speaker: good morning to youall, especially to the fellows. this is your conference. thank you very much for making itthis morning, and today we're pleased to welcome phuti mahanyele, a veryspecial and smart guest, from our host country, the republic of southafrica, the country of nelson mandela. phuti mahanyele is an executivechairperson of sigma capital, an investment company. she's a former ceo ofshanduka group of companies. in this capacity, she stayed foralmost ten years, helping build the
company's net value assets toabout a whopping 8 billion rands. she has held several positions inthe private sector, among them the development bank of southafrica and fieldstone. she has been honored with severalaccolades, both from south africa and beyond, meaning thatshe's a very smart lady. and today mahanyele will be sharingwith us her expert opinion and experiences regarding the role ofyoung african leaders in driving the sustainable development agenda,a very pertinent issue today. the importance of your talk allgoes well with the theme of the
conference, and of course, we seekto draw lessons and inspirations from your own experiences. with that, i ask you to give yourfull attention to phuti mahanyele and help me in welcomingher to the stage. phuti mahanyele. [applause] phuti mahanyele: good morning, everyone. wow. it's amazing to come here. this is a wonderful occasion. it's also my first time to behere, and it really is wonderful.
i'd like to give a special thank-youto irex for all of the work that you and your team have done in makingsure that this event is possible. i'd also like to thank usaid and all ofthe convenience of this wonderful event. but of course, mostly, i'd liketo congratulate all of the amazing mandela washingtonfellows who are here today. congratulations to all of thosewho have been appointed this year and all of those from previous years. it's really wonderful to be hereand to share this day with you. so for those of you who are basedhere in south africa, i'm sure you
have all been focused on onething, which has been this credit -- potential credit downgradethat we've been looking at. and for me, it's really been such adisappointment to see just how we can become so easily focused onnegativity and not be looking at what we can potentially be doing ourselvesbecause when you look at issues like this that affect a sovereign, whetherit is in south africa or any other country, the issue comes back to,what are you as an individual doing? how are you as an individualcontributing to whatever it is that is happening in your organization,in your country, in order to create
a different environment? and it's so easy sometimes to pointfingers at those people in positions of leadership when we don'tlook at what we are doing. you know, one of the things that ihave loved in the organizations that i have worked for, and even in theorganization that i am in now, is to look at the roles of everybody inthe organization, from the person that you see when you drive in the gate tothe person that you say hello to when you walk past in receptionas you go to your office. you know, it's the roles of everybodybecause the minute one person is not
fulfilling their obligation, you willstart to see things coming to fall down. and so the role thateverybody plays is important. we cannot keep pointing a finger. we need to be able to startlooking at ourselves first. and so when i look at you and i seethe tremendous work that you have done -- because certainly none ofus would be here if it wasn't for all the work that we have already done. but the issue is, what arewe all still going to do? and it's regardless of ourage. it's regardless of our sex.
it's regardless of any physicalissue that we may face as individuals. the issue is, what are we going to do? because i believe that each andevery one of us is here for a purpose. and so the issue is for us to bewilling to fulfill that purpose because if it was not forthat, we would not be breathing. we would not be able to be here. and so what is it that you as anindividual are going to actually contribute in this world? it's not just about in the country thatyou live in, but it is in the world.
and you know, it's funny how life works. when i was 17, my mother died.and so we were left with my father. and the scary thing about it wasthat, in our lives, my father had always been traveling,always away on business. and we had always spent a lotof time with my mother at home. and my parents had this agreementbetween them that my mother would be home to look after us, and my fatherwould be out there trying to create business and all of that. so when my mother died, it felt likethe world had come to an end because
this was the person who would tellyou to make sure that your homework was done and everything. you know you're supposed to do it,but you need somebody to tell you. and so we -- i remember it wasa very difficult time for us. but what i didn't realize is that,in as difficult as that period was, i was about to experience somethingthat was so great in my life because, unbeknown to me, my parents -- andin as difficult as that period was, because i'm sure, for those of us whohave had the privilege of growing up with both a mother and a father,you know the importance of those
people in your lives. and my mother, given the verypresence of her role, was a critical person in our lives. but what i didn't realize was that,in spite of the tremendous difficulty and sadness of her loss, that i wasabout to experience something that was just so amazing. what i hadn't realized was that myparents had, for years, been planning for both my sister and i to go andstudy overseas after high school and that they had gone aheadand applied to universities.
