year to March 2009 and electricity price rises criticised for stoking inflation as South Africa battled recession. Maroga allegedly handed in his resignation, then denied doing so and Godsell, under political pressure from organisations supporting Maoga, decided to hand in his resignation instead. Personal life Godsell, born to Cyril Harold & Winnefred Godsell, is married to Gillian Hall. The couple has three daughters. Legacy Upon retirement, Bobby Godsell was described as "a visionary, that has done much to shape the destiny of both the South African labour relations landscape and that of AngloGold Ashanti" by then-chairman of AngloGold Ashanti, Russell Edey. Under Godsell, AngloGold Ashanti had hedged 11.3 million ounces of gold, as of early 2008, twice the value of the company's annual production. Under his successor, Mark Cutifani, this was gradually reduced to 3.22 million. In October 2010, this remaining amount was paid off with US$2.63 billion, or US$1,300 per ounce of gold. The hedging of gold at low prices while the overall-gold price reached record heights in 2010 was financially very unfavourable for AngloGold Ashanti, forcing the company to sell gold at prices far below spot market value. Bobby Godsell and his then-marketing director Kelvin Williams found themselves blamed for the excessive hedging of the company, brought on in parts by the AngloGold-Ashanti merger. Under Godsell's final years as CEO, AngloGold Ashanti experienced a high number of fatalities in its mines, 37 in 2006 and 34 in 2007. Under his successor, these numbers dropped to 14 in 2008 and 16 in 2009, achieved partly through new safety initiatives. Godsell is highly regarded and trusted by the National Union of Mineworkers, who came out in his defence after he lost the power struggle within Eskom and was accused of racism, as did the African National Congress, the ANC. His positive relationship with the unions dates back to 1974, when he became labour relations expert and got involved in forming Anglo American's employment practice policies. His role in getting white business in South Africa to accept both the unpopular Labour Relations Act and, later, the mining charter in the transformation period of the country was instrumental and his relationship with Cyril Ramaphosa was crucial in all this. References External links AngloGold Ashanti Homepage 1952 births Living people People from Johannesburg AngloGold Ashanti South African businesspeople University of Cape Town alumni University of Natal alumni