In the last Anglo annual report, Chairman John Parker praised Nhleko's "excellent international business track record". The Anglo board is said to be considering Nhleko, who has served as an Anglo director since April last year, as a replacement for Cynthia Carroll, who announced last month that she would resign after nearly six years as CEO.
However, a London-based mining analyst said that a decision to appoint Nhleko would be "received disappointingly by the market", as Anglo needed a boss with a strong mining background. "The reason Anglo is in the mess it's in is because they haven't had a strong mining person at the helm since Tony Trahar (Ms Carroll's predecessor) took over in 2000," the analyst said.
But an analyst who has covered MTN extensively for many years disagrees - saying that Nhleko would be a brilliant appointment for Anglo. "If they want someone strategic who can take the business to the next level, they will have to search far and wide to find someone more suitable than Phuthuma." The analyst added that Nhleko's lack of operational mining experience should not be seen as a problem, BDLive reports.
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