When AngloGold Ashanti brought in Canadian miner Kelvin Dushnisky as its CEO some two years ago, his mandate was to sell its loss-making operations.
With most of those assets based in South Africa, it was clear the one-time miner that owes its roots to Anglo American was on a path to exiting the country.
It was always set to be a tough and dirty job and needed someone with no sentimentality to South Africa to carry through the mandate.