Bobby Godsell

Robert Michael "Bobby" Godsell (born 14 September 1952 in Johannesburg) is a retired South African businessman and the former CEO of South African gold mining company AngloGold Ashanti, a position he held from 1998 to 2007. He was the Non-Executive Chairman of Eskom from 2008 to 2009 and was appointed to the National Planning Commission of South Africa by former South African President Jacob Zuma on 30 April 2010.

Biography Godsell completed a Master of Arts degree at the University of Cape Town, followed by a bachelor's degree at the University of Natal.

As CEO, he oversaw, alongside Sam E. Jonah, the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, announced on 16 May 2003 and completed on 26 April 2004, to form AngloGold Ashanti.

Godsell announced his retirement on 31 July 2010 and retired from his position as CEO of AngloGold Ashanti on 30 September 2007, being replaced by Australian Mark Cutifani. He stated that, after 34 years in corporate life he was looking forward to exploring new ways of being a constructive citizen in his country, South Africa.

Personal life Godsell, born to Cyril Harold & Winnefred Godsell, is married to Gillian Hall. The couple has three daughters. Bobby Godsell and his then-marketing director Kelvin Williams found themselves blamed for the excessive hedging of the company, brought on in parts by the AngloGold-Ashanti merger.

Under Godsell's final years as CEO, AngloGold Ashanti experienced a high number of fatalities in its mines, 37 in 2006 and 34 in 2007. Under his successor, these numbers dropped to 14 in 2008 and 16 in 2009, achieved partly through new safety initiatives.

Godsell is highly regarded and trusted by the National Union of Mineworkers, who came out in his defence after he lost the power struggle within Eskom and was accused of racism, as did the African National Congress, the ANC. His positive relationship with the unions dates back to 1974, when he became labour relations expert and got involved in forming Anglo American's employment practice policies. His role in getting white business in South Africa to accept both the unpopular Labour Relations Act and, later, the mining charter in the transformation period of the country was instrumental and his relationship with Cyril Ramaphosa was crucial in all this.