Deep in the heart of the hot and dry mining town of Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, is the modest headquarters of a small company trying to move mountains.
Natalie Killassy grew up in Carletonville—the heart of South Africa’s gold mining industry—and knows the often harsh life of mines and miners. Her family have lived there for generations and when she was a child, she often felt the grief of mining accidents. The deep mines of Carletonville burrow down around 4km into the earth and are prone to lethal seismic activity that can bring shafts crashing down.
Staff working on the backfill bags in the bag factory
As director of Stitch Wise, Killassy has made a business out of helping to rebuild the shattered lives of injured miners, while at the same time trying to prevent others from suffering the same fate.
Stitch Wise is a safety gear company which makes huge bags that save lives underground. Miners pour backfill—liquid mud created by blasting that solidifies—in the bags. The bags save the cost of transporting waste to the surface, as well as providing a shield against rockfalls underground.
It has taken 16 years to build up Stitch Wise, which sprang from an 18-month study into the world’s deepest gold mines. For the first eight years, the business did not pay dividends as every cent was reinvested.
“We come from humble beginnings where we couldn’t afford forklifts to lift the bags as they surfaced. We only had one sewing machine and today everything is automated,” says Killassy.
Nearly a third of her workers are injured miners who are trained to make the bags and patented safety equipment. The company is 26% owned by its employees through a broad-based black economic empowerment trust.
Stitch Wise Director, Natalie Killassy, standing next to her patented bag material
“Businesses are built on people and we need to add value to people’s lives—that helps you build a business. You need to allow them to take ownership, through that you develop pride… Social entrepreneurs are people who do things that touch their hearts,” says the softly spoken Killassy.
The mining companies—AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold—have poured money into the idea and Killassy is trying to get companies to spend more on safety.
The company was chosen by Endeavour, an Oppenheimer family funded NGO, and became part of the group in 2004. Endeavour selects promising entrepreneurs, assists them in improving their business models and has so far picked 300 in 25 countries.
“It is quite a rigorous process; they basically panel beat your business and you as an entrepreneur.”
Knee and arm pads produced by disabled staff at the safety gear factory
With innovation and experienced mentors backing her, Killassy’s Stitch Wise is setting its sights on the rest of the continent and South America’s Chilean mines.
“Mining is going to be around for a long time and we need to grow with it.”
Killassy grew up in the tough world of mining in Carletonville. She has grown to be as tough in business.