News

Tshikululu Social Investments is looking for a dynamic individual to play a strategic leadership role with one of our newest clients, who is focused on bringing about large-scale, system-wide change. The systemic social investment specialist’s primary responsibilities will be two-fold: firstly to represent the client as a strategic partner on a number of ‘big bet’ social investments; and s...

The Resnick Aspen Action Forum is one the Aspen Institute’s greatest platforms for effecting real and measurable change in the world. It is an annual four day event held in Aspen, Colorado that encourages entrepreneurial leaders from around the world to put their ideas for impact into action. The ALI SA office encourages all ALI fellows to attend at least one of these seminars at some point...

Chairperson of NSFAS and former CEO of FirstRand Bank, Sizwe Nxasana discussed how we can transform higher education and create a conducive environment, both socially and financially, for learners to thrive. The dialogue kicked off with Nxasana describing South Africa’s current higher education landscape. He mentioned that we currently have 850 000 students enrolled in higher education institu...

SA does need radical economic transformation. Growth is snail-paced and inequality is increasing. The fog of political patronage is debilitating investment and future generations are ill-equipped to thrive in a changing economic landscape. Old ideas are tearing us apart rather than binding us together. SA and the world need a utopian unifying vision, radical ideas transformed into good policy and...

First and foremost, I wish you happiness, peace and prosperity.  Secondly, as you take a step back to review your past 12 months, and make plans for the next 12 months, I hope you will consider adding the Aspen Action Forum to your calendar, taking place from 27-31 July 2017. The world is perhaps on the verge of greater turmoil, more so than at any time in the past 50 years. If...

First and foremost, on behalf of the Africa Leadership Initiative: Compliments on the New Year! May it be a year in which we live up to our fervent desire to positively and meaningfully impact our society. As always, each year dawns upon us with a brand-new energy and fresh resolutions waiting to be accomplished. This year is no different. We, as the Africa Leadership Initiative, look forward to ...

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 ...

On Thursday, 8 December, Ferial Haffajee received an honorary Doctorate from the University of Free State for her outstanding work in Journalism throughout her 25 years in the field. This was a significant and sentimental moment for Haffajee, as she was not able to attend her graduation ceremony for her Journalism degree from The University of the Witwatersrand in 1989. “Black students had boyc...

The TEACH South Africa (TEACH) 2015 Cohort graduation ceremony was held on Saturday, 10 November 2016 at the Deloitte auditorium in Johannesburg. The ceremony was hosted by former graduates and ambassadors Berkia Banda and Camagwini Dolweni. Banda and Dolweni shared their own experiences of being TEACH graduates and the opportunities that this forwarded to them. They also encouraged graduates in ...

Adrian Enthoven As we approach the holiday season, it is fitting to take a moment to thank everyone who has been part of the Africa Leadership Initiative. My deepest gratitude goes out to all the Fellows for their continual participation and support. I also extend my thanks to the Aspen Global Leadership Network, as well as our directors, our African and global partners, and our board members, for...

The third and final ALI Leadership Initiative Dialogue for 2016 was held on Wednesday, 16 November at the lavish Villa Arcadia in Parktown. Former General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and Vice-Chairperson of the Millennium Labour Council, Zwelinzima Vavi shared his views on the role of leaders and their contribution to a new South Africa, as well as key lesson...

The Aspen Institute’s Finance Leaders Fellowship seeks to develop the next generation of responsible, community-spirited leaders in the global finance industry. This new, two-year program is modeled on the Henry Crown Fellowship which was established in 1996. Using the Aspen Institute method of text-based dialogue, and building upon the Institute’s commitment to values-based, action-...

We take this moment to congratulate Thina Siwendu. After a grueling selection process by the JSC commission panel in Cape Town, Thina Siwendu; Class III – Seriti and ALI SA board member, has recently been appointed as Judge of the High Court: Gauteng local division. This announcement comes as a great honour for Thina who has over two decades of experience in law. She holds a B.Soc.Sci from the U...

Linda Vilakazi, Class VIII: Mahube and CEO of the Oliver & Adelaide Tambo Foundation cordially invites you to the 2016 Oliver Tambo Memorial Lecture, to be delivered by Constitutional Court Chief Justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng. The lecture is to be held on 27th October 2016 at Turbine Hall in Newtown, Johannesburg. Topic: Oliver Tambo’s values –  Meaning, relevance and implication for Sout...

TEACH South Africa has been developing educators and tools to improve maths, science and English education in South Africa. The organization recruits university graduates in these subjects, and places them in rural and disadvantaged schools for two years, where they train to become educators. Since the year 2009, TEACH South Africa has placed graduates in 186 schools across the country. TEACH Sou...

iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the top eight biodiversity hotspots in the world. Yet, amidst such natural plenty, it is also one of South Africa’s poorest regions, with over 80 percent of the surrounding people living in dire poverty, and only 15 percent formally employed. Meet Andrew Zaloumis, a lifelong conservationist and anti-apartheid activist, who f...

Bulungula Incubator: The best way to transform a rural community is through the community itself. Tackling rural poverty effectively, is a challenge as Education and Healthcare remain the keys to meaningful transformation. Through the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI), our Fellows have been able to create and provide impactful projects that are making a difference in South Africa. Our Fellows a...

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan chats to political analyst and Class II: Kilimanjaro Fellow Justice Malala at the annual Cape Town Open Book Festival. ...

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...

It is with great pleasure – that  we announce the opening of the nominations process for the 11th class of the Africa Leadership Initiative, to be launched in May, 2017. Please download the nomination form, and use it to nominate your preferred candidates. As you already know, the quality of the ALI fellowship is dependent on the calibre of Fellows we bring on board, it is therefore important ...

TEACH South Africa: How a challenge of quality education gave birth to a solution that would impact young South African scholars in disadvantaged areas. Read more about TEACH South Africa ⟶    ...

South Africa’s cabinet has reappointed Dudu Myeni as the chairwoman of the loss-making national airline, it said on Friday. The cabinet said Myeni, an ally of President Jacob Zuma, was appointed alongside 11 other board members to the board of South African Airways (SAA). The new team will meet the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan who would provide direction from a shareholder perspective,...

About ALI Fellow Trevor Ncube: Trevor Ncube is Chairman of Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) based in Zimbabwe, a company he co-founded 19 years ago. AMH owns four newspaper titles in Zimbabwe namely NewsDay (daily), Southern Eye (regional daily), The Zimbabwe Independent (business weekly) and The Standard (Sunday). Ncube is also controlling shareholder and Executive Deputy Chairman of the Mail & Gu...

Our Former Deputy President Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka shared her views on challenges facing women and children in Africa. On Monday, the 22nd August 2016 we had our second ALI Leadership Initiative Dialogue in the heart of Sandton at Barloworld. For this series, we hosted none other than the former South African Deputy President and current United Nations Under-Secretary-General, who is...

ALI Class VI Tshelela Fellow Makhosi Khoza and parliament’s ad hoc committee on the Public Protector met on Wednesday to choose its preferred candidate for the public protector position, before submitting its recommendation to the National Assembly. See Makhosi Khoza’s biography ...

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is taking on Justice Malala, the political commentator and Financial Mail columnist, on Wednesday August 24 in the Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s second Rumble in the Urban Jungle event this year. Ray Hartley live-blogged the action here: http://bit.ly/2bC2ROF ...

Adrian Enthoven delivered a speech at the annual Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert Lecture at the University of Stellenbosch on 4 August 2016. In his words “The speech is an attempt to make a case for a much more vocal and active political “centre” in our society and what the focus of this centre might look like…” You can read the full speech here or alternatively you can watch it ...

On the 27th July 2016, ALI launched the ALI Leadership Initiative Dialogue by hosting former President of the Republic South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe. This first event of the series was moderated by Ralph Freese from Class 1, and boasted 25 fellows in attendance at the Villa Acadia in Parktown. The theme for the evening was‘The Challenge of Leadership’ and what we need to do to face it ...

Anne Welsh McNulty and the Aspen Institute have announced the 2016 John P. McNulty Prize Laureates. We are proud and honoured to have one of ALISA’s fellow of Class VI, Andrew Zaloumis. Andrew Zaloumis is the CEO of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park; deemed and selected as a worthy candidate for the Prize. Twelve ALI SA fellows where present in the gallery when Andrew’s name was announced; Adr...

Ferial Haffajee examines South Africa’s history and present in light of the provocative question, ‘What if there were no whites in South Africa?’, as she traverses the rocky terrain of race in our country and grapples with what it means to be here The #RhodesMustFall movement used the colonial-era statue of Cecil John Rhodes to focus on the incomplete journey of transformation at the...

Between some great local non-fiction escapist offerings due on the shelves this holiday season, South Africans hoping to catch up on political non-fiction are in for a dose of bleak and brutal reality for ’tis the season of deep discontent. A new addition to the growing pile of dystopian recent writings is columnist and political analyst, Justice Malala’s book, an angry, uncompromising...

iSimangaliso Wetland Park CEO & ALI Fellow Andrew Zaloumis named WWF SA Living Planet 2015 Award Winner In a powerful recognition of his role in conservation and sustainable development, Andrew Zaloumis has been awarded the WWF SA Living Planet 2015 Award.   Andrew Zaloumis received the WWF SA Living Planet 2015 Award from WWF SA. Chairperson, Valli Moosa (left) and Chief Executive Offic...

Harambee Youth Project was announced as one of the finalists when Anne Welsh McNulty and the Aspen Institute announced the eighth annual John P. McNulty Prize laureates, a group of extraordinary leaders who bring the spirit of innovation that characterized their success in the private sector to address some of the most intractable problems facing our world today. The 2015 Laureates are making a si...

A powerful and thought provoking keynote by Crown Fellow Anand Giridharadas at the 2015 Aspen Action Forum Click here to read article ...

Mr. Leslie Maasdorp who is one of ALI Fellows was appointed as Vice President of the (BRICS) New Development Bank. The Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) New Development Bank (NDB) will be led by KV Kamath, who was appointed as its president, in Moscow, Russia on Wednesday. Prior to the appointment, Kamath served as chairperson of the second-largest Indian information technology...

Isaac Shongwe was the guest speaker at the FVZS Annual Lecture on the 22nd of April 2015, hosted by Stellenbosch University’s Frederik van Zyl Slabbert Institute for Student Leadership Development. The goal is to stimulate critical and challenging conversations about our country and continent. This is in line with the example set throughout his life by the late Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabb...

Looking at SA today, one is forced to think about the events in Jerusalem many thousands of weeks ago, writes Rev Alan Storey What a week! What a tragically sad and terrifyingly disturbing week! A crucifying week! A crucifying week, where justice, truth, integrity and trust stand pierced – if they stand at all. Virtues that some people gave up their lives to protect are given up to protect some...

We are so proud to witness a real manifestation of our slogan, as one of our own makes a steady ascent from success to significance. Kuben Naidoo, who was the National Planning Committee’s Acting Head of Secretariat whilst part of the Class 8 ALI Fellowship (Mahube); has been promoted from the role of advisor to the Reserve Bank Governor, to Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank. Kuben assumes his...

The $100,000 Prize goes to Réjane Woodroffe and Bulungula Incubator. Learn more at mcnultyprize.org/#laureates ...

Bob Steel recognizes the 2014 McNulty Prize Winner, Réjane Woodroffe. Woodroffe’s leadership project is called Bulungula Incubator. The John P. McNulty Prize seeks to inspire individuals from around the world to make a real difference in their communities by recognizing the very best in high-impact leadership. http://mcnultyprize.org/#home Source: The Aspen Institute ...

The 2015 International Press Freedom Award was presented to Africa Leadership Initiative SA Fellow and journalist Ferial Haffajee by the Committee to Protect Journalists.Ferial Haffajee is the editor-in-chief of the local privately owned weekly City Press in South Africa. She was also the editor-in-chief of the weekly investigative paper the Mail & Guardian. Under her leadership, bo...