Executive Team



Jeff Leaver
Non-Executive Chairman
Jeff Leaver is the Non-Executive Chairman of Digby Wells Environmental. He holds an Honours Degree in Social Science from the University of Natal, as well as various Management qualifications. Jeff entered the mining industry in 1983, joining the Anglo American Corporation Gold Division. He progressed through Anglo American and De Beers ending as Head of Human Resources for De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited. Following his departure from De Beers in 2006 Jeff consulted to a number of government departments and worked on several strategic and general management assignments for various diamond and gold companies. This included a two-year assignment in Indonesia as the General Manager of a diamond mine. Until mid-2017 Jeff was the Chief Operating Officer of Letšeng Diamonds in Lesotho, a subsidiary of Gem Diamonds, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange and which he was the Acting Chief Executive Officer of Letšeng. Having entered semi-retirement in late 2019, Jeff continues as a Senior Project Manager at Gem Diamonds.



Nombini Mehlomakulu
Non-Executive Director
Nombini is the Non-Executive Director of Digby Wells Environmental, and Managing Director for Lwazi Capital, the 30% BEE shareholder to Digby Wells Environmental. Prior to this, Nombini held the position of International Manager: Social Performance for Anglo American plc., her responsibilities included working with operations in South Africa, Latin America and Australia. Before that Nombini was the Head of Investor Relations for the Sage Group, a financial services company. Nombini started her career in advertising and went on to hold executive marketing and communications roles at WIPHOLD and Umsobomvu Youth Fund. Nombini completed her BA Honours Political science degree in 1995, and has since completed a range of additional qualifications including that of General Management (Harvard Business School), Investment Decisions Associated with Mining (Imperial College, London), Advanced Social Management Programme for Anglo American Executives (Cambridge University jointly with the University of Queensland), Management Advancement Programme and Certificate Programme in Accounting and Finance (Wits Business school).



Danie Otto
Executive Director
Danie Otto is a Director and Manager of Southern Africa at Digby Wells. He holds an M.Sc in Environmental Management with B.Sc Hons (Limnology, Geomorphology, GIS and Environmental Management) and B.Sc (Botany and Geography). He is a registered Professional Natural Scientist since 2002. Danie has 24 years of consulting experience within the mining industry undertaking Environmental Assessments and compiling Environmental, Water & Waste Management Plans. He has wetland and geomorphology working experience across Africa including specialist environmental input into various water resource related studies These vary from studies of the wetlands of the Kruger National Park to swamp forests in central Africa to alpine systems in Lesotho. He further has physical implementation experience with constructing wetlands and ecological rehabilitation.

Lucy Stevens
Executive Director


Lucy Stevens, Director of Digby Wells Environmental has BA and LLB degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Masters Degree in Environmental Management from the Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa. Lucy is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa and specialises in environmental law. She has ten years of experience in this field which includes undertaking environmental legal compliance audits, due diligences, legal reviews, overseeing environmental impact assessment studies and providing legal advice in both the mining and non-mining sectors throughout Africa.

Graham Trusler
CEO (Founding Partner)


Graham Trusler is one of the founding partners of the company and is the CEO of Digby Wells Environmental. He holds a MSc (Engineering) and a BCom. Degree. He is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa. He is also registered as a Chartered Chemical Engineer with the Institution of Chemical Engineers, is a member of the Water Institute of South Africa and a lifetime member of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation. Graham has 30 years of experience within the mining industry in metallurgical production, research and environmental issues.

Roger Williams
Non-Executive Director


Roger is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ international experience in mining finance, and with an honours degree in French and Spanish. After 10 years at Randgold Resources including 5 years as Group Finance Director, Roger went on to become Chief Financial Officer of JSE-listed AECI Limited. He has served on a number of boards in the mining and mining services sectors and is currently Chief Financial Officer of a privately-owned mining company. After various interim roles at Digby Wells Environmental, including acting CFO and commercial executive, he was appointed Non-Executive Director in July 2017. He heads up the Finance and Risk Committee at Digby Wells.
Management Team



Sarah Cooper
Group Sustainability Manager
Sarah leads Digby Wells’ Sustainability Division and is Director of Digby Wells Jersey. She has 15 years experience in ESG and Sustainability. Sarah specialises in developing and implementing pragmatic ESG strategies that meet client’s current needs and future ambitions. Sarah is seconded to Barrick Gold as Group Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Manager, helping drive ESG strategy and disclosures. Prior to joining Digby Wells Sarah was Corporate reporting Manager for a leading ESG and Responsible Investment Public Relations and Communications agency. Sarah also spent time as ESG Analyst at CDC Group, the UK government’s Development Finance Institute, where she helped to develop the organisation’s ESG Toolkit for Fund Managers, and it's first Development Impact Report. Since July 2020 Sarah has served on the World Gold Council’s ESG taskforce, she is also on the International Mining and Metals Council’s Working groups for Responsible sourcing, and Human Rights.



Leon Ellis
Divisional Manager: Closure and Rehabilitation Services
Leon is the Mine Closure and Rehabilitation Divisional Manager at Digby Wells. Leon completed his BSc. (Hons) in Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in 2009. He joined Digby Wells in January 2013. He has nine years’ experience in the environmental services sector with specialised focus on Environmental Liability Assessments, Mine Closure Plans, Performance Assessments and Risk Assessments, locally and internationally. He has also been involved in the undertaking of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Environmental Management Programmes (EMPs). Leon also completed the Environmental Risk Assessment and Management course based on ISO 31000 at the Centre of Environmental Management (North West University) in 2016.



