MEET THE Judges
PHUTHI MAHANYELE-DABENGWA, South Africa CEO, NASPERS
Phuthi, who is joining our esteemed panel of judges for the first time, is looking forward to interacting with the women at the helm of South Africa’s entrepreneurial sector, seeking to make a difference through their work.
Before joining Naspers in July 2019, Phuthi held the position of CEO at the Shanduka Group. She is the former executive chairperson of investment holding company Sigma Capital, and also served as the Head of Project Finance South Africa business unit at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Prior to holding these positions, she was the Vice President at Fieldstone, an international firm specialising in the financing of infrastructure assets. She has been awarded several prestigious accolades, including CNBC Africa’s All Africa Business Leaders Woman of the Year Award in 2019 and the Forbes Woman Africa Business Woman of the Year Award in 2014, and was named among the Top 50 Women to Watch by the Wall Street Journal. Phuthi holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers, University and an MBA from DeMontfort University. She took the Kennedy School of Government Executive Education programme “Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century” at Harvard University.
Through the Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation, where she serves as Deputy Chairperson, Phuthi mentors young professionals and provides support for students. Through the foundation, 1775 black businesses have been incubated into employers in various industries.
Phuthi believes it critical for women to receive the necessary support to run their businesses successfully. According to research by Development Economics In South Africa, women-owned businesses established between 2018 and 2022 generate about R175 billion a year and create around 1 million jobs.
As South Africa CEO of Naspers, Phuthi will reinforce the company’s commitment to the advancement of women in its businesses and through its social-impact programme Naspers Labs and its investment vehicle Naspers Foundry. WHAT Phuthi WILL BE LOOKING FOR: “I am looking for courage.”
A competition such as Women of the Future is incredibly impactful for women still working their way up in both corporate and entrepreneurial businesses.
Just being part of this journey changes your life.
I am passionate about seeing women lead and drive change – and have thus made it my responsibility to try to pave a pathway of opportunities for them.
Women-led businesses in this country have made a remarkable impact in driving change – politically, socially, and economically.
PROFESSOR THULI MADONSELA,
Law Trust Chair in Social Justice at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Law
It has been an honour to have Professor Thuli Madonsela on our panel of judges since the very beginning. Now in her sixth year as a judge, she is excited to meet the next batch of women entrepreneurs. “Some jobs require you to have a degree, but to be an entrepreneur, you need an idea, passion and hard work,” she says. Thuli is best known for her work as South Africa’s public protector, a title she held with the utmost integrity for seven years. She’s received several accolades, including being named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2014. In 2018, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and appointed as Knight of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest decoration. Thuli is also a proud member of the African Academy of Sciences, as well as a fellow of the Scottish WS Society. Her public image was cemented with the award-winning film, Whispering Truth to Power, which documented her final year as public protector. She is the law trust chair of social justice at Stellenbosch University’s law faculty; founder of the Thuma Foundation, a democracy leadership and literacy public benefit organisation, and convenor of the Social Justice M-Plan, an initiative aimed at catalysing progress towards ending poverty and reducing inequality by 2030. She has also co-authored a children’s book called Melo’s Kingdom. Thuli believes that it is often an entrepreneur thinking outside the box who contributes to solving society’s problems. “We can see it with past winners like Sarah Collins,” she says. “She saw that women in rural areas didn’t have access to electricity, and created the Wonderbag, developed to cook food without electricity.”
WHAT THULI WILL BE LOOKING FOR: “I am looking for a woman who is building a world that she’d want to live in. She also needs to be looking to the future and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
ENID LIZAMORE,
Executive head of human resources at Santam
Enid believes female entrepreneurs will play a significant role in the future of South Africa’s economy. She has filled executive HR positions in industries ranging from technology to banking. She also sits on various boards and owns two companies. She believes her career highlights have been characterised by the women she’s surrounded by – those who help other women succeed and encourage them through mentoring and coaching. She has been at the forefront of Santam’s transformational talent-management agenda and has been instrumental in earning the group its Top Employer certification. She holds these words by Eleanor Roosevelt in high regard: “Do the thing you think you cannot do.” It is a message that resonates with her because it challenges the limitations women place on themselves.
WHAT ENID WILL BE LOOKING FOR: “I am looking for courageous women who display tenacity, a hunger to empower others, and a willingness to build a bigger and brighter South Africa.”
DAWN NATHAN JONES,
Entrepreneur; Over the Rainbow CEO
Dawn was born with an entrepreneurial spirit flowing through her veins. At the age of 21, she started working at Imperial Car Rental, now known as Europcar, and spent the following 35 years growing the business. In 2016, after an illustrious corporate career, she stepped down as CEO to immerse herself in experiences that allowed her to give back. Her first opportunity was as a judge on the M-Net reality show, Shark Tank South Africa. She then continued to spend her time engaging, empowering, and growing women entrepreneurs through multiple initiatives.
Dawn has joined forces with Lesley Waterkeyn of Over the Rainbow, a company that provides entrepreneurs with knowledge and support. During Covid, the duo became co-authors of a book called Hope Stories, a collection of inspirational accounts of small businesses that managed to transform and successfully pivot during unprecedented times. In 2021, they launched Smart Woman, an online course developed in collaboration with FAIRLADY that provides strategies and tools for women wanting to start a business or side hustle. Dawn believes that if every small business employed an additional person per year, we would be one step closer to solving our unemployment crisis.
WHAT DAWN WILL BE LOOKING FOR: “I am looking for women entrepreneurs who have experience in supporting, nurturing, and empowering other women to succeed in their own right.”