MCom Degree for BMF President

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With his career spanning across various industries including retail, transport, industrial products, telecommunications, broadcasting, information technology and governance, it is without a doubt that Mr Mncane Mthunzi, President of the Black Management Forum (BMF), is growing his leadership portfolio as he recently graduated with a Master of Commerce in Leadership Studies degree from UKZN.

Through his research titled: The Impact of Leadership Development Initiatives in the Acceleration of Black Talent on JSE-listed Companies, Mthunzi got to hear first-hand the stories of people who have been victims of an untransformed society, an experience he describes as “life altering”.

‘The research was an emotional roller-coaster. There were moments where I would walk away angered by the experiences that some of my participants had to endure in our South Africa. However, my passion for transformation and for a just, equitable and fairer society inspired me to keep typing, rephrasing and improving my dissertation so that the informed knowledge it contains will be my contribution towards changing this status quo,’ said Mthunzi.

The study, which was supervised by Professor Cecil Proches, suggests easy to implement solutions that JSE-listed companies can adopt as part of their transformation initiatives.

‘This study provides solutions about advancing the career of Black professionals to executive levels in JSE-listed companies. The findings are ground breaking, taking into consideration that the Sunday Times recently published an article about the conversion of non-executives to executives in accelerating diversity and inclusion in Boards and Executive Committees. The people that I have shared it with are happy to implement it in their own companies,’ he added.

While Master’s graduate, leader, husband, father, BMF President, Massbuild (Massmart) Commercial Director and Executive Committee member are titles held by Mthunzi, he plans on adding more to his already impressive resume. ‘Of course, I need to upgrade my title from Mr to Dr in the next three years. I’m taking a breather and my journey for that PhD starts next year. I initially wanted to write a book and thought it would be useful if it was grounded on research to make it impactful. This gave me an opportunity to earn a qualification and make me a scholar in the process,’ said Mthunzi.

Words: Thandiwe Jumo 

Photograph: Rogan Ward