The Future Leader Interviews Season 2

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Professor Phakeng, a B1 rated scientist, is a recognisable name in higher education in South Africa. 

She obtained her junior degree, majoring in pure mathematics, at the then University of Bophuthatswana (now North-West University) in Mmabatho in 1987, obtaining a solid 74% for her final-year pure mathematics module. 

She completed all her postgraduate studies, which ended with a PhD in 2002, at Wits University where she also served for five years as President of Convocation (2011-2016). Her first job was in 1988 as a mathematics lecturer at Hebron College of Education. 

Over the years she served as principal, teacher, and mathematics subject advisor before venturing into the nongovernmental sector for five years, running mathematics development programmes for teachers and learners in township and farm schools in West Rand. 

She also ran empowerment programmes for women in the rural villages of Matamanyane and Lenyenye in Limpopo. 

Professor Phakeng’s academic career started at Wits, where she first served as a research assistant in 1996 and later left in December 2007 as an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education as well as Founding Director of the award-winning Marang Centre for Mathematics and Science Education. In January 2008 she took up the position of Executive Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) at the University of South Africa. 

She had a very successful tenure as Dean of CSET at UNISA and was promoted to serve as Vice-Principal of the newly established portfolio of Research and Innovation on 1 July 2011. 

When her five-year term ended in June 2016, she joined UCT as DVC for Research and Internationalisation. As a highly regarded scholar, Professor Phakeng has been invited to deliver over 40 keynote lectures at international conferences and as visiting professor at universities around the world. 

Her commitment to academia and research extends beyond her own advancement. In 2016 she was appointed by the then Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as chairperson of the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa standing committee on Mathematics and Science. Professor Phakeng is a member of a number of boards, including the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls; the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation; and the South African Student Solidarity Foundation for Education. 

She is also a trustee of the FirstRand Foundation. She has chaired the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Research, Development and Innovation Committee (until September 2017), and served as National President of the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa from 2002 to 2006. 

Her other previous roles include chairperson of the Board of the South African Mathematics Foundation from 2005 to 2006; secretary and member of the executive committee of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education from 2003 to 2007 and the CSIR from 2015 to 2017. 

Professor Phakeng is also the founder of the Adopt-a-learner Foundation, a non-profit organisation that started in 2004 and provides financial and educational support to students from township and rural areas to acquire higher education qualifications. 

Listen to Prof Phakeng's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Shaun Tomson, born in the coastal town of Durban, South Africa, is one of the world's best surfers and has won events all over the world, culminating in the surfing world's top honor, the World Pro Championship. 

Shaun competed on the pro tour for 16 years, winning 19 professional events, and at the time was both the youngest and oldest surfer to win a professional event. 

Shaun is a true surfing innovator, developing a revolutionary and radical new tube riding technique. He carried on that success as the co-founder of two multi-million dollar clothing brands, Instinct, and Solitude.

He tragically lost his 15-year old son Mathew in 2006. “The Light Shines Ahead” were words Mathew had written in an essay shortly before his death and became a driving principle for Shaun. 

He found renewed purpose and carries out his son’s legacy by inspiring audiences across the globe with keynotes and workshops about the value of commitment and positivity to improve engagement and performance. 

He’s moved audiences at large conferences, higher-ed institutions and for many major brands like General Motors, Cisco, Google, Gap, Disney, Sonos, Patagonia, Dermalogica, and PWC.

Shaun authored the bestsellers “Surfer's Code: 12 Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life” in 2006 and “The Code: The Power of 'I Will',” in 2017. 

The Code Method, an academically validated corporate training and development program based on his books, is a model to help people from all walks of life face challenges, achieve personal goals and live and lead with purpose.
 

Shaun has shared the stage with well-known personalities, including Sir Richard Branson and Malcolm Gladwell, presented to audiences of more than 3,000. 

Listen to Shaun's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo 

Barbara Creecy has been a member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC in Gauteng, since 1994. 

This mother of two is well respected by stakeholders as a capable leader, with a good track record in public policy formulation and implementation.

Ms Creecy is one of the longest serving Members of the Provincial Legislature. She joined the legislature in 1994, and until 2004, served in different portfolios including Deputy Chief Whip as well as Chairperson of the Social Development and Education Committees.

In 2004 she was appointed MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture. 

After the General Elections in 2009, Ms Creecy moved to the Education portfolio. 

It was under her leadership that the Gauteng Department of Education pioneered a turnaround strategy to improve matric performance in 400 underperforming township schools. 

In April 2014, the programme was recognized by the United Nations and awarded first prize in the category “Improving Delivery of Public Services”.

Ms Creecy currently serves as the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Finance in the Gauteng Provincial Government.

In her capacity as the MEC of Finance, she is responsible for Gauteng Provincial Treasury, Department of e-Government and an agency called Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency.

Under her leadership, the Provincial Treasury implemented the Open Tender system. This innovative reform includes the public adjudication of tenders as well as an independent probity audit to ensure that procurement processes are within the prescribed regulatory framework. 

She also led Treasury to comprehensively support departments in improving financial management, with the result that in 2016/17 two out of three departments achieved clean audits and all other departments had unqualified audit status.

These and other significant achievements have led Treasury to be recognised both provincially and nationally as one of the pioneers in financial management in the public sector, winning three awards at the 2016 Batho Pele Awards and another three at the Premier’s Service Excellence Awards in 2017.

Through Ms Creecy’s guidance, e-Gov is also making progress in modernising the public service. As a result, e-Gov’s Gauteng Broadband Network project was recently awarded 1st runner up at this year’s Public Service ICT Awards.

Ms Creecy grew up in Johannesburg. Her political career started when she joined the anti-apartheid movement and later the underground structures on the ANC whilst a student at Wits in the late 1970’s. 

She worked for the Civic Desk of the United Democratic Front and later joined an NGO that offered training and organisational development support to trade unions and community structures.

She holds an Honours Degree in Political Science from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of London. When she is free, Ms Creecy likes taking long walks, swimming, practising yoga or reading a good book. 

Listen to MEC Creecy's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo  

From a young age, Mmusi has had a passion for fighting for the dignity of the poor, excluded and marginalized in society. This has fueled his conviction to build One South Africa that is united, reconciled and prosperous. 

Born in 1980, Mmusi grew up in Soweto – South Africa’s largest township. He attended Allen Glen High School, where he matriculated in 1997. 

Mmusi holds two masters degrees – in Public Administration as well as Theology, and is working towards his PhD in economic development. He speaks 7 South African languages fluently.

His career spans across the business and governance sectors – most notably as a member of parliament and the leader of the official opposition in South Africa.

Having spent close to a decade in institutional politics, it became clear to Mmusi that the formalized political system is broken and self-serving, and requires wholescale change. 

This is why he has committed the coming years to build grassroots, activist movement that changes the South African political and socio-economic landscape through the direct election of public servants to office. 

Mmusi has been married to Natalie since 2005 and they have three children, two daughters Kgalaletso and Kutlwano, and a son Daniel. 

Watch Mmusi's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Sithembile has extensive classical marketing experience in FMCG, brand management, strategy development, global marketing, and destination marketing. 

With 22 years’ experience in Marketing, she has held senior managerial positions at Nampak Tissues, Foodcorp, Tiger Brands, Unilever and Pioneer Foods. 

The experience from these diverse companies has enabled her to deal with complex business environments and projects. 

She is highly proficient in leadership, with good communication skills and has a deep understanding of the marketing and brand environments

Her experiences include developing and implementing impactful, successful, and sustainable brand strategies. Sithembile completed her Marketing undergraduate qualification at Mangosuthu University of Technology in KZN. 

She later pursued and completed a Post Graduate National Diploma in Marketing and BPHIL Honours in Marketing through the Institute of Marketing Management (IMM) and a Masters in Commerce (MCOM) from MANCOSA.

She is a Chartered Marketer (CM-SA) with the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA) and a member of Black Management Forum. She is also a member of the CMO COUNCIL Advisory Board (Africa). 

Watch Sithembile's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Ms. Gugulethu “Gugu” Ndebele is currently the Executive Director of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG). 

Gugu joined the organisation after a long and distinguished career as the CEO of Save the Children South Africa, one of the leading child rights organizations in the world, operating in 120 countries. 

Previously, she worked at the Department of Basic Education where she was Deputy Director-General primarily responsible for Social Mobilisation and Support Services. 

Gugu was also one of the pioneers of the biggest Adult Literacy Campaign in SA (Kha ri Gude), the Recapitalisation of Vocational Colleges and the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). 

Amongst other qualifications, Gugu is the proud possessor of an MSc in Organisational Change and Development (Manchester University, UK), and a Post Graduate Diploma in Adult Education (Wits) and a Management Advancement Progamme Certificate (Wits Business School). 

She is also a certified Neuro Sequential Model for Education (NME) Trainer. This means that she is trained to understand and mitigate the role of trauma in learning. In 2016 she was appointed Vice- Chair of the UNESCO Bureau of the Global Alliance for Literacy. 

And in 2017, in recognition of her passion for reading, she was appointed by the Minister of Basic Education as the Literacy Ambassador for the Read to Lead Campaign. She was also a Member of the Advisory Committee of the South African Human Rights Commission. Board and Director Appointments a. Gugu sits on the Rhodes University Council as a Ministerial Appointment b. 

She is one of the Directors of Global Organisation 4 Brighter Youth (GOBY) Foundation. GOBY aims to educate South African Families on the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling waste while removing plastic waste from our environment, especially beaches. Selected waste material including plastic and bottle-tops are collected from beaches and communities to develop/create sports equipment for distribution to schools, coupled with coaching programs and sports festivals on our beaches. 

She is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Trust (SAT)  

Gugu is a member of the: 

 Institute of Directors Southern Africa. 

 Southern African Heads of Independent Schools (SAHISA) 

 Independents Schools Association of SA (ISASA) and is on the Executive of the Central Region of ISASA. All of her engagements are driven by her profound passion and commitment for the realization of the Rights of Children. 

Features Gugu has been featured in a number of magazines and documentaries, including the a. Oprah’s Daughters Documentary by People Magazine b. Business Africa Online, c. The NGO Whisperer d. a Blog on Phenomenal Women. e. Conversations of Excellence by Stella Bida, a young Award Winning Entrepreneur and International Speaker and Best Seller She has been a Forbes Africa Panelist. 

Finally, she has been recently requested to endorse a book on Career Guidance; How to Go to Work by Steve Haines and Lucy Clayton Gugu hosts Sipping Tea with Thishomkhulu. This is an initiative she started to have Conversations that Matter with people from all walks of life. 

Gugu is an avid reader and enjoys travelling and learning about different cultures. She is passionate about supporting young women and their development. Gugu says her greatest achievement is her munchkins Njabulo and twins (Abethu and Ezethu) 

Listen to Gugu's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud 

Elder. Grandfather. Social Activist. Inspiration mentor. Humanist. 

Student activist inspired  by Steve Biko, who compelled  us to dare.  Being part of the 1976 Generation he joined the South African Students Organization inspired by Steve Biko, who compelled us to dare, To believe ‘we had nothing to lose but our chains.’ 

His studies to become a doctor was interrupted by the Soweto Uprisings of 1976 and he turned to full time organising at a community level and then volunteering for the fledgling labour movement in which apartheid barred African workers from the collective bargaining system that protected workers rights. 

After these struggles the apartheid government conceded in 1979 and he rose through the ranks of the food union, Sweet Food and Allied Workers Union to become its General Secretary. He participated in the Unity Talks that led to the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and was elected its General Secretary for three successive terms. The labour movement became the backbone of the struggle against apartheid. And Jay attributes his greatest lessons of life to the thousands of worker leaders, mostly migrant workers, who were his faculty of teachers in the brutal trenches of apartheid exploitation. 

Part of the broader struggle for political freedom and campaigning for the isolation of apartheid government and release of Nelson Mandela and all political prisoners and the unbanning of all political organisations the mass democratic movement paralysed the government and created the enviroment for the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990. 

Jay was persuaded by Mandela to join the the Parliament and he was nominated by COSATU to lead twenty labour leaders in an ANC ticket into the first democratic parliament leading “the grassroots movement that build up the reconstruction and development program that became the election manifesto that won the ANC its landslide victory in 1994.” 

He was appointed into the Mandela Cabinet as the Minister without Portfolio responsible for the Reconstruction and Development Program and later as Minister of Posts, Telecommunicatons and Broadcasting. Jay stepped down from party politics and left Government when Nelson Mandela steeped down in 1999. 

His view that ‘while is was an exciting laboratory of transformation, how quickly “we became absorbed by an orthodox political system that demanded loyalty rather than independent thought was not what I fought for. The ANC became like any other political party whose raison d’être was ´do anything to stay in power.’

He started a business venture from scratch, “stepping down from Government I had no job, no home, no salary and three young children and a family to feed.” Jay left business in 2010 to go back to his passion for sustainable development and building governance and ethical leadership in the world. “I will till the day I leave this physical body speak to truth to power and campaigning against the arrogance of greed and injustice anywhere in the world.”

He also agreed to chair the Development Bank of Southern Africa from 2000- 2010 and was part of its transformation into a leading agency of development finance supporting and catalysing the access by local governments to capital markets and lower cost of financing basic infrastructure to meet the basic needs of citizens. 

He also agreed to chair a global foundation, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition from 2003 - 2015, headquatered in Switzerland that brought together UN agencies, Governments, private sector and civil society to tackle malnutrition facing two billion people in the world. 

“Working on malnutrition brought me into the most vulnerable and poverty ridden communities and countries that are at the epicentre of hunger, shocking me at the apathy of the wealthy world to the plight of the major part of our humanity.” 

Jay is currently Board member Mo Ibrahim Foundation promoting governance and leadership in Africa. https://mo.ibrahim.foundation/

Patron of Paleontogical organization PAST unearthing acientific evidence of our Human Origins. https://www.past.org.za/ 

Isha Meditator and volunteer for Isha Foundation set up by Sadhguru. https://isha.sadhguru.org/ca/en

Ambassador of AfricansRising building solidarity with young Africans who are changing the face of Africa from the bottom up. https://africansrising.org/

For his accomplishments Naidoo has gained many honors, including becoming the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur(Legion of Honour), one of France's highest decorations, and received the ‘Drivers for Change Award’ from the Southern African Trust 

Married to Lucie Pagé ‘une femme extraordinaire’who guides me through her sacred feminine. https://www.luciepage.com/ ❤️❤️❤️

Grandfather to three grandsons -my wisdom keepers- the source of my curiosity and inspiration. 

And he considers his three crowning lifetime achievements, my sons Leandre and Kami and beautiful soul Shanti, my daughter. 🤗🤗🤗

Jay is committed to building an authentic integenerational conversation where we question everyone and everything. To examine the OneNess, indivisibility and interconnectedness with all species and the natural enviroment we share MotherEarth with. “My goal is to become No-body and No-thing which is the transcendence of the limitations and constraints of the body, mind and ego.” 

My wife and I live simply off-grid outside Johannnesburg. We share a small Subaru car. And we volunteer in important causes that will contribute to “leaving the world a better place that the one we were born into for this human experience.”

And drawing from the fountain of wisdom and spiritual guidance of our ancestors across all indigenous cultures. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Favourite quotations.  

If we want to go fast, go alone.  If we want to go far, go together. African Proverb. 

We do not inherit our world from our ancestors alone. We borrow it from our children. Native American Proverb. 

It always seems impossible until it’s done. Nelson Mandela. 

I want to see a world based on compassion, love, tolerance and most of all derived through the balance and harmony between our inner world and our outer world. 🦋🦋🦋

Watch Jay's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Way back in 2005, Verity started her journey as the first South African musician with the tenacious foresight to get online crowd funding for an album she hadn't even recorded yet. 

Fifteen years later, and a career glittered with accolades, brings us to 2021 and Verity's latest big first - first speaker from Africa to ever be crowned the World Champion of Public Speaking and the 6th woman in history.   

Her talent for ‘acting out the box’ rather than merely ‘thinking out’ of it, has brought international success for Verity, speaking globally on innovation and thinking differently, which includes two TEDx Talks. 

As the Toastmasters 2021 World Champion, Verity captured the judges, and thousands of peoples imagination with her winning speech ‘A Great Read’ - an inspiring invitation to improve our lives by "writing a different story".  Helping people do just that, is Verity's passion.   

With a degree in Psychology and Anthropology from UCT, as an accredited De Bono Six Thinking Hats facilitator and an advocate for Positive Psychology, 

Verity believes passionately that change happens when teams have the confidence to create new ideas. She has crafted speeches and workshops to grow this ability with measurable, exponential success over the last decade.   

Verity has worked and spoken to teams in Mass Mart, Engen, Woolworths, Ackermans, Old Mutual, Transnet, Chevron, Sanlam, Vodacom and Distell amongst others to inspire their staff, solve old problems, uncover new ideas and gain the competitive edge in their industries. 

If you’re looking for someone, who has proven their innovation through their own stellar trajectory, to bring energy, positivity and creativity to your business or next event, then Verity is the first speaker you should talk to. 

Watch Verity's Future Leader Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud 

Pippa spent much of her childhood in Johannesburg, dreaming of nature. Some of her earliest memories are of wading into the sea at Boulders Beach in Simonstown where she learned to swim. 

As an adult, Pippa set out to explore nature and our relationship with it as humans. Her role as conservation journalist for Save Our Seas Foundation brought her back to the shores of False Bay where she met Ross and Craig and experienced her first taste of Sea-Change magic. 

Her growing love for the Golden Forest draws her into these cool waters on an almost daily basis where she goes in search of stories that deepen her connection to this incredible wilderness and its weird and wonderful inhabitants. 

Pippa is currently working on on the Sea-Change film with Craig, and spearheading the Sea-Change Experiences field courses with Lisa

Listen to Pippa's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Brand Pretorius was born on 15 February 1948 in Steynsrus in the Free State. He matriculated at Kroonstad High School and obtained his M.Com degree in Business Economics at the University of the Free State in 1972.

His business career had its origin at Toyota South Africa in March 1973. Following a number of management positions in research, planning, sales and marketing, he was appointed managing director of Toyota SA Marketing in 1988. Under his guidance Toyota became the market leader in terms of both sales and customer satisfaction.

In March 1995 he joined South Africa's largest motor retail group, McCarthy Motor Holdings, as chief executive. Effective October, 1999, he was promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer of McCarthy Limited, the holding company of McCarthy Motor Holdings. 

It is widely acknowledged that Brand played the pivotal role in saving McCarthy from bankruptcy. Due to massive bad debt write-offs in its Prefcor division, the group was declared technically insolvent in February 2001 Under Brand's leadership McCarthy was successfully recapitalized, restructured and restored to financial health. 

Thousands of jobs were saved. Today, the group employs 7 000 people, has an annual turnover in excess of R25bn and it sells approximately 75 000 new and used vehicles annually. Brand retired as CEO of McCarthy and as an executive director of the Bidvest Group on 1 March 2011.

Brand currently serves as a non-executive director on the board of the listed company Italtile Limited. Previous directorships include the ABSA Group (2009 - 2014), Tata Africa Holdings (2011 - 2018), Tongaat Hulett (2011 - 2019), Reunert (2011 - 2020), Agrinet (2014 - 2020). He chaired the Metair board from July 2015 until May 2021.

An honorary professorship in Business Management was conferred on him in May 1991 by the University of the Free State and in May 2001, by the University of Johannesburg, as well. He was appointed a Fellow at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in November 2007. An honorary doctorate in marketing was conferred on him in April 2013 by the Durban University of Technology, and in September 2013 an honorary professorship in Marketing was bestowed on him by the University of Pretoria. In September 2019 a second honorary doctorate in Marketing Management was bestowed upon him by the Central University of Technology Free State.

Brand serves on the main board of the READ Educational Trust Board of Trustees and was the president of the South African Retail Motor Industry Organisation from 2001 until 2006. He served as President of the South African Institute of Marketing Management from 1993 till 1996 as well as on the State President's International Marketing Council during the period 2004- 2009, the last two years as vice-chairman. 

Brand was appointed as an ambassador of the SA Valued Citizens Initiative in May 2008, in November 2009 as a Visiting Executive at the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership at the University of Pretoria and in January 2013 as a director of the business incubator InvoTech at the Durban University of Technology. He is currently the chairman of the National Steering Committee for the acclaimed Rally to Read literacy program, a CSI initiative he founded in 1998. Brand served on the boards of the Free Market Foundation ( 2011 - 2013 ) and Business Against Crime ( 2011 - 2015) and Partners for Possibility (2018 – 2020).

National awards attained by Mr. Pretorius include:

• Junior Businessman of the Year (1985),
• Communicator of the Year (1994),
• Best Boss (1994),
• Automobile Man of the Year, the Manpower award of Excellence (1995) and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Business Communication by the SA Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (1997).
• In October 1998 the research company Integrity Profiles International identified him as one of the top 5 "high integrity" business leaders in South Africa.
• He received an Honorary Fellowship from the South African Institute of Marketing Management in November 1998.
• In a survey done during May 1999 by the influential magazine Professional Management Review, he was identified as the most admired leader in the Motor Industry by a representative panel consisting of chief executives, fleet managers and motoring journalists. This award was bestowed on him again in June 2000.
• In February 2000 the marketing magazine "The Future" identified him through reader research as one of South Africa's three most prominent marketers of the past decade.
• The South African Institute of Marketing Management honored him with their "Marketing Person of the Year" award in November 2000.
• In May 2002 he received a certificate of excellence from the READ Educational Trust for his remarkable commitment to the cause of building a literate nation through the Rally to Read project, a national social investment project he initiated in 1998.
• The publishers of the South African Automotive Year Book bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award on him in September 2003, for outstanding service to the motor industry.
• He became a member of the SA Automotive Industry's "Hall of Fame" in March 2006, in recognition of his significant contribution to the industry.
• In June 2006 he was honored by the Leadership Forum at their annual CEO Summit for his contribution towards leadership thinking and in particular, leadership ethics.
• South African marketers identified him in September 2006 as a marketing thought leader, and as one of the top three business leaders who have contributed most to the success of their organizations, according to a national survey by Markinor and Brand Leadership.
• In the annual Trust Barometer opinion survey amongst company directors by the research company Ask Afrika, he was recognized in August 2009 as the most trusted leader in the South African motor industry.
• The Automotive Industry Development Council bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award on him in April 2011.
• He was the recipient of the Ellen Kuzwayo Award from the Council of the University of Johannesburg for his contribution to the South African business sector as well as the society at large, in November 2013.
• In October 2016 the MS Louw award for outstanding service to the business sector was bestowed on him by the AHI.
• A Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed on him by CEO Global magazine in August 2017.

His first book, "In the driving seat - lessons in leadership" was published in February 2013. According to Nielsen Bookstats it was the top selling business biography in South Africa in calendar year 2013. The English version has already been reprinted ten times, and the Afrikaans version four times. In total more than 25 000 copies have already been sold, which makes the book one of the most popular local business biographies of all time.

He is married to Tillie and they have three sons and seven grandchildren.

Watch Brand's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud 

Margaret was previously the Chief Executive of Wealth, which encompassed the Group’s Advisory, Investment and Insurance businesses across the African continent with an International presence in Jersey, Isle of Man and London. 

In 2020 Standard Bank Wealth was recognised as Africa’s Best Bank for Wealth Management by Euromoney, won the award for the Top Stockbroker in South Africa, and was recognised as Africa’s Best Private Bank by Global Finance. 

Through Standard Bank’s extensive presence in Nigeria, it is also that country’s largest Pension Fund administrator and Asset Manager. Prior to joining Standard Bank she served on the Santam Executive team, where she also managed their South East Asia expansion. 

Prior to that she was Chief Financial Officer for Hannover Reinsurance Africa, and Managing Director of Compass Insurance, a subsidiary of the Hannover Reinsurance Group. 

She was recognised as the 2013 Most Influential Woman in Business and Government (Financial Sector), and during her years in the Insurance industry was a board member of the South African Insurance Association and President of the Insurance Institute of South Africa. 

She holds BCompt and BCompt (Hons) degrees and became a CA (SA) in 1997. Margaret Nienaber is the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank’s Client Solutions business. 

This new business is responsible for the seamless delivery of banking, insurance, investments and non-financial services and solutions. These services and solutions will also be sold to third parties, creating new opportunities and new revenue streams. 

Listen to Margaret's Interview on SoundCloud,  YouTube and Vimeo  

Dineo Molefe has been the Managing Director at T-Systems South Africa (Pty) Ltd since May 2018.

Dineo is a seasoned executive with experience spanning 20 years spent across a spectrum of ICT, Investment Management, Power and Development Funding entities. Her professional experience has shaped her in the areas of:

• Strategic Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions, Risk Management

• Financial Reporting and Auditing 

• Directorship, Chairman, Board and Senior management 

• Mentorship and advocacy for women’s professional development • 

In her career, Dineo has occupied a number of senior decision-making roles. In addition to having served as Group Financial Director at Thebe Investment Corporation and Finance Executive at Vodacom, Dineo serves on the Boards and Audit Committees of some listed and prominent South African companies. 

Dineo’s current role as Managing Director for T-Systems South Africa is a multi-faceted one that sees her drawing on her combined knowledge and experience to lead the award-winning local wing of this Multinational ICT provider – developing integrated, flexible solutions that enhance customers’ operations for the networked future.

Dineo is passionate about developing women leaders in Africa and has established development initiatives within the organisational environments of T-Systems and at previous organisations where she has worked. 

Dineo actively participates in this regard as a mentor and coach for aspirant young women, and most recently received the Positive Role Model accolade at the Gender Mainstreaming Awards 2018. 

Dineo holds a Master of Commerce in International Accounting, and has completed the Advanced Management Program from the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania.

Listen to Dineo's interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

The FUTURE LEADER OUTLOOK Interview: Bonang was, until his new BLSA appointment, vice president upstream and the chairman of Shell downstream South Africa (Pty) Limited; Shell South Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd; Shell South Africa Refinery (Pty) Ltd and South African Petroleum Refinery (SAPREF). 

He had country responsibilities for the Oil, Chemical, Aviation, Marine and Lubricants global businesses and was operationally accountable for Retail; Fuels & Bitumen; Supply & Distribution classes of businesses as well as Finance; Legal; HR; Safety (HSSE) and Transformation.

Until 2008, he spent six years as the chief executive officer of Drake & Scull FM SA (PTY) Ltd, an integrated facilities management company owned by the Tsebo Outsourcing Group, where Bonang was also a member of the executive committee (Exco).

Until May 2003, he was chief executive: shared services and associated companies of Sanlam; a member of the exco; alternate director of the Sanlam Limited main board; chairman of the board of TASC; a director of Innofin; GensecProperty Services and Fundamo.

Until August 2001, he was the executive vice president at South African Airways (SAA) responsible for strategic alliances, network management and global sales.

From 1996, he was the managing director of OTIS (PTY) LTD, the world’s biggest and oldest elevator company, where he spent five years. In 1997, the company won the Black Management Forum’s (BMF) “Progressive Company of the Year” award.

Recognition

Awarded “The Momentum Friendship Blazer” in recognition of  being the first RSA Nation Building Champion in 2015. Winner of both the ‘Country’ (RSA) & ‘SADC Regional’ ”Titans – Building the Nation” in the 2014 CEO Magazine Awards. 

Bonang was conferred an honorary professorship in marketing management by the University of Pretoria, where he serves on their advisory council. 

He was named 2012 IPM CEO of the Year, SA Facilities Management Association 2007 ‘Personality of the Year’ and the BMF’s 1997 Manager of the Year. Received the Presidential Award for his “Servanthood in South African Industry & the Economic Empowerment of Previously Disadvantaged Individuals” in 2001.

Bonang has been a guest on numerous international TV, radio and magazine programmes. He travels regularly to the rest of Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Listen to Bonang's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo  

Stuart Baxter was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, on 16 August 1953. His Scottish father, Bill Baxter, was a professional footballer then playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers and later for Aston Villa. Stuart initially grew up in England, while his father was coaching at Aston Villa,[2] before the family moved to Scotland, where Bill had managerial jobs with East Fife and Raith Rovers.

Baxter began his playing career with Preston North End in 1973. He joined Scottish club Dundee United in October 1975, but was released the following month after playing only for the reserve team.[8] He then returned to England with Stockport County. Baxter then moved to Australia, Sweden and the United States respectively with South Melbourne FC, Helsingborgs IF and San Diego Sockers. His playing career ended in 1983.

Baxter returned to Scandinavia to begin his coaching career; he worked with Örebro SK's youth team. In 1986, he was appointed manager of minor Norwegian side IF Skarp. The following year he landed a larger managerial role with Portuguese team Vitória de Setúbal before returning to Sweden for a three-year stint at Halmstads BK between 1988 and 1991. In his first year with Halmstad he guided them to promotion to the Allsvenskan but the club was relegated at the end of his tenure. Baxter moved to Japan to first coach Sanfrecce Hiroshima, between 1992 and 1994, and then Vissel Kobe, in 1997.  He guided Hiroshima to win the league and Vissel 

Kobe to the promotion. 

In 1998, Baxter was bought back to Sweden by AIK, where he guided them to the Swedish championship and the Cup Win. Having qualified for the UEFA Champions League, Baxter took AIK into the group stages where the Swedish champions played against some of Europe's largest teams, such as Barcelona, Arsenal and Fiorentina. 

Baxter was hired by the Football Association to coach the England Under-19 team in 2002. After two years, he was hired as South Africa's manager. As guests of the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup, he led South Africa to the Quarter Finals before being eliminated via a penalty shootout by Panama.

At the beginning of 2008, Baxter was appointed manager of Finland national team on a two-year contract.

On 7 May 2012, Baxter was announced as the new manager of South African club, Kaizer Chiefs. In the first season under his management, Amakhosi completed the double, finishing first in the 2012–13 Premier Soccer League and defeating Supersport United 1–0 to win the Nedbank Cup.  Baxter won his second PSL league win 2015 and MTN cup win same year. 

On 27 January 2016, Baxter was signed mid-season by SuperSport United. That season Baxter led his side to Nedbank Cup glory. The following season (2016/2017) would see Supersport United retain their Nedbank Cup trophy, beating Orlando Pirates again in the final.

On 4 May 2017, Baxter was named as South Africa coach for a second time, replacing Ephraim Mashaba, who was sacked in December 2016. Under his guidance Bafana Bafana qualified for the 2019 AFCON tournament, and beat tournament favourites and hosts, Egypt in the round of 16, before being knocked out by Nigeria. 

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Lee is the CEO of TransUnion Africa where he leads a portfolio of businesses that help organisations make more informed decisions and consumers manage their personal information to lead to a higher quality of life.

He is recognised as one of South Africa’s leading digital and technology transformation experts and was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology.

Prior to his current role, Lee was the Managing Director of Accenture Digital in Africa.

Listen to Lee's Interview on Vimeo, Youtube and SoundCloud 

Seasoned financial services professional with an MA in International Trade and Investment Policy. 

Highly skilled in stakeholder relations, partnership management, marketing, public policy and resource mobilization. 

Passionate about socio-economic transformation, development, public-private partnerships and Africa! PhD candidate in Management with a research focus on the role of business in society. 

My lifelong mission is to curb poverty, inequality and unemployment. 

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Mauro Porcini joined PepsiCo in 2012 as its first ever Chief Design Officer. In this newly created position, Mauro is infusing design thinking into PepsiCo’s culture and is leading a new approach to innovation by design that impacts the company’s product platforms and brands, which include Pepsi, Lay’s, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana, Doritos, Lifewtr, bubly, Aquafina, Cheetos, Quaker, Mirinda, SunChips, amongst many others. 

His focus extends from physical to virtual expressions of the brands, including product, packaging, events, advertising, fashion and art collaborations, retail activation, architecture, and digital media. 

He leads teams based in New York City, Purchase, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, London, Dublin, Moscow, Il Cairo, New Delhi, Shanghai, Bangkok, Mexico City, Sao Paulo.

In the past several years Mauro has been recognized with a variety of honors and awards for his achievements in the fields of design and innovation.

Amongst them, in 2019 the President of the Italian Republic has recognized Mauro with the title of Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia, an order of knighthood awarded for “extraordinary merits in the preservation and promotion of national prestige abroad, promoting friendly relations and co-operation with other countries and ties with Italy”. 

In the same year he received the Pentawards “Visionary Award” in London. In 2018 he was honored in New York City with the DrivenXDesign“Chairman’s Better Future Award”, given to those individuals that have led Expeditions to a Better Future, working over the last decade to make a difference in the world. 

In 2016, the Italy America Chamber of Commerceawarded him with the “Business and Culture Award”, a recognition given every year to one Italian that has performed in an extraordinary way in the United States in the fields of business and culture. 

That same year he received the “US Design Brand Leader Award”. In 2015, the newspaper Il Giornale named him “One of the 10 Italians that will change the world” while GQ Italy listed him as one of the “30 Best Dressed Men of 2015”.

In 2014, Mauro was included in Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business 1000”, an influential, diverse group of modern Renaissance men and women across the economy and around the globe. 

He was also recognized with the “PrimiDieci Under 40”, an award that celebrates the extraordinary professional and personal success of the ten most distinguished Italians in the U.S. every year.

Since 2013 Mauro has been part of the “Italian Talents in a Foreign Country” community of the Aspen Italia Institute chaired by prof. Giulio Tremonti.

In 2012 Fortune Magazine listed him in the “40 under 40” ranking – its list of “the business’s hottest rising stars” – the only designer included, Ad Age named him in their “Creativity 50” – its list of the “world’s most influential creative personalities” and the PoliMi association of the University Politecnico of Milan recognized him with the Alumni Polimi Awards 2012 for the “great merit of contributing to enrich the Italian culture in the world”. 