so when i finished matric,i went to my father. and i had no ideawhat i wanted to study. and i told him i didn't know what iwas going to study and i had no idea what i should do. in fact, i had anidea, but i was scared to tell him, because my idea wasto become a ballerina. i was actually a very good dancer. and so when my father asked me, "whatare you planning to do," i said to on him, "well, what i was thinking was that icould apply to some dancing schools." and he said, "oh, dancing schools? why?"
and i said, "well, i wasthinking of becoming a ballerina." and he said, "okay, verygood, my girl. take a seat." and my father had this strange thingwhere he always spoke to us in english. and we could never understand,because we were living soweto. i mean, it was quite strange. you would be outside with yourfriends, talking, and we'd be speaking in all languages becausein sowetu you speak sotho, xhosa, everything, you know. sowetu is one of thetownships here in south africa.
and then we'd go home and we'd speakenglish only except when my family came from the rural areas. then my father would changeand speak 100 percent sepedi, which is like one of our languages here. and when you grow up in sowetu,you don't speak any language purely. you mix languagesbecause of all of us here. but anyway, so he said,"very good. sit down." and he said, "so here's the plan. when you finish matric, you'regoing to go to rutgers university,
which is the stateuniversity of new jersey. you're going to do abachelor's degree in economics. and when you're finished,you're going to do an mba. when you're finished, this is thelist of organizations that i think you should work for." so he basically had my wholecareer worked out for me. and apart from being aballerina, i had no other ideas. and i often say, when i speak topeople, that i always marvel at the many people who have a very clearidea of what they would like to
accomplish very early in life. i was one of those peoplewho was a lot slower. i really didn't know. if it wasn't -- and the reason ithought i would become a ballerina was because it was the onething that i loved at the time. so i then went and did thatundergraduate degree, and it was a wonderful experience. but one of the things that was animportant lesson to me was to look at the life trajectory of my father andto look at the life trajectory of a
family that i metwhen i went to the u.s. now, when i went to the u.s., myfather had spoken to someone called dr. penelope lattimer, whowas an educator in new jersey. and he had asked her for her opinionon universities to go through and all of that, and so she hadsuggested rutgers, amongst others. so when i went to the u.s., she thentook the time out of her own interest to come and meet me. she came and she met me, andwe had a wonderful relationship. and the important lesson for me thati learned throughout all those years
was looking at her mother, who wasalso dr. lattimer, and looking at the trajectory of her life, and lookingat my father and my mother -- but i will use my father in this example --and looking at the trajectory of his life. dr. lattimer, dr. mary agneslattimer, had grown up with very little education, had high schooleducation and had gotten married, had children, and was working as aswitchboard operator when she decided that she wanted to achieve more. she had young children. she was working as aswitchboard operator.
she went and she applied forscholarships and started studying. she did her bachelor's degree,her master's degree, her ph.d., and became an educator. and then i saw how -- all thedifferent changes that she was able to make, not only in her life, but inthe lives of many other young people that she came across. and then i look at the life of myfather, who had been working and, at the time, i think was actuallyworking for the u.s. embassy. and he had gone, and he had thisdream of being able to achieve more.
and he would tell his friends, andhis friends would say, "no, man. if you stay in this job, you'regoing to become a supervisor. do you know how much supervisors earn?" and that was like a bigdream amongst his friends. but he wanted more. and so he went and he applied fora bursary, and he received a bursary scheme, and he was able to goand do his undergraduate degree. he did his master's degreeand also did his ph.d. and, having completed all thateducation and worked over the years
and developed relationships, wasable to come across a fantastic transaction that he did, acquired anasset, and was able to create a lot of value for himself and manyother people through that value. but the reason i tell you these twostories is because of what change one can achieve from so very little. you know, i looked at myself andi thought, if these two people, as adults, could achieve so much,how much more could i achieve? how much more? and so this is what i say toall of us here in this room,
that there is so much morethat we can still achieve. we must never, ever think thatwhere we are is -- that we've already arrived, because there isstill so much for us to achieve. so inasmuch as we must always havethe gratitude and be thankful for all that we're able to achieve, the issueis, how much more can we still do? and you know, one of the phrases thati've come across a number of times -- and i don't speak latin, and i neverstudied latin, so please excuse me, all of you who have studied latin. but it goes ad astra per aspera, and itmeans "through hardships to the stars."
and so, you know, we must never,ever think that because of the difficulties that we face,that it is much harder. and we must just be ableto reach out for more. you know -- and even when you're notin a place of difficulty, even when you're in a place of comfort. i remember when i was workingin cape town, working for a large organization, and i was a youngperson, having been appointed into a management role, and i was 23 years old. and for all intents and purposes, tothose people around me, i was doing well.
