schedule had been prepared long before the latest disaster and still had her spending a night at the Lion Plains Lodge. The plan was that she and Cameron, and Chris Loubser if he hadn’t gone missing, would meet with the incumbent but strictly former owner, Tertia Venter.
From what she recalled of the press clippings from the South African newspapers Kylie doubted they would be able to silence the woman, but it might be worth a try. As important as the new mine was, however, she knew that her first priority, and Cameron’s, would be the fate of Loubser; she didn’t want to be taking happy snaps of lions and elephants while there was a man down. There was a note in the file from Sandy saying that when they got to the reserve they would also probably meet Tumi Mabunda, the cousin of Musa the corporate communications man. Ironically, Tumi was head ranger at the lodge; the briefing said female black rangers were still a rarity in the male-dominated safari business and much had been made of Tertia Venter’s promotion of a woman from the local community to the head ranger position. Kylie didn’t consider herself an animal person at all and wondered what it would be like driving around all day looking for wildlife for a job.
Musa advises his cousin is very much anti the GR mine proposal
, her PA had further noted.
Kylie shook her head as she leafed through the press clippings again. ‘Great,’ she said to herself, ‘so is most of the country.’
Also in her folder was a printout of an email from Cameron McMurtrie that gave the latest on the investigation into the deaths of the security guard and trainee environmental officer, and efforts that had been made to find Chris Loubser. The police had been in attendance, but Cameron noted:
As with previous incidents involving
zama zamas
the police have not been of great assistance. Most arrests of illegal miners in Eureka – and the rest of South Africa – are effected by mine security personnel, not police. The police lack the experience and will to venture into an unfamiliar environment. Permission is again sought to launch a rescue operation of our own
.
No way
, Kylie thought. She would have a word to the police officer in charge when she got to Barberton. She had met plenty of men and a few women like Cameron before. They were miners through and through who had been ambitious and smart enough to make it into senior positions in mine management, yet they still harboured an us-and-them attitude when it came to head office. Things were no doubt compounded by the fact that Eureka was one of a trio of mines which had been owned by a smallish South African mining company that had recently been bought out by Global Resources. Cameron would have been beholden to the old owners and probably chaffed at having to report to foreigners – especially Australians. He would be tired and stressed at the loss of his men, which was understandable; but on other occasions when she’d faced Cameron in video conference meetings, or exchanged emails with him, she had detected an undercurrent of surliness and, she thought, misogyny.
A flight attendant stopped and asked her if she wanted a drink and Kylie ordered an orange juice. Despite her gut feeling about Cameron, she would have to get used to working with him and he with her. She’d faced off with sexists before, and she wasn’t afraid to do it again. Also, he was about to move up a corporate rung himself. By the time she arrived at Barberton Jan would have contacted Cameron to tell him he was being promoted to South African director of new projects. One of his first duties would be to overseethe implementation of the new coalmine, and he would be working even closer with Kylie on that project.
Kylie flipped through the file again to an article she wanted to read in full, an investigative piece on illegal mining from
Mining Monthly
. As controversial as her industry sometimes was in her native Australia she was learning the stakes in
From what she recalled of the press clippings from the South African newspapers Kylie doubted they would be able to silence the woman, but it might be worth a try. As important as the new mine was, however, she knew that her first priority, and Cameron’s, would be the fate of Loubser; she didn’t want to be taking happy snaps of lions and elephants while there was a man down. There was a note in the file from Sandy saying that when they got to the reserve they would also probably meet Tumi Mabunda, the cousin of Musa the corporate communications man. Ironically, Tumi was head ranger at the lodge; the briefing said female black rangers were still a rarity in the male-dominated safari business and much had been made of Tertia Venter’s promotion of a woman from the local community to the head ranger position. Kylie didn’t consider herself an animal person at all and wondered what it would be like driving around all day looking for wildlife for a job.
Musa advises his cousin is very much anti the GR mine proposal
, her PA had further noted.
Kylie shook her head as she leafed through the press clippings again. ‘Great,’ she said to herself, ‘so is most of the country.’
Also in her folder was a printout of an email from Cameron McMurtrie that gave the latest on the investigation into the deaths of the security guard and trainee environmental officer, and efforts that had been made to find Chris Loubser. The police had been in attendance, but Cameron noted:
As with previous incidents involving
zama zamas
the police have not been of great assistance. Most arrests of illegal miners in Eureka – and the rest of South Africa – are effected by mine security personnel, not police. The police lack the experience and will to venture into an unfamiliar environment. Permission is again sought to launch a rescue operation of our own
.
No way
, Kylie thought. She would have a word to the police officer in charge when she got to Barberton. She had met plenty of men and a few women like Cameron before. They were miners through and through who had been ambitious and smart enough to make it into senior positions in mine management, yet they still harboured an us-and-them attitude when it came to head office. Things were no doubt compounded by the fact that Eureka was one of a trio of mines which had been owned by a smallish South African mining company that had recently been bought out by Global Resources. Cameron would have been beholden to the old owners and probably chaffed at having to report to foreigners – especially Australians. He would be tired and stressed at the loss of his men, which was understandable; but on other occasions when she’d faced Cameron in video conference meetings, or exchanged emails with him, she had detected an undercurrent of surliness and, she thought, misogyny.
A flight attendant stopped and asked her if she wanted a drink and Kylie ordered an orange juice. Despite her gut feeling about Cameron, she would have to get used to working with him and he with her. She’d faced off with sexists before, and she wasn’t afraid to do it again. Also, he was about to move up a corporate rung himself. By the time she arrived at Barberton Jan would have contacted Cameron to tell him he was being promoted to South African director of new projects. One of his first duties would be to overseethe implementation of the new coalmine, and he would be working even closer with Kylie on that project.
Kylie flipped through the file again to an article she wanted to read in full, an investigative piece on illegal mining from
Mining Monthly
. As controversial as her industry sometimes was in her native Australia she was learning the stakes in
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