In 2011, Fast Company recognized him as one of the “50 Most Influential Designers in America” and “Master of Design” while the World HR Forum in Mumbai presented him with its “Award for Leadership and Innovation.” 

Since its creation PepsiCo’s Design function, led by Mauro, has been recognized with more than 1,000 design and innovation awards – in 7 years of projects – from several institutions around the world. Fortune included PepsiCo in their 2018 “Driven by Design” list, one of only two organizations in the Food and Beverage Industry.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Mauro served as the first ever Chief Design Officer at 3M, where his mission was to build and nurture a design sensitive culture in a technology driven global corporation. 

The Wall Street Journal’s CFO Journal in 2011called him “the man putting 3M on the design map,” and under his design leadership, 3M made Fast Company’slist of 30 companies that “get” design. 

His teams, based in the U.S., Italy, China and Japan, won many of the world’s most prestigious design and innovation awards.

Mauro’s work has been featured in several books on design and innovation in multiple regions of the world. Amongst others, “Creative Confidence” (by Tom Kelley and David Kelley), Jugaad Innovation (by Simon Ahuja, Navi Radjou, Jaydeep Prabhu), “Il Minimo Sostenibile” (by Gino Finizio) and “Vincere con le idee” (by Enzo Baglieri, Gabriella Lojacono).

Mauro began his professional career at Philips Design and then created his own design firm, Wisemad Srl, in Italy with the celebrated entertainment producer and music star Claudio Cecchetto. His work on wearable technologies has been showcased at the Louvre in Paris as well as the Seoul Art Center.

In his professional career Mauro has been granted with 47 patents on his name. 

Mauro sits on the Board of Directors of the Design Management Institute, on the Board of Directors of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce, on the Board of Directors of La Scuola d’Italia in New York and on the advisory council of other design and art institutions. He currently lives and resides in New York City.

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Njabulo is passionate about leadership development and helping others to reach their potential. She has had many early wins in her career and became a Director at the age of 29.

She has a track record of 19 years in Human Resources, ten years of which have been in senior leadership roles. 

Since February 2021, she is the Executive Director HR for Vodacom South Africa. Prior to that she was on assignment based in Amsterdam as a Talent Management lead and OpCo spanbreaker in the Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe (AMEE) region at Heineken N.V.

Previously she held the role of Heineken’s Human Resources Director: Southern Africa. Other previous roles include Director: Human Resources at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Chief Director: Human Resources and Head of Talent Management at the National Treasury of South Africa. Her foundation in generalist Human Resources was laid at Unilever. 

She completed Heineken’s Global Talent Development Programme through INSEAD Business School, holds an MBA through GIBS and is a BA Industrial Psychology graduate from Rhodes University.

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Matimba is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Vodacom Group. Prior to this role, he was Managing Executive: HR for Vodacom South Africa until April 2014. 

Matimba has worked within the Vodacom/Vodafone Group since 2003 during which he worked in various roles within HR. He subsequently spent 3 years on secondment to Vodafone as Regional Head of Organisational Effectiveness & Change, and Regional Head of Talent within the Africa, Middle East & Asia Pacific “AMAP” region. 

Prior to his assignment to the Vodafone AMAP Region, Matimba was responsible for Talent Management at Vodacom for six years where he successfully delivered the integration of our talent strategy into the Vodafone global strategy. 

His previous experience includes key HR roles in blue chip companies such as BMW South Africa and Unilever. In October 2015 Matimba was appointed as a Non-Executive Director on the Vodacom Business Nigeria Board, in May 2017 as a Non-Executive Director on the YeboYethu Board and as Non-Executive Director of Vodacom Tanzania in August 2017.

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Adam is the Chief Executive Officer at IQbusiness, the largest independent management consulting firm in South Africa.

Adam joined IQbusiness in September 2009 and was appointed CEO in November 2010.

He is an ardent lobbyist for government and business collaboration, though he places the emphasis on education as the key ingredient to drive an inclusive future for all South Africans.

Adam has forged strong partnerships between IQbusiness and various NGOs and social enterprises, such as SmartStart, Tomorrow Trust, Harambee and Partners for Possibility, to act as catalysts for positive trends in education. 

Some of his other major milestones in terms of encouraging shared prosperity for all include the creation of the GROWTH.co.za forum and an accompanying annual research report that identifies five key pillars for growth.

Under Adam’s leadership, IQbusiness is a founding partner of the CEO SleepOut. This, together with Adam’s “End the #NationalShutUp” campaign; his work with the Presidential CEO Initiative; and the certification of IQbusiness as a B Corporation, ensures that IQbusiness positively impacts many stakeholders, “using business as a force for good”™.

Previous companies and positions: Super Group (COO); Dimension Data (Group Executive); Merchants (Pty) Ltd (MD); Accenture (Associate Partner); British Gas (Market Analyst). 

Adam is a member of the Young President’s Organisation, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and the President of the IMD Alumni Club of South Africa.

Adam’s area of expertise puts him at the forefront of topical, thought-provoking and even controversial conversations around the following topics:

• Conscious Leadership
• Efficient, Effective and Agile Government
• Education
• Financial Inclusion
• Enterprise Development
• State-Owned Enterprises
• The Future of Consulting in South Africa and Africa
• Purpose-driven Organisation

More from Adam

State Capture a Golden Opportunity

Cyril’s New Deal May Be the Answer

Adam on Smile FM

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Nozipho Duma is a result-driven, people oriented leader and a strong communicator that can articulate a shared vision with her team and stakeholders. She possesses a passion for business data driven and technology initiatives. With her acumen in IT and business process engineering, she can integrate various business processes, technologies and capabilities from inception, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Nozipho is currently the Head of Data within the Business Unit that looks after the Decisioning Platform Capability and Advanced Analytics at First National Bank. She leads a team which plays a key role in ensuring FirstRand continues to be leader of innovation in the financial solutions platforms space and is the functional expert on specified applications, capabilities, business and system integration.

Her career spans over a decade with roles in banking, consulting, and the petrochemical industries. Through her work in the petrochemical industry she gained valuable experience across the globe in IT delivery and digital transformation. She is a qualified and experienced Data Enthusiast, Program Manager, Project Manager, and Business Analyst.

Continuous improvement has been foremost in Nozipho’s career. She obtained a Master of Commerce in Business Management from the University of Johannesburg, having completed her Bachelor of Business Science in Information Systems and Business Strategy from the University of Cape Town. She holds various certifications in Digital Transformation, Agile Methodologies, Project Management and Enterprise Architecture.

In 2021 Nozipho was nominated as Top 3 Digital Female Leader in the category of Digital Transformation where over 860 applications from 41 countries were received.

In 2020 Nozipho was recognized as an “InspiringFifty SA Women in Tech” winner as well as “Top 10 Rising Star in Financial Services” at the Accenture Rising Star Awards.

She has featured as a speaker in various conferences, data and analytics showcases and digital platform transformation programs as well as industry conferences and webinars.

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Julie has worked in the IT industry, specifically in software for the past 29 years. Following her completion of a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a Business Information Systems major from Wits University in South Africa, she began her career in programming business systems and quickly moved into a presales capacity where she found the challenge of talking to customers about their challenges, and then presenting possible solutions, far more exciting. 

Following a long tenure at Sybase, she joined SAP after the acquisition in 2010. She has spent several years focused on the Database Management and Technology solutions of SAP, leveraging her pedigree in understanding infrastructure software. She managed the African Platform and Data Management sales team, a strategic area in the overall SAP organisation.

In 2019, Julie joined OpenText as the Regional Vice President for Africa. As the Information Management company, OpenText has many leading solutions to aid customers improve their Resiliency and the Opentext Africa team has a unique opportunity for growth through its direct sales strategy as well as a mature partner network.  

Julie is leading this strategy to assist customers embrace the challenging circumstances we face and solve critical problems with innovation solutions.

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Pride Maunatlala is a South African marketing executive and businesswoman who currently leads the marketing strategy at TFG for the Foschini Division -

A team that houses brands championing female inclusivity and inspiring women to find their space in the economy. 

She is a one of a kind brand architect with almost 20 years of experience in multiple industries including Retail, FMCG, Financial services, Advertising and Public Sector. 

Her work is centered on the strength of brands though purpose and employee advocacy. 

Through her MBA degree from Gordon Institute of Business, she published a research paper in the Journal of Brand Management focusing on organisations’ ability to achieve competitiveness through employee endorsement. 

Pride advocates for the development of female professionals and entrepreneurs as a mentor, advisor and contributor to Future Females and SheSays Cape Town. 

She is an alumni at the Zanele Mbeki Fellowship for Female Leadership in Africa. With the future of marketing and advertising constantly evolving and expanding, 

Pride’s contribution to industry is as advisory member for Vega School CPT and CMO Council Africa Region. She is also a jury member for the Financial Mail AdFocus awards, geared for driving excellence in advertising. 

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A seasoned professional with more than three decades of experience in banking and central banking. 

He is passionate about authentic and transformative leadership, governance, and international relations.

He joined the board of Alexander Forbes Group Holdings (Alexander Forbes) in January 2022 as an independent non-executive director and chair-designate.

He has also been serving as chair of the board of Swiftnet SOC Ltd. since November 2021. Swiftnet

Daniel previously served as Chief Executive at Absa Group Limited until April 2021, and prior to that, had a 20-year career at the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), which culminated in two 5-year-terms as Deputy Governor. 

During that period he served as the IMF, G20, and BRICS Central Bank deputy for South Africa, as well as the Chairman of the Deputies for the International Monetary Financial Committee (IMFC) of the IMF, Washington D.C.

He is currently a member of the Bretton Woods Committee Advisory Council, Washington
D.C. The Bretton Wood Committee is involved in international economic cooperation and
promotes strong and effective international financial institutions. 

He is also a member of the
board of Salzburg Global Seminar, Salzburg, Austria. The mission of Salzburg Global Seminar
is to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world. 

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Sajeed Sacranie is a seasoned venture capitalist and business developer. His experience spans financial services, telecommunications, media, technology, sports, real estate and professional services. 

His diverse background uniquely positions him to “connect the dots differently”. Sajeed has a track record of launching and growing businesses in diverse sectors. He has created significant value for some of the leading brands in the world through accelerating value-creation by: 

• Challenging the Status Quo;
• Identifying areas of High Potential Growth; and
• Leading Startups and Launching Growth Strategies by designing and implementing high potential, win/win partnership strategies.  

Sajeed is currently involved in venture capital advisory and investment activities which include: 

• Partnering with large corporates in launching new ventures through a proprietary corporate venturing methodology designed to help corporates create ecosystems and launch sustainable ventures that meet ROI hurdles. Central to this is addressing the South African imperative of Enterprise Development so that it can fulfil its role as an engine for entrepreneurial growth.

• Leveraging Legaltech deployed in professional services firms and corporates to improve their service effectiveness by using AI and machine learning. This service is being used by a number of leading South African law firms and will lead to the creation of managed services businesses in the knowledge management space. 

• Establishing ecosystems of partners in the IOT space and leveraging these to provide smart services in the Real Estate, Mining and Health sectors.

