Mahanyele-Dabengwa urges women to lead boldly
Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa was 15 when she first wanted to become a ballet dancer. The dream took shape in a Johannesburg classroom, where movement and discipline felt like a future she could claim. Her father, an economist, had different ideas. He guided her toward business with firm conviction, and she adjusted despite initial reluctance.
Today, she serves as a group executive director of Naspers and Prosus, two of the largest technology investors globally. The journey from that classroom to the boardroom doesn’t preoccupy her. Instead, she focuses on the opportunities—those she accessed, those she had to create, and those still out of reach for others.
From Soweto to New Jersey: The first opportunity
Leaving South Africa at 17 wasn’t a choice born of excitement. It was necessity. A quiet black girl from Soweto, alone in New Jersey, handling a culture she didn’t understand. Rutgers University awarded her an economics degree, but the real lesson was learning to operate outside her comfort zone. Every debate in class, where she defended ideas she wasn’t sure of, strengthened the same skill: showing up when retreat felt easier.
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That skill faced its hardest test later. She lost her mother as a child. Years afterward, her father passed away, and she suffered a stroke during the same period. Life doesn’t pause for grief. Resilience isn’t summoned in emergencies—it’s built through daily practice until it becomes automatic. Leadership, too, isn’t defined by titles or experience. It’s revealed in who you are when everything else falls away.
The burden of being first
Mahanyele-Dabengwa has often been the first black woman in her roles. The experience carries a unique weight. You notice it in every room, and the room notices it too. Yet strong work speaks a language everyone understands. Consistency and integrity in performance make identity less important than results.
A first only matters if it paves the way for others. That’s why artificial intelligence concerns her. If AI serves only those already in the formal economy—those with resources, connections, and infrastructure—it simply repackages existing inequality. She refuses to accept that outcome.
For too long, the knowledge needed to run a business effectively—understanding demand, setting prices, predicting trends—has been monopolized by large corporations. Small businesses and township entrepreneurs have relied on instinct, not because they lack ability, but because the tools weren’t designed for them. Naspers and Prosus aim to change that.
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Over 30,000 small and medium enterprises sell through Takealot.com and Mr D. More than 17,000 delivery partners earn income on these platforms, while 12,000 township personal shoppers now participate in the digital economy. The companies have allocated R1.5 billion over three years to integrate AI across their South African operations. Success won’t be measured by how much they discuss AI, but by who benefits from it.
The distinction between AI as a tool for displacement versus democratization will shape South Africa’s future. By 2050, Africa will account for one in four people on the planet. Whether that becomes an advantage or a challenge depends on early education—literacy and numeracy from childhood. The South Africa Education Accelerator, which she co-chairs, pushes both business and government to deliver measurable outcomes.
The problem extends beyond systems. Many women in leadership confuse mentorship with sponsorship. Mentorship offers advice. Sponsorship means using your influence to advocate for someone when they’re not present. Only 31% of women at entry level have a sponsor, compared to 45% of men—and the disparity grows at higher levels. The solution isn’t more advice. It’s actively recommending people for key roles in influential settings.
Claiming ambition, keeping opportunities open
Her advice to South African women is direct: claim your ambition. Don’t diminish yourself to fit expectations, and don’t wait for permission to enter spaces where you belong. For those already in positions of influence: remember your origins and extend a hand to others. Every opportunity you create contributes to building the nation.
She doesn’t measure success by corporate achievements. Her focus is on whether a girl in a classroom, dreaming of a life as different as hers once was, looks at what’s possible and sees herself included. That sense of possibility is the legacy that drives her.
Women’s Month lasts 31 days. The effort to create change continues every day.
