridwaan Essay is a qualified chartered accountant, registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) since 2009. He also has a post-graduate Higher Diploma in Income Tax Law, having studied through the University of the Witwatersrand. Mr Essay completed his three-year auditing articles at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and then remained at PwC as a tax consultant for a further two years. His current role is Senior Executive Finance for the ARM Platinum and ARM Coal divisions, having worked at the company since 2011.

Trust Advisory Committee

While the Board of Trustees is responsible for governing the Trust, there is broad acknowledgement that other stakeholders have a keen and vested interest in the work of the Trust and in the fulfilment of its mandate. As such, the Trust Advisory Committee was established to give key stakeholders the opportunity to advise, give input, and raise concerns with the Board of Trustees.