• Advising on dispute resolution. Sajeed’s experience in aligning strategic and commercial interests has meant that he has been the lead advisor in the resolution of disputes where claims have exceeded R1 billion.  The majority of these have been in the telecommunications, media and technology sectors.  He has successfully navigated the parties to out of court settlements in 80% of these.

Key Milestones:

Over the last 3 years Sajeed has been the lead innovation advisor for Deloitte (South Africa) BPO service line.  In this capacity,  he conceptualised and launched Smart Real Estate as a Service and oversaw the collaboration between Deloitte and Vodacom in the IOT space. 

This innovative managed services IoT offering was a global first for both Deloitte and Vodacom in the real estate sector.  This culminated in March 2018 when he advised the BPO service line in its carve-out from Deloitte which subsequently led to the launch of Solugrowth,.

Since 2007 Sajeed has advised Kaizer Chiefs , the football club , in the corporate venturing, commercial and investment strategy. During his tenure the value of the Kaizer Chiefs brand has risen from R100m to almost  R1 billion, his strategic and commercial advice has been integral to this brand growth. More specifically he founded Kaizer Chiefs Ventures the investment vehicle mandated to take the Kaizer Chiefs brand  “beyond the 90 minutes”.  

Through this vehicle he has strategically repositioned  Kaizer Chiefs Insurance, a joint venture with Hollard and in 2013 founded Kaizer Chiefs Mobile, a fan-connectivity offering in partnership with Vodacom.  Kaizer Chiefs has today become one of the most valuable brands in South Africa, and a premier African sports brand on the back of one of the most successful commercial sports rights platforms in Africa.  (Note Sajeed is not responsible for the Clubs current form on the field  :-)

In 2003, after 22 years in England, Sajeed could no longer resist the call back to Africa. He moved to South Africa, representing the emerging interests of the Virgin Group there.  In this capacity he led the launch and became the founding CEO of Virgin Mobile South Africa (VMSA), the first and largest MVNO in Africa.

Between 1998 and 2006, he advised the Virgin Group in a number of strategic areas and was the New Ventures Advisor to Virgin Management and Richard Branson, advising on startups, key divestments and strategic business development. 

Prior to this, Sajeed was Barings, the premier merchant bank of its time. In 1995, he played a key role in the rescue of Barings which led to the 300 year old merchant bank being acquired by ING the Dutch Bank He then led the strategy for the Equity Sales and Trading division helping to create one of the most successful emerging markets equity sales franchises.  Sajeed trained as a CA with KPMG in London.

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BONUS: The Future Leader Outlook - What Sajeed has to say about Future Leader Development: Listen on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

Executive Head for Distribution Services at Discovery Insure, responsible for distribution nationally across personal and business insurance; previously also Head of Claims, Procurement, Strategic Projects, Intermediary Services, and Business Development at various periods.

A strong believer in the value of insurance and its positive impact on society, and actively involved in the insurance market as an Executive Councillor and Immediate Past President of the Insurance Institute of Gauteng, as well as being a founding member and first Chairman of the Insurance Young Guns.

Received top student awards at Wits Business School for both the MAP Programme (Executive Education) as well as their Masters programme (with specialisation in Strategic Marketing).

A proud South African who lives between Cape Town and Johannesburg, an avid gym enthusiast, a dreamer, father of twins, always striving for better results, and inspired by the enormous possibilities the global community has to offer. 

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 Passionate South African, wife, daughter, sister, mother of 2 sons (aged 19 and 23), voracious reader, collaborator, lover of challenge & change, fiercely loyal to the notion of the power of single actions enabling quantum changes, reluctant gym-goer, erstwhile boxer, speaker of some Greek, learner, teacher, mentor, mentee and deep believer in the power of brands and humans.

Heidi was previously Executive Manager, Group Marketing, Loyalty & Strategic Partnerships at Comair taking care of kulula.com, British Airways, SLOW lounges, Daddy’s Deals, kulula credit card, jetsetters and Executive Club. 

Before that she was Deputy CEO & Marketing Director at research house Ipsos Markinor, after some time in the pharmaceutical industry following a BSc degree in nursing at Wits.

Heidi is a Member of Vega Brand School National Advisory Council and Advisor and friend to Umuzi Photo Club (youth activism & upliftment). She served for 7 years as a Board member and Deputy Chairman of the Marketing Association of South Africa and as Board member of ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations). She has judged the Association for Communication & Advertising’s APEX awards, the FM AdFocus awards and the AMASA Roger Garlick Innovation in Media award. She is a partner at Halo – The Brand Led Communications Agency.

Heidi joined Hollard in May 2013 and her role at Hollard includes all group brand activities including marketing and communications, internal comms and culture, digital marketing and e-commerce and sponsorship as well as being Exco champion for the group’s Customer Centricity and Loyalty initiatives.

She believes in sprinkles and chocolate cake, and that it takes a village to raise a brand.

Listen to Heidi's interview on audio

or watch the slides as you listen here

A seasoned professional with verifiable year after year success achieving revenue, profit and business growth objectives within start-up, turnaround and rapid-change environments.

A strategic planner with expertise in setting up and managing business operations and implementing strategies towards enhancing market penetration, sales volumes and growth.

Have handled a wide array of banking products / services with deftness in designing & implementing systems / procedures to achieve organizational objectives and profitability norms.

Proficient in managing the overall functioning of various banking processes, identifying improvement areas and implementing adequate measures to maximize customer satisfaction level.

Extensive experience in financial services marketing, sales and profit centre management.

Excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills with proven abilities in training & development, customer relationship management and planning.

Specialties: Former member of the International Advisory Board of China Union Pay &

Former Member MasterCard APMEA Chip Sub Committee  

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Celiwe was born and raised in Soweto and started school at St Theresa’s Convent School in Coronationville, western Johannesburg. She and her identical twin sister, Siphosethu, have been academic achievers from a very young age.

“My father was a human resources manager and my mother was a nurse. My dad only had girls and believed in the education and empowerment of women,” she says.

As a talented learner, Ross’ earliest career ambition was to be a neurosurgeon but, after a visit to the operating table with her mother, she was put off that idea for good. 

She enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand and opted for mining engineering, only to learn a lesson in her first year of study.

“I just thought it was fascinating to do and we both got scholarships. I was initially sponsored by Sasol but ended up with BHP Billiton because I failed for the first time in my life."

After graduating, BHP Billiton recruited her and posted her as a trainee mine planner to their chrome operations in the town of Steelpoort in Limpopo.

After a year at the mine, she was moved to the Ingwe coal mine in Witbank. “We were selling to industrial consumers. It was a great learning experience and I got to understand difference aspects of the commercial side of mining,"

She then decided to take time off and headed to the University of Cape Town to pursue her Master of Business Administration (MBA).

“After getting my MBA, I joined Standard Bank as a manager in the project team,” she said. In 2011, when the bank was expanding in the rest of Africa, she accepted a position to head mining and infrastructure finance in the west Africa region and was based in Accra, Ghana.

Subsequently, Celiwe was promoted to be the head of Standard Bank’s mining, energy and infrastructure finance in the east and west Africa regions, making her one of the most senior black executives in the company.

She then joined Egon Zehnder, the world’s largest privately owned executive search firm, as financial services consultant for the continent.

Within two years, she was approached by Old Mutual to take up a leadership advisory role at a time when the company was preparing for its listing.

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Born and raised in Soweto, Thulani Sibeko, a Chartered Marketer, is an enthusiastic, collaborative, highly motivated and assertive business leader.

Since January 2018 Thulani has been the Chief Marketing Officer of the Standard Bank Group, leading the marketing and communication functions across 20 countries. 

He is a member of the Standard Bank Group Exco. With more than 25 years experience in different industries, he has held senior leadership roles at Gillette, Polaroid, Procter & Gamble, Vodacom, Hollard and at Nedbank, where he served as the group executive for marketing, communication and corporate affairs. 

His formal qualifications include: MBA (Henley), BSc Bus Admin (California State University, USA), Graduate Certificate (Harvard), CM(SA)

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Jaap completed his B-Accounting and B-Accounting Honours degrees at the University of Stellenbosch from 1989-1993. He also passed the Public Accountant and Auditors board (PAAB) qualifying exam in 1996.

He started his career in 1994 at PricewaterhouseCoopers as an Assistant Manager in the Audit Division. In 1997 he took on the position of National Audit Manager at Ackermans. He moved over into the position of Financial Controller at PEP in 1999. 

In 2006 he became PEP’s Financial Director and at the end of 2015 he moved into the role of Commercial Director. 

Towards the end of 2016, Jaap was appointed as Managing Director of PEP (now called Chief Executive Officer).

Jaap is passionate about leadership and the development of people. PEP has an exceptionally strong culture called “Sikhula KunYe” which means “We grow together”. 

Jaap and his executive team ensure that the culture grows stronger every day and that it contributes to creating an environment that makes PEP an employer of choice. PEP’s customers are remarkable people who, on a very small budget, make it possible for their families to live with dignity and pride. Jaap and his team ensure that PEP’s customers are at the centre of everything we do and that PEP lives out its cause of making people look and feel good. 

He welcomes change and makes sure that PEP remains relevant by constantly introducing new projects and ideas into the business - all in the quest to make our customers’ lives more convenient.

PEP is involved in numerous CSI drives that are strongly supported by Jaap, as this is something that is very close to his heart.

Jaap is a family man who lives in Paarl with his wife and three children. He believes in staying healthy, both physically and mentally, and is an avid runner and cyclist. He also appreciates a good bottle of wine.

He relates to the Maya Angelou quote that says: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

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Sydney is a chartered marketer with a proven track record in building brands and markets. His experience stretches from FMCG, to Telecoms and Financial Services (Banking). 

Prior to joining Liberty as Group CMO, he worked on major brands with organisations like Brandhouse (Diageo SA), Simba, Cell C, Unilever (local & Global roles in London) and SAB Miller.

His former role as Executive Head: Group Marketing at Nedbank involved him overseeing the Brand Strategy, Advertising, Media, Cause Marketing, Digital Marketing and Integrated Marketing for the Group. 

Sydney holds an MBA from GIBS, and has completed several executive management programs including the following:

• Advanced Management Program MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Boston, US]: May – July 2016
• Executive Old Mutual Global Leadership Program London/Johannesburg/Cape Town: March – Sept 2015
• Strategic Marketing Management UNIVERSITY OF STANFORD (San Francisco) – August 2013
• MBA (Masters of Business Administration) GIBS (Univ. of Pretoria) - 2006
• Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Marketing Management UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA - 2004
• Management Advancement Programme WITS BUSINESS SCHOOL - 2003
• B. Soc. Science UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN - 1996

He is a board member of MASA (Marketing Association of South Africa) and ASASA (Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa). He is also a trustee of The Sports Trust and is  the Co-founder and chairman of the advisory board for Mentor-a-boy-child (public benefit organisation)

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Saray is an award-winning mountaineer, a Mandela libraries ambassador, a social entrepreneur, mother of two boys and also an executive in one of the distinguished financial institutions in South Africa. 