Richard McDonald
Chief Financial Officer
Richard has completed his MBA through GIBS and is a registered Chartered Accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. He has more than 15 years experience in various industries including commodity trading, mining, bulk materials handling, processing, power generation, fixed plant, agriculture, engineering and construction.

Janet Mkhabela
Country Manager: South Africa


Janet Mkhabela is a Country Manager and Social Performance Specialist at Digby Wells South Africa. She has over 16 years of work experience and holds a Master’s Degree in Policy and Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu/ Natal. Janet has experience working in diverse industry sectors across the African continent such as mining, renewable energy, oil and gas, and transportation. Her areas of expertise include resettlement planning and implementation, social impact assessments, impact investment advisory, and public consultation and disclosure processes. She has work experience in countries such as South Africa, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, São Tomé & Príncipe, amongst others. As a result, Janet has substantial experience in engaging with the full spectrum of public and private sector stakeholders and she is fully conversant with the cultural complexities and sensitivities of running effective and inclusive participatory processes in rural Africa.

Mompoloki Lettie Pitlagano
Country Manager: Botswana


Mompoloki Lettie Pitlagano (Lettie) holds the position of Country Manager, Botswana. Lettie completed a Bachelor of Science (Bsc.) in Biology and Environmental Science in 1998 and a MSc in tropical Ecology and Natural resources Management in 2005. She has been working in Environmental Management for over twenty years. Lettie is well versed with various aspects of the Environmental Impact Assessment process ranging from the review of mandatory reports, to undertaking ecological assessment and to monitoring compliance of project’s implementation process to Environmental Management Plans. Lettie has extensive experience in implementation of Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) and she is an internal lead auditor.

Lerato Ratsoenyane
Manager Stakeholder Engagement


Lerato has 13 years’ experience; with 6 years of work experience in the Coal Mining Sector as a Social and Labour Plan Practitioner involved in the consultation, compilation and execution of the Social and Labour Plans, Mining Charter and Mining Qualification Authority Reporting and performing various tasks in terms of planning and developing Policies and Strategies within the Human Resources, Governance and Environmental Divisions. The remaining 7 years has been within the Environmental Consultancy sector; involved in the planning, development and implementation of public participation processes (PPP) as part of Environmental Authorisation processes in compliance with South African legislation and Stakeholder Engagement processes as part of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) projects in compliance with Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards international guidelines and country-specific legislation specifically for projects in Botswana and Liberia. Lerato is professionally affiliated with the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) as a Committee Member for the emerging regions portfolio and Company Director and Member of IAP2 Southern Africa region.



Samba Sangare
Country Manager: Mali
With over 23 years of experience, Samba Sangare has worked in Mali for the Sadiola and Yatela Mines, Democratic Republic of Congo for the Kantaga Copper and Cobalt and Ashanti Goldfield Kilo SARL, as wells as in Guinee with the Société Anglo Gold Ashanti. Samba is the Country Manager for the Digby Wells Environmental Mali Office. He is an experienced Environmental Manager with strong leadership and stakeholder collaboration capabilities throughout the resources sector.



Mia Smith
Divisional Manager: Environmental Services
Mia Smith is the Divisional Manager for Environmental Services and has an MSc in Geography, with associated studies in Environmental Management and Energy. She has experience within the environmental services field including but not limited to mining, energy, oil and gas, pulp and paper, and agriculture. Mia re-joined Digby Wells Environmental as Manager of the new Compliance Department in 2018. She previously worked for Sappi SA as the Risk Manager and has over 14 years’ experience in project management, risk assessment, IFC compliance, auditing of ISO14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems, environmental legal compliance and ESG. Mia is a registered EAP with EAPASA (Reg. No. 2019/1282).



Kirsten Strauss
Executive: HR & Organisational Effectiveness
Kirsten joined Digby Wells in November 2011 as a HR specialist. She has over 20 years HR generalist experience. She has experience in organisational development, job profiling, performance management, remuneration and reward, organisation structuring and design, and recruitment. Kirsten is also involved in the International travel procedures and Health and Safety for the organisation.

André van Coller
Country Manager - Jersey; Divisional Manager - Water Services


André van Coller holds an MSc in Geohydrology from the Institute of Groundwater Studies, University of the Free State with specialisation in geochemistry. He has over 10 years’ experience in the mining and environmental industry working as a geologist, hydrogeologist and environmental geochemist. André has experience in the mining industry with water supply, dewatering, geochemistry, water and salt balance and EIA projects and played a role in both the project management, management of field programs, data processing and reporting. His current focus is on mine water management that includes surface water, groundwater and geochemistry assessments and management plans considering site wide impacts and mitigations. André is also the Divisional Manager for Water Services at Digby Wells and leads an international team of hydrologists, geohydrologists and geochemists. His international experience includes projects in USA, Canada, Peru, Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal, DRC, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Lesotho and South Africa.

Barbara Wessels
Executive: Technical Services


Barbara Wessels completed her B. Sc. in Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Johannesburg and has over 14 years’ experience. She is responsible for Group Technical Services which includes social and heritage, environmental management and compliance, GIS, ecology, air quality and noise, aquatic and wetland services, surface and groundwater as well as rehabilitation and closure. She has global experience in various environmental disciplines with a focus on integrated project management and compilation, review and auditing of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments.