Busisiwe Mavuso (born 1977 or 1978) is a South African businesswoman and the chief executive officer of

Business Leadership South Africa Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) is an independent association that represents the interests of major corporations in South Africa. Members include large South African companies and multinational corporations with a significant presenc ...

. Before her appointment to that position in July 2019, she was the chief executive officer of the Black Management Forum between 2016 and 2017.

Early life and education

Mavuso was born in 1977 or 1978 in

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

, where she grew up in the White City neighbourhood of Jabavu. She and her three siblings were raised by their mother, a widowed teacher who died in 2012. In 1994, at the age of 16, Mavuso matriculated at Lofentse Girls School in Orlando East. Although her family circumstances meant that she was forced to enter the workforce immediately after matriculation, she also enrolled part-time in the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

, intending to become a chartered accountant. She completed her Bachelor's degree in accounting several years later and then completed a Master's in business leadership at the same university. In 2018, she qualified as a member of the

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Founded in 1904, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (ACCA). It has 240,952 members and 541,930 future members worldwid ...

Early corporate career

Mavuso entered

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

in 1995; her first job was an internship at Allied Bank. She went on to work in various consulting, telecommunications, and healthcare companies. In 2009, she became the chief financial officer of the Black Management Forum; she ultimately spent eight years at the Forum, rising to become managing director. Upon her appointment as managing director in 2016, she professed herself in favour of strict and punitive enforcement of transformation targets in South African companies.

Business Leadership South Africa

In November 2017, she was appointed as the chief operating officer of

(BLSA), working under her mentor, Bonang Mohale, who had recently been appointed as BLSA CEO. She succeeded Mohale as CEO on 1 July 2019. Simultaneously, between 2018 and 2022, Mavuso was a member of the board of Eskom; she was appointed to her seat in January 2018, when the board was chaired by

Jabu Mabuza Jabu Mabuza (4 February 1958 – 16 June 2021) was a South African businessman and investor. He was chairman of the Eskom board.

. In April 2022, she made national headlines for walking out of a meeting between the board and

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Standing Committee on Public Accounts The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA; Afrikaans: ''Staande Komitee oor Openbare Rekeninge'') is a standing committee of the National Assembly of South Africa, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa. It oversees the financial ...

. When Mavuso told the Committee that the board and

André de Ruyter André Marinus de Ruyter (born 1951) is a South African businessman and power executive. He has previously worked at Sasol and Nampak. In December 2019, he was appointed CEO of Eskom, South Africa's publicly owned electricity company. On 14 Decembe ...

would not accept being made "the fall guy for this

ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election installe ...

-led government" and its "mess" (the ongoing energy crisis), Committee chairperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa told Mavuso to "Either behave yourself or excuse yourself from this meeting" and she promptly excused herself. The Ministry of Public Enterprises called Mavuso's conduct "unbecoming", but Mavuso maintained that she had no obligation to "behave and be pliable to Parliament". She resigned from the Eskom board in September 2022. Mavuso also served on the board of Business Unity South Africa. Her weekly newsletter, serialised in several newspapers, has a wide readership in South Africa.

Personal life

As of 2016, Mavuso had two young children. She lives in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

References

External links

Busisiwe Mavuso
at Business Leadership South Africa
2020 interview
with Womanity {{DEFAULTSORT:Mavuso, Busi Living people 1970s births People from Soweto University of South Africa alumni South African women accountants 21st-century South African businesswomen 21st-century South African businesspeople