Media

Business Day

26 January 2007

One Day you Might Send Your CV to... 
…Lulu Gwagwa

Age: 48

Position: Chief operating officer of Lereko investments, an empowerment investment holding company

Education: Gwagwa has a master’s degree in town and regional planning from the University of Natal, an MSc (cum laude) from the London School of Economics, and a PhD from University College, London.

She is worth watching because: She may keep a low profile but Gwagwa serves on the boards of some of SA’s largest companies: FirstRand, Massmart and Airports Company SA, to name a few. She seems to have a better grasp of empowerment than most and is one tough cookie; she spent three months in detention without trial in the ’80s. Her name will no doubt be popping up in bigger and bigger business stories.

The story as we know it: Gwagwa, who was brought up in Umzimkulu, Eastern Cape, was the first-born of five daughters. With a school principal for a dad, she took her studies seriously but her hopes of being a medical doctor were dashed when her school in Umtata could not provide a maths teacher.

Instead, she went on to study geography and English at the University of Fort Hare in 1976.

“In my final year of geography, a professor at the University of Natal was looking for black students to come and study regional and town planning. I got the scholarship but I didn’t know what it was,” says Gwagwa.

Her studies went well and she met her husband-to-be, a medical doctor. But both of them were anti-apartheid activists and the ’80s were difficult. Her fiancé was forced into exile in 1986 and that is when she was picked up by the police and detained.

Then she was off to the UK to study further.

But by 1995, Gwagwa was back and was appointed deputy director-general of the public works department. She left government in 1998 but feels that she is now stigmatised and referred to as an “former official” every time she does a deal.

Having completed a five-year term as CE of the Independent Development Trust, Gwagwa teamed up with ex-government buddies Valli Moosa and Popo Molefe to join Lereko in 2004.

“Being part of Lereko is not just about making money. Behind that is building an organisation that runs professionally,” she says. “We are a tight-knit team. We really just clicked,” she says with a snap of her fingers.

What is the special thing she possesses that has got her to where she is now?: Gwagwa names three qualities she prizes in herself. First is her need for perfection in all she does, which she admits can also be a negative. Then there is her ability to be aware of what she doesn’t know and to pull in experts to help her where she has weaknesses. And finally there has been her willingness to seek out mentors and to learn from others.

Her ambition: Gwagwa says her burning ambition is to give back to the people of the village in Umzimkulu who helped to raise her. To this end she is helping to raise funds (partly through the My School programme) to build a school that will focus on science, maths and technology.

She is also involved in youth development, skills development and has, along with her sister, hired a community development worker who tackles issues such as roads and water for the village.

Which leaders does she most admire? Gwagwa mentions GT Ferreira, Paul Harris and Laurie Dippenaar of FirstRand, Bill Lynch of Imperial and President Thabo Mbeki.

Who does she hang out with? Valli Moosa, Popo Molefe and Judge Pius Langa are among her friends.

We can see her as: SA’s very own Oprah Winfrey (minus the talk show). Renée Bonorchi

‹ back to media articles