He started checking diesel. Now he runs eight SA mining sites
BRITS — Before the luxury cars, private jets and reported R220 million Clifton mansion made Solly Soka Madibela a social media fascination, the businessman known as MySol was checking diesel levels and doing administrative work at a mine. Today, the company carrying his nickname says it employs more than 2,500 people and operates eight opencast chrome mining sites in South Africa.
Madibela’s public profile has grown considerably alongside his wealth. His vehicle collection, which reportedly includes Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz models, has generated headlines, while the reported purchase of an expensive Cape Town property pushed his name further into the public spotlight.
The less frequently told story is the mining operation behind that lifestyle.
MySol Holdings and Logistics says it was established in 2018 with approximately 38 employees and monthly production of about 50,000 tonnes. The company now claims a workforce exceeding 2,500 people and peak production capacity of as much as 450,000 tonnes per month.
Its operations are concentrated in the North West, where MySol says it operates eight active opencast chrome mining sites for Samancor Chrome between Mooinooi and Brits.
The work goes considerably further than moving material from mines. MySol lists drilling and blasting, loading and hauling, crushing and screening, rehabilitation and other mining services among its operations. The company also says it owns approximately 95% of the mining fleet deployed across its active projects.
That represents substantial growth for a business established less than a decade ago.
Madibela’s entry into mining was considerably more modest. A profile published by Samancor Chrome in 2022 said he had wanted to attend university after matric but his family could not afford it. He instead entered the mining industry as a site clerk, where his responsibilities included checking diesel levels and performing administrative work.
Rather than remaining in administration, Madibela spent time around mining operations learning how the industry worked. He later obtained a blasting qualification and moved into crushing and selling rock before eventually establishing himself as an opencast mining contractor.
The expansion has continued in 2026. MySol announced the acquisition of another 40 Volvo machines in August, with Madibela saying the investment would create approximately 200 additional jobs as the equipment was deployed across operations working multiple shifts. Reports at the time put the company’s heavy-equipment fleet at approximately 150 machines.
The figures help explain why Madibela’s visible wealth tells only part of the MySol story. A workforce of more than 2,500 would make the company a significant private employer in the communities surrounding its mining operations, while its relationship with Samancor places it inside South Africa’s chrome industry, where the country holds the world’s largest known chromite resources.
There is an important qualification. Several of the most striking figures surrounding MySol, including its current employee numbers, production capacity and proportion of company-owned equipment, come from the company itself. They should therefore be understood as MySol’s reported operational figures rather than independently audited measures of its size.
What can be established is that the business has developed from a relatively small mining contractor into an operator working across multiple Samancor sites, while its founder has simultaneously become one of South Africa’s more visible emerging mining businessmen.
The cars and property may have introduced MySol to a much wider South African audience. The business behind them, and how rapidly it has grown since 2018, may ultimately be the more consequential story.
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