She has over time demonstrated her commitment to making a difference in her environment through mountaineering. Through her climbing with a purpose initiative Saray has organised and been part of the following initiatives:

• Climbing Kilimanjaro with a purpose (Self-funded climb)
  
• Built an outdoor gym for Kids Haven worth R200,000 and converted a room into a library http://www.kidshaven.org.za

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• Ubuntu Everest 2014 (Partially funded by Discovery Holdings)

• Raised funds for The Lunch Box Fund to feed over 60,000 http://thelunchboxfund.org

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•  Ubuntu Everest 2015 (Self-funded climb)
  
• Raised funds for The Mandela Library Projects and built a library for Isiziba Primary School  in Thembisa, Johannesburg

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• Ubuntu Everest 2017​ (Self-funded climb)
  
• Raised funds over R800,000 for The Mandela Library Projects and built four libraries around South Africa. She continues to campaign for more libraries as she takes steps towards the 7 highest peaks on the 7 continents around the world.

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One of her goals with Climbing for a purpose is to be an example to the next generation of leaders; to inspire them to pursue their dreams and summit their everyday peaks in education and other spheres of life, knowing that nothing is impossible if we dare to dream!

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• Accolades: 

• Winner of the Klipdrift Golden Endurance Award 2014

• ​Record holder for the highest altitude climber for a black African female​ 2017 and 2018

• MMI Lesedi awards 2017

• Ministerial Recognition of Excellence Award 2018

Mountaineering experience: 6 years

• Mount Kilimanjaro (5896) – summit 2012;

• Mera Peak (6476) – summit 2014;

• Lobuche East (6119) – summit 2014;

• Elbrus traverse (5642) – summit 2014;

• Aconcagua traverse (6980) – summit 2015;

Everest expedition attempts:

• 2014 Reached Everest Base camp  - Mountain closed after an avalanche that claimed 16 Sherpa lives

• 2015 Reached Everest Camp 2  - Expedition abandoned after an earthquake in Nepal

• 2017 Reached the South Summit (8749) - This is 99 meters from the Everest Summit making her the record holder of the black African women for 2017 and 2018.

• 2019 Summited Everest on the 16th of May - Saray is the first black African women to summit Everest 
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Listen to Saray's interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

Watch the Success Secrets from Saray Khumalo

Admitted as Attorney of the High Court and practiced as an attorney in the law firm Rapeport Fanaroff & Partners 18 May 1976. Admitted as an Attorney in the Supreme Court Of South Africa with right of appearance 16 November 1996. 

Practicing as an attorney at

Rapeport Incorporated,

specializing in Sports Law

including anti-doping as well as

specializing in the administration

of Deceased Estates

PREVIOUS ORGANISATIONAL INVOLVEMENT IN SPORT

• Chairman of the University of University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) Soccer

Amateur League, 1968-1974

• Chairman of WITS Professional Football League, 1975 – 2006

• Elected Executive Member of National Professional Soccer League, 1978 – 1983

• Elected Vice-Chair of National Professional Soccer League, 1983-1985

• Executive Member of the National Soccer League, 1985 – 1996

• Director of SA 2006 FIFA World Cup Bid Committee

• Executive Member of SAFA 1998-2001

• Member of WADA Independent Observers Programme

• Chairperson of WADA independent Observer Programme Commonwealth Games

Manchester 2004

• Chairperson of FIFA Disciplinary Committee Beijing Olympics, 2008

• Chairperson of FIFA World Cup Under 17 Disciplinary Committee Nigeria, 2009

• Member of WADA Special Projects- Athletes’ Passports

• Chairperson of SAFA Anti- Doping Committee

• Chairperson of South African Football Association (SAFA) Legal Committee

• Member of SASCOC Medical and Anti-Doping Committee

• Director of the FIFA 2010 World Cup SA Local Organizing Committee

• Member of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for FIFA 2010 World Cup SA

• Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Committee Angola, 2010

• Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Committee South Africa, 2010

• Member of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee (Women’s U20) Germany 2010

• Former Chief Executive Officer of the South African Football Association

• President of the CAF Disciplinary Committee -Africa Cup of Nations Tournament

Angola 2010 to current date

• Reappointed to serve on the SASCOC Medical and Anti-Doping Committee 2011

• Appointed Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the FIFA World Beach 2011

Football Ravena Italy

• Chairperson of FIFA Disciplinary Committee Beach Soccer Italy, 2011

• Member of FIFA Disciplinary Committee (Women’s) Azerbaijan, 2012

• Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Gabon / Equatorial Guinea, 2012

• Chairperson of FIFA Disciplinary Committee Thailand, 2012

• Legal advisor to SA 2012 London Olympics

• Legal Advisor to Rio Olympics

• Member of Athletics South Africa (ASA) Appeal board

• Founder Member of the Board of the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport

• Legal advisor to SASCOC

CURRENT APPOINTMENTS

• Current CAS Arbitrator

• Current Member of the Appeals Committee for the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Appeal Committee

• Co-Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Premier Soccer League,

• Member of the FINA Ethics Committee

• Member of the South African National Horseracing Appeal Committee

• President of the CAF Disciplinary Committee

• Chairman of the FIFA Players Status Committee

NON- SPORTING APPOINTMENTS AND POSITIONS CURRENTLY HELD

• Director of George Elkin Charity and Residuary Trusts (2003 to date)

• Trustee of Aaron Jumima Family Trust (1997 to date)

• Trustee Miller Foundation Charity Trust (Wits University) (2004 to date)

• Trustee of the Frajenron Charity Trust (2014 to date)

AWARDS

• 1998 Received the State President’s Award for Football Contribution

• 2002 Football Presidential Award for Contribution to Sport

• 2007 SAFA Presidential Award for Contribution to Sport

• 2009 SAFA Presidential Award for Contribution to Football

• 2010 FIFA 2010 World Cup Contribution award

• 2010 Honorary Life Member of Maccabi

Listen to Raymond's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo 

Executive Director, with 24 years in-depth technical, practical and business leadership experience in the Building and Construction, Pulp & Paper, Petrochemical, Mining and Retail consumer goods Industries. 

Having completed an MBA with proven abilities in MNC environments, strategic planning, marketing and business analysis, supported by tenacity, flexibility and business change management expertise. 

Successful implementation of M&A strategies. A transformation leader and marketing expert, specialising in driving profitable growth in competitive sectors through proactive brand management, customer engagement and business development. 

Renowned as an effective leader capable of training and developing teams to enable them to fulfil their potential and add value to the business. 

Listen to Judy's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

A visionary technology leader and astute businessman with over 20 years of senior management experience in the Information Technology and Services industry. 

Keith is the consummate ICT Executive with diverse experience in both Enterprise IT and Telco, Private and Public sectors, Tech start-up, Systems Integrator and more recently a Multinational OEM. 

Whilst relentlessly pursuing results, he functions as a people alchemist, gifted in bringing the perfect combinations of talent and helping them release the best contributions from others by knowing the special formulae to release unexpected synergies between people, teams and ideas.  

Keith excels at leadership, communication and organisational skills and “thinks on his feet” during times of crisis management and conflict mediation. 

He is also adept at analytical thinking and problem solving and is recognised for talent in Strategy Development, Management, Sales, Pre-sales, Business Development, Partner Management, Organisational Development, and Service Delivery.  

For Keith, integrity is an essential ingredient in his authentic leadership approach, and within an environment high in trust, he sets the scene for everyone to freely contribute and deliver superlative business outcomes. 

Listen to Keith' Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Craig was born in Zimbabwe, junior-schooled in Melbourne, Australia and educated at KwaZulu Natal’s Michaelhouse. Craig’s early career started at Ernst & Young and at ABSA Bank. 

Later, through joining an offshore brokerage, he worked in the Middle East and Asia, and rose to some of the top positions in the financial world. 

More recently, he was the Regional Manager, Africa at one of the largest independent offshore financial consultancies worldwide. 

Craig successfully built the Africa Division from an undeveloped entity to a true African success story with over 200 advisors and 14 offices across the continent, thereby attracting over R12.5 billion worth in new assets and adding over 3500 new clients.  

He started the Carrick group of companies in 2014 with the belief that clients deserve better. Individuals, families and organizations require the best information in order to make sound financial decisions to create a clear road map to achieve lasting growth and financial security. Carrick is regarded as one of the fastest growing brokerages on the African continent.  

A philanthropist at heart, Craig is co-founder of Signature of Hope Trust and a generous donor to many Non-Profit Organizations (NGOs).  

Things he’s interested in: Craig and his wife Di enjoy living life to the full. At weekends you’ll often find them indulging in their love of nature, wildlife and fishing. 

Listen to Craig's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Grace Harding has more than 30 years’ experience across a number of business disciplines and today runs South African born restaurant franchise brand - Ocean Basket. 

A 24 year old Mediterranean Seafood only Casual Dining restaurant with over 210 restaurants in 18 countries. Her track record includes over 10 years’ experience in fashion retail (Edgars group) and 15 years running her own consultancy in South Africa specialising in employee engagement, leadership development and guiding disruption (a new term for change management). 

In 2012 Grace found the love of her life - Ocean Basket: “I wake up terrified every day”. The responsibility of driving this brand that was built with guts, determination and a vision is huge. 

The Ocean Basket story is unique and wacky. Relevant and distinctive. A business where the founder remains our mentor and my coach. His 85 year old mother – our mama Liza is still baking and making us her special brew of ‘truth’ tea. Ocean Basket is Grace’s calling – not a job. It is the place where she has had the opportunity to drive great results without the traditional structures, egos or rules most are used to, and to ‘invent’ a more meaningful way of leading … with love. 0

Listen to Grace's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Ian Lester founded Beyond in 2003 – a South African Internet-of-Things (IoT) company that is helping to save millions of lives around the world by providing cutting-edge pharmaceutical cold chain monitoring solutions. 

It is currently operating in over 100 countries on five continents using its ColdCloud™ technology to monitor pharmaceutical and vaccine cold chains around the globe.

Beyond counts among its clients the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Pan American Healthcare Organization. 

The effect of improving immunization programs saves lives, reduces the burden of disease across entire nations, and thereby boosts economies. Ian is passionate about the cause and has established himself as a thought-leader in the industry, regularly sharing his insights at conferences around the world. 

Listen to Ian's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Hloniphizwe J. Mtolo is the chairman of the boards of the Shell Companies in South Africa. These include Shell South Africa Holdings, Shell Downstream South Africa and Shell South Africa Energy. 

He is a board member and alternate chairman of SAPREF, South Africa’s largest refiner of oil products. 

Hloniphizwe  serves on the Board of Governors for the petroleum products industry body SAPIA and is also a board member of the Netherlands and South Africa Chamber of Commerce and a council member of Business Leadership South Africa, amongst other roles.
 

He is a Retail Executive with almost 30 years of leadership experience with a diverse background that spans industries such as premium fashion retailing, branded fashion wholesaling, convenience retailing and petroleum products retailing. He still serves as Retail General Manager for Shell.
 

Hloniphizwe has highly developed skills in Business Unit Leadership, Business Development, Retail Operations Management, Key Account Management, Business Planning, Business strategy Development and Management and Relationship Management.

He has been very successful in the development of high performing teams, developing and leading retail business unit strategies and has worked with startup organizations as well as expanding businesses into new markets. 

He has further developed his leadership skills through a number of programs including, amongst others, Management Advancement Program and Executive Leadership Program with The Mendoza College of Business through the University Of Notre Dame, University of Stellenbosch and GIBS. He has also completed the Board Leadership Program with GIBS.

He originally trained and qualified in the Medical Laboratory Technology Field before branching into retail leadership.

He is passionate about people development, enterprise development, as well as Ethical Leadership at Executive and Board level.

Listen to Hloniphizwe's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Bashni, an experienced Chief Strategy Officer, Executive Market Analyst and Commercial Director, has over two decades of sector-specific expertise gathered at senior leadership level, both locally and abroad. 

Proudly South African and a National Travel / Tourism Industry expert, Bashni has crafted a celebrated career in strategic research and advanced analytics. 

Over the course of her 16 years in long service with South African Tourism (SAT), across South Africa and the European Region, Bashni has delivered multiple profitable Marketing Strategies. In her current role as Executive Committee Member, she spearheads key strategy formulation for Tourism promotion.

Prior to this, Bashni led SAT’s Strategic Research Unit for over 14 years, as well as being Regional Director for Europe Tourism. In 2016, Bashni was seconded by the organisation to France, where she set up its Southern Europe hub, established a viable operating model, and successfully served the French, Spanish and Italian markets.

Bashni holds a BCom (Hons) degree in Marketing from the University of Pretoria, specializing in Tourism Management.

Listen to Bashni's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Getting a haircut is not a mundane treatment at Legends Barbershop, says its owner Sheldon Tatchell.

"How you make them look is one thing, how you make them feel is another," says Tatchell, who opened his 50th store in August.

He started his business on the stoep of his cousin's internet café 10 years ago and couldn't understand why people would queue to have their hair cut by him while there were two barbershops right across from where he conducted his business.

Tatchell discovered his secret was connecting with his customers.

He had a notebook where he wrote the conversations he had with his customers, so that the next time they came for a haircut he went back to his notebook and followed up on the interview the customer had, or the new car they bought.

Now his staff take notes on their cellphones.

It took him only four months to open his shop and move from the stoep.

But the joy of having his own premises was short-lived when his business was "run to the ground" by a friend he appointed as a business partner.

Tatchell left the running of the barbershop to his business partner when he went on honeymoon.

He returned to find his shop closed and the business partner avoiding his calls.

Tatchell calls this the lowest point in his career. He thought this was the end of his career as a businessman and being a barber, but he had already built a string of customers. He would go as far as 40km by scooter to cut their hair.

This continued for the next two to three years until 2014 when he quit his day job and relaunched his store.

His goal then was to open five stores in five years.

"I didn't know how I was going to do it," he said.

But again, his big dreams were crushed when he was left with one barber. 

Tatchell's staff started stealing from him and the business, he had to let them go, he said.

He had to find people with the right mentality and train them. 

Legends Barbershop now opens training centres in the communities he has shops in before he opens a barbershop, and employs people from those areas.

At 32, he has created over 420 jobs. 

His growing empire has footprints in eight provinces and two African countries, Botswana and Lesotho.

He won the best male grooming award in Africa, and he plans on opening more stores on the continent.

Legends also have women cutting hair, and they are "really good", Tatchell boasts.

Tatchell reviewed his "five stores in five years" plan and now sees 200 Legends Barbershops by 2025.

He ensures that shops give back to the community they operate in and, he still goes back to Eldorado Park - his hometown - to pay back.

It was from doing their bit of social responsibility that the name 'Legends' was born.

From his first tiny shop in Eldorado Park, Tatchell and his team would make their way to the old age home every second week to cut the senior citizens' hair there.

At this point, the barbershop didn't have a name. While cutting hair at the old age home, Tatchell realised that he was cutting the hair of legends in the community and decided to name his barbershop after them - Legends.

The male grooming shop has attracted its fair share of local celebrities, from soccer players to DJs and hip-hop stars. 

But it doesn't stop there, ASAP Bari, Usher and Dj Supernova also got their grooming done at Legends Barbershop.

Going through the slumber of lockdown didn't stop Tatchell from growing his business.

While he had to make arrangements with landlords for rent and find ways to pay his staff during the hard lockdown, Tatchell was already looking beyond the hurdle.

He moved from having 17 stores during lockdown to opening the 50th Legends Barbershop on 6 August.

The secret to his success?

Tatchell says his business shouldn't die with him.

"Your business should outgrow you."

He says nobody knows the owner of Wimpy or McDonald's, but everybody knows the fast-food chains.

He says he always puts himself aside and focuses on the business.

Watch Sheldon's Future Leader Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Herman commenced his Career in the early 80’s in the manufacturing sector in Johannesburg and moved to Consulting and Advisory work in 1994 at Monitor Consulting before taking a senior leadership role as Managing Director in the Siemens Company in 1996 to lead a large scale turn-around of the Industry Division responsible for Sub-Saharan Africa (13 countries) between 1996 and 2000. 

During this time he was pivotal in restructuring divisions of over 1000 technical staff involved in product sales and distribution, large project execution and after sales services and thereby delivering double digit growth in revenues and profits and rescuing the business from closure. The business continues to operate successfully over 15 years after his departure.

He then pivoted to the emerging world of e-commerce and joined Standard Bank in 2000 as the Director of Online Services and e-commerce. He lead the banks foray into Internet Banking deploying one of the first platforms in the world, one of the world’s first national rollouts of smart cards and continued to pioneer Fintech innovations with mobile banking JV’s in 2003 (one of the first globally) and operated one of the first African Fintech business incubators for the Group for 5 years from 2007 until 2012. 

This entity developed a number of very successful businesses in the space of money transfer, value added mobile services and digitalisation of legacy processes. One business went on to record business volumes of 2 Billion Dollars in transactional flow and is the number two player in its field in Africa. He also joined the board of Eccentric Switch, a payments processor that he was instrumental in investing in for the bank. 

In 2012 Herman moved into the telecommunications space in a more dedicated manner firstly with a role at Vodafone as Managing Executive of mobile Commerce at the sub Saharan subsidiary where he successfully launched and managed both a short term insurance business and a life assurance business reaching a Billion Rands in revenue within 4 years of start-up. 

He also set up a subsidiary to launch the largest mobile vouchering app in the region which resulted in two million downloads in a year and was the fastest growing app for that year. He then moved to MTN in 2015 where he served in the role of Group Chief Digital Officer. This role carried a Profit and Loss responsibility of over a Billion Dollars and thanks to new innovation and change programmes is growing at close to 2X per annum in Local Currency. 

The role includes four pillars in e-commerce / mobile advertising, mobile financial services, media and digital lifestyle products and services. He currently serves as the Group Executive for Innovation Strategy leading the Groups Digital approach into new business areas by focusing on Ideation, Incubation, acceleration and M and A. 

This broad portfolio of adjacent businesses has necessitated extensive travel and serving on 7 boards as well as serving in advisory capacities in multiple industry level initiatives. 

Listen to Herman's interview on Vimeo, Youtube and Soundcloud

Caroline is the author of Master Your Finances – the art of building wealth, a chartered accountant and a member of SAICA. 

Caroline is the Head of Leadership and Learning at Absa Retail and Business Bank and has managed operations for a number of large retail financial services businesses and is a published financial education thought leader. 

Expertise within people and operations management, process management, vendor management, asset management, LISPs, administration, regulatory change and impact, client servicing, asset management & banking. §Caroline has spoken at events as the keynote speaker as well as host at business conferences, workshops, church events, fundraisers,  and other events. 

Listen to Caroline's Future Leader Interview on Vimeo, Youtube and SoundCloud

 Dr Mabunda is a medical and business professional with a multinational career spanning the United Kingdom, Kenya and South Africa.

A medical doctor holding a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Cape Town and an MBA from Oxford University, her background is an asset to organisations in the business of healthcare. She currently holds the position of Head of Vitality Wellness at Discovery.

Her current role affords her opportunities to develop innovative products and apply the principles of behavioural science to drive the adoption of protective health behaviours among members of Discovery Vitality.

Prior to joining Vitality, she was the Head for Accenture’s public health division in South Africa. She has worked for leading global consultancy firms and pharmaceutical companies.

Outside of Vitality, Dr Mabunda spends time cycling and running. 

Listen to Dr Mosima's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo 

Enver started out his career working in the Information Technology departments of companies like IBM, Eskom and Nedbank and has worked as the Head of Operations at Integer Financial Services. 

In January 2010, a passion-driven career change saw Duminy join Cape Town Tourism as the Executive Manager of Tourism Services whereafter he was appointed as CEO in August 2013.

To date Duminy has been involved in various ground-breaking tourism projects which include: Leading the Tourism Services team to provide successful visitor and industry services for the 2010 FIFA World Cup; 

Pioneering the first ever Responsible Pricing policy for the tourism industry in Cape Town, ensuring that the industry remains competitive and offers value for money; 

Initiating Cape Town Tourism’s partnership of the global movement The Code - in order to address child exploitation in the tourism industry; Implementing the first ever integrated management system in a tourism organisation; 

Participating in Safety Forums to pro-actively collaborate with industry role-players to address and find solutions to security challenges in Cape Town; 

Conceptualising the first Mobile Visitor Information Vehicle in Africa, where visitors can make bookings, buy tickets and get information, powered by solar panels.

He was appointed to the Board of Tourism Grading Council of South Africa and to the Board of South African Tourism. Duminy’s current focus as CEO of Cape Town Tourism is to work alongside his team and the stakeholders of Cape Town Tourism (including more than a thousand signed-up members), to find ways to address seasonality in Cape Town by combining innovation and agility. 

He is passionate about Cape Town, not only because it is his home town, but because of its blend of natural beauty, interesting history and diverse cultures. His vision is to peel back the layers that make Cape Town what it is today - a thriving metropolis at the tipping point of the African continent , recognised as a global challenger through tourism. 

Enver Duminy acquired his B.Sc. Degree in Computer Science and Mathematical Statistics from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and is a qualified Microsoft Certified Professional and IBM Solutions Provider. 

Duminy continues to study and is currently busy with his MBA through the Management College of South Africa.

Listen to Enver's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo  

Heather Monahan is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, entrepreneur and founder of Boss In Heels. 

Having successfully climbed the corporate ladder for nearly 20 years, Heather Monahan is one of the few women to break the glass ceiling and claim her spot in the C-suite.

As a Chief Revenue Officer in Media, Heather Monahan is a Glass Ceiling Award winner, named one of the most Influential Women in Radio in 2017 and Thrive Global named her a Limit Breaking Female Founder in 2018.

Heather’s new book Confidence Creator shot to #1 on Amazon’s Business Biographies and Business Motivation lists the first week it debuted on Amazon.
Heather is a confidence expert and is currently working with Fortune 500 companies and professional sports to develop confidence in the workplace and on the court. 

She’s also a member of Florida International University’s Advisory Council to further serve as a mentor and leader in the South Florida Community. Heather’s new show, CreatinConfidence, debuted on the Top 200 shows on Apple podcast.

Heather’s work has been featured in USA Today, CNN, Forbes, Fast Company and Business News Daily. Most recently adding Guest Professor at Harvard to her list of accomplishments. Heather and her son Dylan reside in Miami.

To Book Heather for a speaking engagement please visit www.heathermonahan.com  

Listen to Heather's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Dirk Van Der Walt (BComm) is Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Webuycars.co.za, with brother Faan Van Der Walt (CEO), Dirk takes on the role as Chief Strategy Officer.

The brothers built the business over the last 20 years from virtually nothing to a household name that buys more than 4500 vehicles monthly all across South Africa.

Dirk contributes to innovation, out-of-the-box thinking, and builds on strong philosophical underpinnings that contribute to a vibrant spirit, a strong ethos, and a unique company culture. 

Quoting Mark Shaefer, he strongly believes that the most human company will win in today's world, he supports a Servant Leadership approach and subscribes to a management philosophy that nurtures family values and sustainability.

Dirk and Faan were nominees to the 2018 EY World Entrepreneur Award, and Webuycars is currently the target of a Naspers Aquisition.

Listen to Dirk's Interview on Vimeo, Youtube and Soundcloud

Hwalani is recognized as a strategic adaptable and revenue driven leader who is known for turning around underperforming businesses in the financial services sector in a way that builds impactful and innovative ways of building new revenue streams while creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem that focuses on financial inclusion. 

She is a Head of Wealth an investment at Standard Bank South Africa working closely with individual clients, business owners, investment companies, and broader clients of the bank to mitigate loss, financial stability and promote trade and commercial activities that results in economic growth and development. 

Her edge lies on strong strategic sales capability and aligning the organisation to achieve the required results She is a Senator representing South Africa at the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) an organisation committed to collaborating globally to empower the economic development of the world by fostering innovative financial instruments for start-ups, scaleups, innovators, entrepreneurs, SMEs and to promote gender equality and women’s participation in all sectors of the world economy. 

Hwalani is also a Board Member of Women in Tech® an international organization with a double mission: to close the gender gap and to help women embrace technology. 

The organization focuses on 4 primary areas that are a call for action: Education, Entrepreneurialism, Social Inclusion, and Science & Innovation. As an advocate for women empowerment WBAF and the Women in Tech platform aligns quite well with Hwalani‘s goals of women inclusion, empowerment and creation of sustainable/ profitable women owned businesses. A finalist in the Standard Bank 40 under 40 young achievers, Hwalani was listed in Mail & Guardian Women Changing South Africa. 

An advocate for women empowerment, Hwalani holds a Master’s Degree and is currently pursuing Doctoral Studies at the University of Pretoria with a focus on Turnaround Strategy. 

Listen to Hwalani's Interview on Vimeo, Soundcloud and YouTube

Dr.Judy Dlamini, has had a rich career starting with medicine, followed by owning and running businesses in various sectors from health operations, surgical equipment, luxury fashion retail, commercial property, facilities management, to name but a few. 

She received her medical degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, her MBA from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and her diploma in occupational health from the University of the Free State. 

She obtained her Doctorate in Business Leadership from UNISA. Her thesis investigated the intersection of race, gender and social class and its impact on women leaders’ career progression. 

She used life stories to come up with strategies for gender transformation at leadership. She has since turned her thesis into a book, titled Équal but Different: Women Leaders’ life journeys. She was selected to the 2017 Exclusive Books’ Homebru list in the business category, after the launch of the book in March 2017.

Judy worked as a medical doctor for thirteen years and as an occupational health practitioner for four years before deciding to build her business career. 

After spending two years at HSBC, specialising in transport and energy corporate finance, she began to develop her entrepreneurial interests. In 1996, she founded Mbekani Group, a company which houses operational and investment companies, including the luxury multi-brand chain of stores, Luminance and Jimmy Choo.

She has extensive experience in serving on numerous boards; she is currently the Chairman of Mbekani Investment Holdings Ltd, previously Chairman of the Board of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited, Independent Non Executive Director of Northam Platinum Ltd, Imithi Investments (Pty) Ltd, GijimaAst Ltd, Anglo American plc, Woolworths Holdings Ltd, Discovery Holdings Ltd. 

She is a recipient of various awards, including Woman The Brand (2009), The African Economy Builder Lifetime Achiever Award for 2016 from African Economy Builder Forum; The Global CEO’s 2016 Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government SADC South award for the Business and Professional Services sector at regional and national level, and Fabulous Woman Award 2016.

Listen to Dr Dlamini's interview on Vimeo, Youtube and Soundcloud

Lincoln Mali is an experienced banker with over 20 years in the industry. Lincoln has been with the Standard Bank Group for the last 18 years and is currently the Head of Group Card and Emerging Payments. 

The role is geographically spread across 17 countries on the continent as well as being responsible for facilitating payments between Africa and China. 

Lincoln has vast experience working on the continent as in his former role he was the Regional Head for the Western Region in Africa; managing the Standard Bank Group Personal and Business Banking franchises in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria and Namibia.

Lincoln's academic qualifications include; BA LLB (Rhodes university); MBA (Henley Management College - UK) and an AMP (Harvard Business School). Lincoln has attended various executive programs at universities in South Africa and abroad including Duke University, Thunderbird University, and Insead University.

Lincoln is currently the chairman of Diners Club South Africa and has previously held board membership in Stanbic Malawi, Stanbic Zambia, Stanbic Zimbabwe, Eduloan, Technikon South Africa and the Institute of Bankers. 

Lincoln is an international CEMEA Business Council member for Visa and has been appointed the Regional Member Council for Union Pay International.

Lincoln's core expertise are in the areas of leadership, people management, customer service, sales management and business performance. 

He has led and managed large and diverse teams across different geographies and business units while also growing and developing many individuals into leadership positions. 

Lincoln is a highly regarded speaker who has addressed various local and international conferences. Lincoln was the class speaker at his graduation at Harvard Business School in 2013. 

He was honoured for his leadership role and achievements by his alma mater, Rhodes University, with the Distinguished Old Rhodian Award in 2015.

He is also a prolific writer and maintains a blog; www.leadershipconversations.co.za in which he writes about topics he is passionate about. Some of these include: Leadership, Ethics and Integrity, Transformation and Societal Change. 

Lincoln is passionate about leadership, and spends his spare time coaching and guiding young leaders both within and outside Standard Bank. 

Lincoln is married to Sva, they have 3 children, Lihle, Amara and Liam.

Listen to Lincoln's Interview on Vimeo, Youtube and Soundcloud 

Thokozile is a People and Business Performance leader with business turnaround, performance transformation, leadership development, talent management and large-scale capability building expertise who works with individuals, teams and organisations to achieve and sustain growth and high performance.

 She currently heads up Talent, Leadership and Learning for Absa Group Limited

Specialties: Business Strategy; Operational Turnaround; Performance Transformation; Leadership Development; Large-scale Capability building; Organisational Development; Talent Management  

Listen to Thokozile's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud 

“In life, everybody must have dreams. Mine is to go to the Ironman championships in Hawaii. It’s an increasingly difficult dream as you need to do at least 12 Ironman challenges before you can pre-qualify. So far, I’ve completed 10, and for the past three years, I’ve done half Ironman competitions overseas to get some exposure to different environments.” 

Willie  originally trained as an electronics engineer and started work for Altron on engineering projects that covered both software and hardware.

“In 1995, I joined Absa, and during my time there, I eventually became part of the IT leadership team.

“Back then, IT was seen as a black box. Nobody really understood what we were doing. We were trusted implicitly, and business was very hands-off. The relationship was very transactional as there wasn’t really any form of partnership with business.” 

 In 2000, Absa undertook a significant desktop outsourcing project with Gijima AST, as it was then, and the two companies formed a joint venture, AST Distributed Technology Services. Stegmann was appointed its CEO 

After holding the position for five years, Stegmann returned to the world of financial services when he joined Standard Bank, where h e w ould s pend 13 years i n d fferent roles. 

One of the most significant was heading up the SAP core banking transformation programme, moving from a 40-year-old legacy platform onto a more modern, agile platform. 

In 2014, he was appointed CIO of Standard Bank’s personal and business bank. “That was my first formal role as a CIO and everything I’d learnt to that stage helped me in that role,” he says.

Then, in 2017, Stegmann received an unexpected call, asking him to consider the opportunity of becoming Vodacom’s CIO. “I was initially a little sceptical about moving from a financial services background to a telco. However, after discussions with the Vodacom team, it was clear that my experience, not only from a digital transformation point of view, but also in Agile was what Vodacom was looking for.”

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Mapule Mzimba is a scientist, management consultant, and now a banking executive. She has recently been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Discovery Bank. 

Prior to joining Discovery, Mapule held various strategic roles at Absa, including Director in Corporate & Investment Banking for Transactional Products, a business serving Corporate and Business Banking clients. 

She was a COO of Transactional Banking prior to running the business. She joined Absa in 2010 as the General Manager: Services Cluster Integration Programme and led the implementation of “Simple, Streamlined Group Processes” to sustainably take costs out of the business and improve customer experience. 

In less than a year she was promoted to lead a Business Unit of about 120 professionals that drive the "change the Bank" agenda (Group Projects). 

Prior to joining Absa, Mapule was a Senior Manager in Accenture responsible for business development and account management as well as delivery of large scale complex programmes. 

While at Accenture, Mapule conceptualized and implemented a Future Leaders Programme which today is a flagship programme at the heart of their attraction and retention strategy. 

She was also selected from 48 countries to serve on the Accenture Global Executive Development of Women Leaders Faculty. 

Prior to joining Accenture, Mapule was a researcher and Project Manager at CSIR.

Mapule has a Masters and Honours degree in Science and a Post Graduate qualification in Business Management, all attained in Cum Laude. 

In 2009, Mapule was a recipient of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu African Leadership Award and underwent leadership training at the Oxford University Said Business School. In 2016, PASA awarded her the top student of the year across Africa, for a Foundational Payments qualification.

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Pepe Marais is the founding partner and Group Chief Creative Officer of brand and communication group Joe Public United. He lives to bring out the best in those around him.

His definition of success is to create an environment of harmony and joy, where the focus is on the well-being of people – growing them to achieve the highest levels of selfworth, honesty and excellence by nurturing ideas, dreams and trust.

\Moved by the obvious gap in our system and a driving need to give back as well as actively grow our country, Pepe established Joe Public’s CSR programme, One School at a Time in 2004, of which he currently is the chairperson. OSAAT  is an organisation with the single-minded vision of creating an educational system that is a shining example to the world.

Pepe also sits on the board of SA Day, an initiative that exists to inspire South Africans towards greatness in unity.

Although Pepe has been the recipient of numerous local and international industry awards, he believes that accolades are merely the building blocks toward a vision of creating an environment that inspires greatness.

Joe Public United is currently ranked as one of the top independent and fastest growing South African advertising groups, which includes a digitally integrated above-the-line agency (Joe Public) a strategic brand design agency (Joe Public Shift), a digital agency (Joe Public Connect), a beyond-the-line agency (Joe Public Ignite) and a PR agency (Joe Public Engage) in Johannesburg.

The Joe Public brand is also represented in Amsterdam through its revolutionary Joe Public Take-Away advertising model.

In 2014 The Annual AdFocus Awards ranked the agency as Agency of the Year and in 2015, for the second consecutive year, awarded Joe Public Agencies’ Agency of the Year, as voted for by industry peers. 

In 2016 and 2017 Joe Public was the most awarded agency at the Apex Awards, which focuses on campaigns that are effective and drive business results for their clients, in line with the agency’s purpose of Growth. In 2018 Joe Public was a runner-up in the Conscious Company Awards and also ranked number one creative agency in Africa and the Middle East at the Loeries Awards.

Pepe is a published author, and recipient of the 2018 Sanlam Entrepreneur of the Year Award for medium businesses, together with his business partner Gareth Leck.
 

He believes that Joe Public is at the beginning of what they set out to do in terms of the calibre of work they aspire to create. He also knows that it’s all about nurturing the creativity within people and that all of Joe Public’s past and future successes were and will continue to be because of its people. 

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