but you know, you know inside ofyou if this is really the thing that makes you wake up andwant to dance and sing. and i didn't have that feeling. you know, yes, i would get the "well done"and all, but it just -- i wasn't excited. i just felt that therewas more that i could do. so i did something that madeno sense to people around me, so i didn't try to explain it. i went and i applied fora job in this u.s. company who weren't looking for anyone.
and they certainly were not lookingfor anyone from africa to come and apply for a job. but i decided -- i picked out thiscompany, and that was fieldstone. i picked them out, and i decidedi was going to apply for a job. and the reason i decided to go therewas because i had decided, having done my mba, that i wanted to gointo an investment banking type of environment, but i wanted toreally understand the infrastructure projects, as well. and so i picked out this company,and i remember i applied to them the
first time, and i received a verypolite "thank you very much for the application, but we are not lookingfor any applicants at this point." so a couple of months later, idecided, well, i'll apply again. i mean, what have i got to lose? so i did, and i got another "thank youvery much once again for your application. but when we do come to africaand decide to look for applicants, we will most certainlybe in touch with you." so i waited a couple of months,and i didn't hear from them. so i thought, well, what havei got to lose? i applied again.
so at this point, i guess theydecided, well, you know, she's probably going to apply again,so let's -- so they then told me, "look, we're not really looking for anyone,but we do have an internship program, and you can come onthat internship program. it's a six-month internship program. after six months, you areto go back to south africa. so you'll come to the u.s.for six months on that program, and then that's it. dowe understand each other?" yes, yes, we understand each other.
so i went to new york and joined thisorganization, and i remember looking around and trying to understand howi was going to go from the office and where i was goingto live and all of this. and i was really having difficultywith the whole underground system. i was getting lost, you know. so i decided, okay, i think it'sbest that i get myself an apartment close to the office. that was until i sawthe prices. [laughing] so i started to look more and moreand more until i found this small
studio apartment. now, it was going to cost me -- ithink it was like 90 percent of what i was earning as an intern. but i thought, youknow what? i'll take it. at least i know, if i take this place,i'll get to work every day on time. so i took it, and it meantthat i could walk to work. i took the apartment,and it was wonderful. and the great thing, also, when youwork in these firms where you do long hours, there's food, there's everything.
so it's all sorted. and there was a mcdonald's alsoclose by, so it all worked out. and so this was a wonderfulexperience for me, and i had an amazing time. and that six months actuallyturned into seven years. [applause] because i was appointed to join theorganization and eventually left. and by the time i left, i wasvice president in the organization. and you know -- but one of thethings that is of importance to me in telling you that example is justsometimes you find yourself in a
place that appears comfortable toeveryone else, and yet you don't feel comfortable in it. listen to that. have the courage to listen to thatbecause, as i said when i started, we all have a purpose. and that purpose is uniquely in you. your mother cannotunderstand it for you. your father cannotunderstand it for you. your aunt, your best friend, theywill not understand it for you.
if anything, in fact, they'll beafraid for you because they don't want to see you disappointed. and sometimes your dream or yourthoughts or this thing that you want to achieve may appear too big,you know, in the eyes of others. but in you, you just know thatthis is what you've got to do. but it takes courage, and you've got to beable to give yourself the space to do that. now, what i did -- which i don'trecommend at all -- i'm just telling you just so you understand thati'm not very normal -- was that, at the time, i was actuallymarried at the time that i left.
i was actually married. and i decided that i was going toleave my husband whom i was married to. and i had gotten married when i was23 years old, guys, so i was young. well, i was young at 23. so this was one ofthe things that i did. but i wouldn't recommend itto anybody else, you know. hopefully, you'll be able to balance yourpersonal and your work lives a lot better. and i tell you these things becauseof something that a friend of mine that i met in the u.s., johno'brien, once said to me, that life is
ten percent what life gives toyou but 90 percent how you respond. and so whatever you do in your life,remember that ultimately it's going to come down to howyou decide to respond. don't ever wait for otherpeople to respond to you. don't wait for a program oranything to be done for you. you make it happen. andreally, that's what it's about. i've had the incredible fortuneof meeting truly amazing people. and you know, i remember that wheni first -- one of these people was mr. cyril ramaphosa, the deputypresident here in south africa.
