Barloworld’s flagship programme, Mbewu was launched in 2019, and is aimed at supporting social enterprises and start-ups that work innovatively to solve challenges in society, through their entrepreneurial activities. It was established on the realisation of the enthusiasm that South African citizens portray in developing innovative solutions to achieve sustainability. The programme seeks to drive economic sustainability, transformation and growth through development, funding and facilitating access to markets for small and medium sized enterprises. The programme represents a solid intervention, using the transformative power of social enterprises to be a catalyst of positive social change.

Dr Yondela Ndema is a highly experienced C-Suite Leadership Executive. With an illustrious career spanning twenty years, her inexhaustible industry expertise with leading local and international Public and Private Sector Organisations has set her apart as an intellectual maverick. She currently fills an Executive role for Group Ethics & Compliance on behalf of Barloworld South Africa. Prior to this Dr Ndema filled the seat of Vice President: Group Compliance & Ethics for Sasol South Africa.

Dr Ndema is a Global Subject Matter Expert in Compliance & Ethical Business, who frequently is requested to appear as a Presenter and Panel Member on all matters, ethics and compliance related. She boasts an enviable portfolio of continued professional development, Industry Body and Board representation and is incredibly well-versed in the comprehensive aspects of Legislation, Governance, Risk Management, and Global Compliance & Ethics Best Practice. Dr Ndema’s all-pervading experience in Compliance includes but is certainly not limited to working as a Tax Legal Advisor for SARS, a Legal and Compliance Officer for Investec Asset Management and Absa Asset Management. These roles expertly executed by Dr Ndema dubs her the authority in preserving corporate integrity, a role she seamlessly fulfils by steering operations on a strictly lawful and ethical course. Dr Ndema’s intellectual prowess is dynamic and profoundly diverse.

An awe-inspiring conversation with Dr Ndema, provides a glimpse into her guiding principles, which have seen her career advance from strength to strength, Dr Yondela Ndema, Executive Group Compliance & Ethics Officer all based on the premise of working hard and going the extra mile to ensure that she was never called mediocre and never “using” others for advancement opportunities but utilising sheer hard work. Her personal convictions have seen her affirming herself by saying, “I am all that I have”, resulting in her pushing her limits to excel in everything she does. With determination as her cornerstone, Dr Ndema matriculated at the age of 15, obtained her first degree at age 19, her honours at age 20 and her Masters degree at the age of 21. If ever there was a symbol of unyielding resolve and prodigious intelligence, Dr Ndema is certainly it.

Dr Ndema’s career began at the South African Revenue Service (SARS), where she worked as a Tax Legal Advisor. The defining moment in her career however (a path which ultimately led her to the Barloworld Group) came with her employment at the JD Group, where she worked as a Group Compliance and Legal Executive. The JD Group gave Dr Ndema the flexibility to set up her own Group Legal and Compliance framework, which led to her being selected for a prestigious international leadership development programme at Penn State University in the United States of America. Dr Ndema admits feeling a great swell of pride within herself at this point in her career, as her diligence and hard work were finally being recognised and acknowledged by the industry. Enviable as Dr Ndema’s career has been, she emphatically insists that everyone at any station of life will inevitably experience adversities but these should never make one give up or doubt themselves, but rather use these experiences as tools to increase knowledge and develop their careers, basically, it’s how the difficulties are assimilated that defines the direction of the trajectory.

The importance of a devoted and capable mentor can never be over emphasised. CEO of Exclusive Books, Grattan Kirk, took on this role for Dr Ndema. Grattan’s dedication to his mentee is illustrated by the suspension of all his engagements of the day to surprise her at her graduation ceremony. Dr Ndema’s greatest shortcoming was undoubtedly her inability to be firm and desist from allowing others to instil their will over hers. It was at the realisation of this pitfall in her persona that that the imperativeness of a firm and honest mentor became unequivocally clear to her. That this eye-opening revelation came courtesy of Grattan clearly illustrated the significance of mentorship. Following Prof Evance Kalula’s (who was her mentor and supervisor for her PhD at UCT) priceless advice, Dr Ndema attended a number of leadership programmes focused on developing assertiveness and effective management skills.

Women especially, face many hard moments in their careers and are at times used as tokens, if they do not stand up for themselves. Dr Ndema found this to be true when faced with one such tribulation, which became career defining for her. Her mentor, Grattan, opened her eyes when he lay bare her biggest weakness which, without a doubt, was going to be her career downfall, if she did not change it, that was her inability to be firm on people because she was too sweet! Dr Ndema pauses to emphasize the importance of mentorship by saying that every woman needs a mentor and coach, if reaching the top is on her list of career goals. It is evident that Dr Ndema took her mentor’s advice and adhered to his coaching techniques. Over time, she developed the skills required to infuse her “being too nice” with assertiveness and admits that this was a real game changer for her.

In her spare time, Dr Ndema indulges in a steaming cup of coffee and digs into the latest novel on her coffee table, most of them inspirational self-help books on personal and career growth. Dr Ndema is clear, that it is crucial for one to reward themselves after hard work, making coffee, her preferred “guilt-free” pleasure. Dr Ndema’s passion is found in assisting other women to succeed and her desire lies in preserving woman’s rights, especially in workplace. Following a certain discriminating incident in the workplace, and realising just how little help women receive, she took it upon herself to become a ‘warrior for women’, obtaining a PHD in Sexual Harassment through the University of Cape Town (UCT) in a record three and a half years. Her advocacy sees Dr Ndema volunteering at AESHI, a Tanzanian Human Rights Group where she aids in human rights issues regarding sexual harassment. A core memory for Dr Ndema was meeting Catherine Mackinnon, a leading U.S feminist whom she referenced in her thesis.

In showing an appreciation for all women to succeed, Dr Ndema shares a few valuable tips:

• Develop a routine of conducting a holistic personal growth analysis on your life.
• It is important to have a sponsor and mentor to guide the way to success.
• Women need to learn to include and support one another
• Prioritise self-care and be confident of who you are, in the space you find yourself in
• Take care of your mental health by attending therapy sessions if necessary
• Refrain from spending unnecessarily and learn to invest for your future or retirement.

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