A state of national disaster has been declared in South Africa in terms of the Disaster Management Act. In line with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration of a national state of disaster, and due to the rising concerns, we deem it appropriate to make a statement regarding the actions that we as Exxaro are taking.

Exxaro is closely monitoring all updates and advice from the relevant organisations, including the National Department of Health, the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy and Minerals Council South Africa. As a result, we are taking several precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of our employees, customers, clients, service providers and other stakeholders.

We are implementing a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP) across the business that includes Health and Safety controls. With the ever-increasing number of confirmed local cases, we are now of the view that we need to activate the next phase of managing the risk by focusing on the following three objectives:

• Avoid and reduce the infection rate of Covid-19;
• Delay Covid-19 infection where possible; and
• Manage the risks associated with Covid-19 infections cases as they arise.

The most effective way to minimise risk of the virus’ transmission is to reduce density and practice social distancing. We are undertaking to act responsibly and do our part in preventing further spread of the virus. As part of this, the necessary protocols have been put in place across all our Business Units and our Head Office in Centurion (the conneXXion) to ensure efficient ways of working and without any business interruptions. These currently include, but are not limited to, the use of suitable technologies such as Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business, which will facilitate meetings.

Based on current information, we are not expecting any impact on operations. This is however a rapidly evolving situation and we will endeavour to keep you updated if normal course of business will be impacted. We are working with our employees and stakeholders to continuously assess the situation. Updates will be provided as and when they arise. For more information on the virus and associated FAQs please refer to the WHO website: - www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses