Fellows in the News

Roboticist Prof Arthur G.O. Mutambara who is an author, chartered engineer, and academic has been appointed as the executive director and full professor of the Institute for the Future of Knowledge (IFK) at the University of Johannesburg. The IFK is a cross-disciplinary ecosystem – an epistemological interface between the fourth Industrial Revolution and the Humanities. He will be establishing ...

Just under a year ago, in the first week of July 2020, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy gazetted the procurement of 2 000 MW of energy “from a range of energy source technologies”.   This month, a consortium including H1 Holdings, of which Reyburn Hendricks is Chief Executive, was given Preferred Bidder status. Through their ambitious solar hybrid storage projects, H1 Holdings (...

There is a fascinating concept at work in Like Water Is For Fish, a non-fiction book detailing the effectiveness of storytelling in communicating important messages and doing so in a mixture of memoir-style flashbacks and combinations of the perspectives of other individuals author Garth Japhet has met along the way. If it sounds like a hodge-podge, it doesn’t read like one, rather coming a...

In the early 2000s, ALI Fellow (Class IV: Kalipha) and South Africa’s “First Lady of Song”, Sibongile Khumalo, released her hit single, Mayihlome (https://bit.ly/2L7vsy3). It would go on to be amongst the most loved songs within her illustrious discography of globally-acclaimed hits. Yet there was more to that particular song than poetic lyrics sung in her matchless voice. It was more than j...

Written by Dr Zoe Lees It’s all very well talking about these lofty ideals of a new order for Africa, but in sub-Saharan Africa we are facing serious human rights abuses and chaos in Zimbabwe with deepening poverty and desperation, Mozambique is facing an ISIS incursion, Zambia is defaulting on its debt, Ethiopia… Tanzania….the list goes on. We can’t even agree on a common vision ...

What a year it has been. It started well. From February 26-29, we had the rare joy of spending four days together at the second Africa Impact Forum. More than 100 Fellows from nine countries came together in Accra, Ghana, around the theme “Building to Last: Leadership vs Systems”. In the group there were 25 from ALI-SA; as always when we engage with our ALI colleagues from across the continen...

Class VII: Dinatla fellow, Tsakani Maluleke continues to make history as the first woman to occupy a senior position in the office of the Auditor-General (AG) South Africa. On October 20, 2020, she was unanimously recommended by Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee to take over from the outgoing Auditor-General, Kimi Makwetu, whose seven-year term ends at the end of November. Since the Mbeki admini...

The Solidarity Fund has appointed Fellow Tandi Nzimande as Fund CEO. Nzimande was recommended as the CEO at a Board meeting held on October 22, 2020. It is her work in the development and empowerment fields which makes her the ideal candidate to lead the Fund especially now, as it enters a new phase that requires strong leadership to ensure mandates are met with efficiency, integrity, and passio...

The numbers of those in South Africa who are thought to now need food relief vary, depending on who you talk to [1]. Gift of the Givers director Dr Imtiaz Sooliman says maybe about 20-million. Andy du Plessis, manager of FoodForward, says it could be 30-million including those who were previously below the poverty line, those who lost their jobs during the pandemic lockdown, and those who lost ac...

The Karl Flowers Trust launched this June, 10 years to the month since our friend passed away. A member of the Kilimanjaro class, Karl was passionate about ALI and our work. He assisted as a moderator and was integral in helping to build our community. Karl’s will stated that a significant portion of his estate should be placed in a trust to assist “young people between 16-25 years, who are u...

The University of Cape Town (UCT) has elected ALI Fellow and former Safika Holdings CFO Babalwa Ngonyama (Class VIII: Mahube) as the new chair of its council. Nazeema Mohamed will serve as deputy chair. In the words of UCT’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, the appointment is “historic” because it is the first time in 100 years that a woman chair serves on UCT’s Council. It i...

ALI would like to congratulate YALI Fellow Phathutshedzo Madima for his appointment as the new non-executive director and advisor of the Young African Entrepreneurs Institute (YAEI). The non-profit youth development organisation focuses on well-rounded career development by integrating employability, entrepreneurship and mentorship for diversified post-schooling opportunities in South Africa. Wit...

ALI Fellow Konehali Gugushe (Class X: XSeed) has been appointed as CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and the Trust. Her tenure started on the 4th of March 2020. She joins the Fund in the year of its 25th anniversary. Konehali’s responsibilities will include strengthening Madiba’s vision for his legacy organisations for children (the Fund, the Trust and NMCH) by promoting synergies, ...

Free mobile and web-based COVID-19 pre-screening symptom checker launched to help flatten the curve  YALI Fellows Jessica Chivinge, Rhobhi Matinyi Farai Chikumbu and their business associate Farai Chikumbu have founded a healthtech start-up called epione.net. epione.net is an end-to-end healthcare platform that seamlessly connects all stakeholders in the healthcare value chain for improved patie...

Mr Sabelo Dumezweni, Lomso’ Father; Mr Khulile Qamata, Nyanga SSS Principal; Dr Futhi Mtoba; Lomso Dumezweni; Lerato Mathenjwa; and Jethro Leshaba, TEACH Ambassador. TEACH South Africa (TEACH) attended the announcement of the 2019 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination results at Vodacom on 06 January 2020. TEACH Ambassador Mr Jethro Leshaba and the principal from Nyanga Senior Secondary ...

We are honoured to announce that veteran financial journalist and ALI Media Fellow Sikonathi Mantshantsha is the new spokesperson for Eskom. The appointment was officially announced on Wednesday, the 22nd of January 2020. Sikonathi, who has spent over 15 years writing about the power utility, will be leading its media liaison team; a role he will take up on the 1st of February 2020. Speaking on t...

Remgro-controlled telecoms group Community Investment Ventures Holdings (CIVH), the parent company of Dark Fibre Africa and Vumatel, has appointed ALI Fellow Raymond Ndlovu as CEO. CIVH has ambitious growth plans, and Ndlovu’s primary role is to drive a diversified wholesale, open-access ICT infrastructure business. He knows the business well, as he has been investment executive and a manageme...

In October, the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) announced its new board, after a scrupulous review of its governance structures. ALI Fellow Tsakani Maluleke (Class VII: Dinatla) has been appointed to serve as the new chairperson of the board. SAICA’s mandate is to serve the interests of the chartered accountancy profession by upholding professional standards and integr...

South Africa has lost a literary disrupter, political activist and an ardent beacon of love, power, hope and truth. Sandile Dikeni passed away on Sunday, 10 November 2019. He was celebrated for being a prominent storyteller whose familiarity with racism, poverty and exclusion enabled him to use his words as ammunition to speak against the behemoth that was the apartheid regime.  Born in Victoria...

ALI Fellow Lesego Sennelo (Class X: Seed) is a qualified chartered accountant with a passion for human resource development and economic empowerment. Many of the roles that she has taken up in her career have focused on the empowerment and advancement of African women, particularly in the finance sector. Lesego served as the president of the African Women Chartered Accountants (AWCA) Forum from 2...

With over 15 years of experience in the financial services and investment space, ALI Fellow Refilwe Moloto (Class XI: Tekano) is making great strides in the media and broadcasting industry. A financial analyst turned media doyenne, Refilwe started her journey with radio as a business and finance news contributor on the Afternoon Drive with John Maythamon CapeTalk. Thereafter, she landed her own a...

ALI Fellow Linda Mateza (Class IX: Tariro) has been appointed as the new chief executive and principal officer of the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF). The appointment comes as no surprise considering her wealth of experience and knowledge in managing pensions and investments across asset classes, including equities, bonds, property and money market investments. Linda holds a Master’...

Media freedom is under attack across the world, and the World Editors Forum (WEF) – the leading global network for print and digital editors – is a critical defender of both press freedom and editorial excellence. This month, ALI-WA member and head of BBC West Africa, Toyisi Ogunseye, was elected vice-president of the WEF. The new president, Warren Fernandez, is editor of the Straits Times a...

“Three bankers who are shaping how banking will look in the next five years,”reads an article in the latest issue of the Forbes Africa magazine. “One runs the new kid on the block; the other a bank that has risen from the ashes; the third is spearheading a traditional bank’s transformation in 11 African countries. A glimpse into the future of banking…” The banker who is running th...

Television, film production and broadcasting executive Zanele Mthembu is one of a trio of top media people appointed to head South Africa’s new 24-hour news channel, Newzroom Afrika. It broadcasts on DStv channel 405, replacing the former Gupta-owned ANN7, which was taken off air last year. The channel launched just before the national election earlier this month after a competitive bidding pro...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the reinstatement of an advisory unit, known as Policy and Research Services, in the Office of the Presidency. Fellow Busani Ngcaweni, a long-standing veteran of the Office of the Presidency, is to take up the critical lead role. The unit is tasked with giving the President clear oversight of the way economic and investment policies are implemented. Its man...

You may know her as the weekly finance and business contributor to the Afternoon Drive with John Maytham Show, or from her various stand-ins on other programmes, including Breakfast and The Money Show. Now she is joining talk radio station Cape Talk permanently as the voice behind their new daytime show, Upfront with Refilwe Moloto, on weekdays from 9am till 12 noon. The blurb on Cape Talk’s we...

RéjaneWoodroffe, member of the ALI Board and founder of Bulungula Incubator, has been presented with the British Council’s 2019 Social Impact Award. The British Council award series has a dual function: to celebrate Britain’s own tertiary education institutions (Réjanehas an MSc in Development Economics from the University of Sussex), and, importantly, to celebrate the impact of the best of...

Nicola Galombik and her colleague in Harambee Youth Accelerator, Maryana Iskander, have won the coveted 2019 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship These Skoll awards are made annually to a group of nominated leaders whose  organisations disrupt the status quo, transforming the social landscape and driving large-scale sustainable change. Importantly, the awards are not given as much for what ha...

Isaac Shongwe, co-founder of the African Leadership Initiative (ALI), was honoured last month with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the South African Professional Services Awards(SAPSA). Explaining the objective of this awards initiative, Sipho Mncwabe, Regional General Manager of the Sanlam Gauteng Region, highlighted that it gives visibility to disciplines that are desperately needed in this cou...

PEG has completed a US$25m Series C round from existing and new investors to take its total raised to date to US$50m. PEG will use this latest round of investment to cement its position as a market leader in West Africa, where it already has operations in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal. US$20m of this round is in debt, with CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, arranging a $1...

Had it not been for a behind-the-scenes initiative of two like-minded women, Caster Semenya would not have had the financial muscle to challenge the International Association of Athletics Federations IAAF. Semenya’s legal representative Greg Nott has praised Bongiwe Mlangeni and Gloria Serobe for heeding the call to help raise funds from scratch to take the fight to the IAAF over their proposed...

  First Gear, then Asgisa, followed by a leftward shift took state-owned enterprises into the hands of rent-seekers On Wednesday on these pages fellow columnist John Dludlu argued that breaking Eskom into three subsidiaries will not resolve its fundamental problems, the primary one being a lack of leadership. Allow me to expand on that and add to his list. Eskom’s problems are rooted in th...

From finance to a fun winemaking experience, the allure of winemaking was enough to send stockbrokers Raymond Ndlovu and Kevin Swart to Franschhoek to start their own winemaking business. In this extract from Colour of Wine: Tasting Change, Ndlovu explains how his business accumen helped him grow their business. The wine business is fascinating. You meet a diverse range of people from all walks o...

Founded in 2009 by ALI alumni Dr’s Futhi Mtoba and Mothomang Diaho, TEACH SA was birthed with the objective of tackling the challenge of teacher shortages and the need for quality education in South Africa. The initiative comprises of young, talented graduates who are recruited and trained to become great ambassadors in the field of teaching – a healthy indicator for the future of educati...

Our ALI Fellow, Konehali Gugushe, has recently been promoted to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Land Bank and we couldn’t be prouder of the African woman power she’s exuding right now. Gugushe is part of the Fellow Class X: XSeed. Having been at Land Bank for almost four years, this soar up the corporate ladder was clearly just a matter of time. Previously, she was the Chief Risk Officer r...

ALI Fellow, Historian and Professor, Naledi Nomalanga Mkhize, has written her first children’s book which details the journey of Africa from the beginning of its rich history. Mkhize, a community development practitioner history professor at Nelson Mandela University also currently holds the Sam Moyo Postdoctoral Fellowship at Rhodes University. Her current research is in Eastern Cape historiog...

Class XI: Tekano Fellow, Advocate Boniswa Mzimba, talks about Powerhouse Development Services, an organisation that she formed to provide widow empowerment and wellness programmes. The challenges she faced following the loss of her husband 16 years ago, gave birth to this organisation, which has been educating widows about their rights. “To me, it was very important that I become their Public P...

In a CNN interview, Tekano Fellow, Hugh Whalan shared insight on Ghana’s investment in solar power and the availability of mobile money services which has helped off-grid rural societies. While 80% of Ghana is powered up, the rural outlying areas do not have regular access to electricity. Government is aiming to electrify 90% of the country by 2020 having invested a substantial amount in t...

2018 has been a magnificent year for ALI Media Fellow Phathiswa Magopeni. Her career reached a new high when she was recently appointed as Group Executive: News & Current Affairs at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). With the SABC’s commitment to attracting and retaining the best skills to address the evolving broadcasting environment enabled by technology, Magopeni was the ...

Class II ALI Media Fellow, Sikonathi Mantshantsha, deputy editor of Financial Mail, was recognised as the Sanlam Journalist of the Year 2017. Sikonathi also emerged as the winner of the Economy Category 2017, making him a twofold winner on the night! The awards took place last week Thursday, 21 June 2018 at Inanda, Johannesburg. The Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism, honours...

Following a due process of interviews and assessments internally and externally, Nedbank Group is pleased to announce that Dr Terence G Sibiya has been appointed as Managing Executive: Rest of Africa & Subsidiaries. He will be responsible for leading and managing the Rest of Africa and subsidiary businesses and to ensure that they grow and achieve the key strategic objectives of building scal...

The Africa Leadership Initiative lauds and celebrates our very own Fellow, Basani Maluleke (Class IX: Tariro) for a historic rise as the first black woman to head a commercial bank in South Africa. On the 1st April 2018, Basani Maluleke, an attorney by profession, took the mantle as the new chief executive officer of the African Bank. With years of experience in corporate finance, and an unwaveri...

Johannesburg, 2 February 2018 Professionals from various organisations gathered at a gala dinner in Montecasino Ball Room on the evening of 1 February 2018 to honour the best amongst them. The South African Professional Services Awards sponsored by Sanlam were being hosted for the third time after a rigorous process of determining winners through strict criteria. Sally Hutton of Webber Wentzel wa...

ALI SA Fellow Basani Maluleke of Class IX: Tariro, is in the running for African Bank CEO. Not only that; she may very well be the first black female bank CEO on South African shores. As Brian Riley’s tenure as the current African Bank CEO comes to an end, South Africa may be ushering in the first black-and-female bank CEO. The “good bank”, as African Bank is affectionately known, has put h...

Increasing decoupling of economic growth and labour absorption is creating insecurity and widening inequality We are in a period of human and planetary transition. The techno-capitalist-driven decoupling of economic growth and labour absorption is accelerating, creating insecurity, widening inequality and despair. The planet’s ecological system, which supports all life, is racing faster towards...

Announcement by the Minister of Arts and Culture on the appointment of The Council of The National Film And Video Foundation. The Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Nathi Mthethwa hereby announces the names of the persons appointed as the Council of the NFVF including Zanele Mthembu (Class IX: Tariro Fellow), effective from 01 May 2017 to 30 April 2020. Section 6 (1) of the NFVF Act, Act No.73 of 1...

Old rules just have to go when technology starts a different game Humans are losing their jobs to machines, so creativity and forethought are needed to prepare for our new roles, writes Joshin Raghubar (Class 3 Fellow – Khalipa and a member of the ALI SA board.) Stakeholders in a state — government, business, civil society — should have one goal: to grow and sustain a resilient, generative ...

Kwanele Enuf is a zero tolerance campaign by ALI Fellow Andy Kawa, that aims to break the chains of silence surrounding rape and sexual violence. Rape, sexual violence and gender based violence affects us all, no matter our gender, race or religion. With this video we aim to bring together the voices of all South Africans, standing together to say “Enuf is Enuf” Read more about Andy Kawa ⟶ ...

Enzo Scarcella. Photo © Africa Leadership Initiative.   Telecommunications industry veteran Enzo Scarcella is leaving his role as chief marketing officer at Telkom after spending three years at the company. MTN Group, Africa’s biggest wireless operator by sales, appointed ALI Fellow (Class VIII Mahube) and Board Member Enzo Scarcella as chief operating officer of its South Africa unit, r...