NOLITHA FAKUDE
Chairperson of Anglo American’s Management Board in South Africa, and president of Minerals Council South Africa
A trailblazer and transformation champion, Nolitha Fakude is the chairperson of Anglo American’s Management Board in South Africa, as well as the group director responsible for South Africa on the Anglo American plc’s Group Management Committee (GMC). In May this year, Nolitha was elected president of the Minerals Council South Africa (MINCOSA) – the first woman president in the organisation’s 131-year history.
She previously served as a non-executive director of the Board of Anglo American plc from 2017 to 2019, and has held senior executive positions in the retail, financial services, mining, oil and gas industries. Until 2016, Nolitha served as an executive director at Sasol Limited, and executive vice-president of strategy and sustainability.
From 2003 to 2006, Nolitha was the president of the Black Management Forum (BMF), and its managing director between 2000 and 2003. She now serves as a member of the Council of Elders, and is a respected authority on transformation and empowerment in South Africa.
In addition to her role at MINCOSA, she is a non-executive director of the JSE Limited, Discovery Bank Holdings, and International Women’s Forum South Africa (IWFSA). She is a patron of Guild Cottage – a home for sexually abused girls.
Her previous board roles include serving as deputy chair and lead independent director of Datacentrix Holdings Limited, chairperson of Sasol Mining, and as a non-executive director of Harmony Gold Mines and Woolworths Holdings, among others.
Her accolades include the 2004 Most Influential Businesswoman by Financial Mail, Impala Platinum Young Entrepreneur Award, and an honour from the Golden Key National Honour Society of the University of Johannesburg.
Nolitha is an author of a book titled Boardroom Dancing – Transformation stories from a Corporate Activist, published in 2019.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Psychology from the University of Fort Hare, and completed the Senior Executive Programme at Harvard Business School in the United States.