and i remember that when i first was goingto meet him, i actually got a phone call. and it was through -- there was a jobthat they wanted me to have which i didn't want to have at the time. so i was leaving the dbsa, andi was going to standard bank. i was about to go to standard bank. i think i was due to join them in twoweeks' time when i received this call. and it was from a company that hadbeen speaking to me i think probably for about two years. and it was a company that mr.ramaphosa had started, and they were
interested in having me join them. and i said, "thank youvery much for the job. this sounds exciting, amazing. how about i come and join youin about three years' time? i'm just going to go to standard bankfor a while, but i will call you in about three years, andi'll be coming to join you." and the person i was talking to said,"could you just hold on one second?" and he then gave thephone to mr. ramaphosa. and mr. ramaphosa said, "look,phuti, we're very happy for you,
and congratulations on yourappointment at standard bank. but could i just meet you, justfor tea? i'd like to just meet you. i've heard about you, andi'd like to just meet you." so i thought, wow, to meet mr.ramaphosa -- i had never met him. i had just heard abouthim and all of this. i went to meet with him, and inthat discussion, he never spoke about the job or anything. he just asked me questions about myself. but right there and then, idecided i was going to work for him.
and once again, it was somethingthat made no logical sense. i had already told them that iwasn't going to work for them, and they understood that. and here i was making a decision thati was going to join them in spite of what i had already done and inspite of the fact that i had already accepted another job -- another thingthat i don't recommend, by the way. so i then decided thati was going to join him. so i went and told the recruitmentfirm that had asked me to join standard bank that i was going togo and tell standard bank myself,
because they weren't happy abouthaving to tell their client that the person that was supposed to jointhem in two weeks was now no longer coming, after they hadmade the announcement. so i went, and i told them, and iremember the most difficult part was having to tell my father. now, you remember my father had aprogram for me, and standard bank fitted in very well with that program. so when i went and i told him, "dad,that job at standard bank, i think i'm going to put that on hold for awhile because i'd like to do another --
try something else different." and he asked me, "what is this?" and i told him, "well, i receiveda call from mr. ramaphosa, and he started a new business,and i'd like to join it." and he said, "what's thename of this business?" and i told him. and he said, "hmm, i'venever heard of this business." he said, "is it listed on thejohannesburg stock exchange?" i said, "no, no, it's not listed yet.
it's a brand-new company,but i'd like to join it." and he said, "phuti, you know atstandard bank you get a pension fund. you get medical aid. youget a salary every month." and i said, "yes, dad. i know this." he said, "phuti, if you don't go tostandard bank, don't think that you can come to me and ask me for money,because i'm not going to give it to you. you're on your own ifyou don't take this job." i said, "it's fine.i'm going to take it." and it was another one of thoserisky decisions because, once again,
i couldn't explain to people aroundme why i was making this decision. anyway, i went, and i joined them. and at the time, it didn't makesense, but it turned out to be an amazing decision for me. i worked with incredible, hardworkingpeople, and i loved the journey. i mean, in those first few monthsand first few years, we went through periods where we didn't know howwe were going to pay salaries. i remember when we had to go to oneof the banks to try and raise money, and we had to present something.
we presented something like the moneywas really just for these projects and all of this, but what we werereally worried about was how to pay salaries at the end of the month. so we were fortunate.we were successful. we raised money. we were able to pay salariesand continue with business. but for me, the greatest experiencewas working with amazing people and to be able to build a reallysuccessful organization with them. and so we built this multi-billionrand business in a short space of
time, but what we did also was thatwe had a culture in the organization which was about making surethat everybody could give. whether you made tea, whateveryour job was in the organization, we believed that everybodycould give something. and it wasn't about people beingtold that this is what you must give. you decide. but everybodymust be able to give. so we had a foundation, and theorganization -- as a company, we would put money towards the schools. our focus was on education.
we put money towards the schools,but we also believed that every single person employed should be able togive something, whether it was a rand, whether it was a thousandrand, whether it was 10,000, 100,000, whatever amount it was that you couldgive every month, you could give something. and that's exactly what happened. and you know, when peoplehave to part with something, there's immediately an ownership.there's immediately an interest. they want to know what is actuallyhappening because they know that i'm parting with my ten rand every month,so i want to know what is going on
with this program. and so that's exactly what happened. and we were able to have schools allover the country, and that program still continues. so what we did was that, when thedeputy president went into politics and the company was restructured,we continued with the work of the foundation under the organization thatwe formed with the deputy president. and so our focus continuesto be on education. but for me, i tell you this because,when you start something, it cannot
just be about just the profitabilityand the money that you can make as an individual, but it's got to be aboutthe difference that you can make in the society around you. and we decided to focus on aparticular area, which was education. and so we were able to achieve a lot. throughout south africa, we havethousands of schools that we have adopted, and we have many youngpeople on our programs that we put through universities and all of that. and so these are important.
and so even in my role at sigma, istill continue to be involved in that foundation, as well. and so, with all of this, i share itwith you because it's important that we remember that we areall here for a purpose. and you know, for me what has beena significant motivation has been meeting with people that havedone this so significantly. and i've mentioned the deputy president. i also remember meeting withpresident bill clinton and meeting with president nelson mandela, peoplewho have done so much work and yet
have one thing in commonamongst all of them -- humility. amongst all of them, humility. you know, it was amazing for me, wheni met president nelson mandela the first time, and he spoke to me asif i was more important than he was. you know, he said, "oh,phuti, i know you. i remember." and he started -- and i rememberthinking to myself, this is a man who meets millions of people,and he meets important people. how could he know something about me? and it's something that stayed withme, that you must never, ever, ever
assume that somebody is not importantbecause of where they are today, because you don't know where theyare going to be tomorrow. [applause] and so i think it's really importantthat we never forget this, that we remember to place importanceon the relationships around us, because people have suchan impact to make it life. in closing, i remember that mayaangelou once said that, "i've learned that people will forget what yousaid, people will forget what you did, but people will neverforget how you made them feel." and so, with that, i'd like to thankyou for the work that you are doing
because if it was not for what youhave already done, you wouldn't be sitting here today. i'd like to thank each and every oneof you for that because it is through that work that the lives of othersare being changed today and have been changed in the past. so i know that you will continuewith that, and i hope that you will continue to have the will powerand the faith that it takes to make change possible in the livesof many people around us. after all, i believe that we'reall spiritual beings having a human
experience, so it's important thatwe never allow ourselves to be limited by anything physical that we seearound us but that we are able to push forward towards that which wehave been brought to this earth for. remember, and don't forget ever,that it's not what people call you, but it's what you answer to. so never, ever answer to a name thatis outside of who you really are. so i wish you all the bestin everything that you do. thank you. [applause]. speaker: mine is more of a combination.
i would like to basically say thankyou for actually confirming to me that i'm actually not crazy, youknow, because, as i'm standing here, i actually turned down a permanentand pensionable job for a three-month professional practicum atunited nations women. [applause] so thank you for that.thank you for that. and basically, what you just said wasanother confirmation to me that i'm actually on the right pathand i'm actually not crazy. so thank you. [applause] speaker: thank you very much.
my name is dinel [ph],and i'm from lesotho. as i stood here -- i have tosay this, and you'll forgive me. people that are sitting around meare like, oh, wow, girl. come on. get your cool on. come down. because you recited my story. i come from a country that iscurrently raged by political wars and tension, and i've stood up against agovernment that is known to eliminate people. and as a young woman, people look at meand think, does she have a death wish? like, i remember most of mycolleagues here from lesotho,
calling me, saying, "dinel, stop it. come down now. they'll kill you." so one, you confirmed mybelief in human dignity. two, you spoke about something thati think i want to talk to you about. you said it's not what people call you. it's what names you respond to. so i have a question. my biggest question is i find myselfat a crossroads where it's either i choose to follow something that ifirmly believe in, which is taking a
course that i believe will liberatelesotho, and providing for my family, for my kids. and this whole confusion comes ata time where i feel like, if i miss this opportunity, i'm that generationthat would have defeated its calling. so how -- what do i call on to? because at the end of theday, my kids need to eat. but then again, there will be nolesotho, and it will be pointless for my kids to have a mealif there's no country. so what do i sit and callon to when that moment comes?
because it's happening now.it's happening every day. but once again, thank you very much for restoringmy faith in womanhood in africa. [applause] phuti mahanyele: thank you,dinel, but i can't say thank you for that difficult question. [laughing] first of all, i thinkyou're very fortunate. you're fortunate to have hadthe privilege of being a mother. and i say that because there aremany of us who cannot be mothers. and so when we look at a woman likeyou, who has children, we think, wow, what a blessed woman.
and so i would like to congratulateyou for that. [applause] i think that, given that you havebeen given that gift of life, it's something that you cannot -- youcannot look at -- i think it is such an incredible gift, and there aresuch tremendous ways that you can change life through the livesthat have been given to you. and so i'll tell you, if it was me inyour position -- but this is just me, okay -- i would most definitely-- those children would, without question, be first. but i see your passion and yourpurpose in what you are doing.
the work that you are doing i don'tthink you can achieve on your own. you need others working with you. and so i think what you need to thinkabout is what your role is going to be. because you cannot achieveit all on your own, right? so think about your contributiontowards achieving that great purpose for your country. so i think that's something thatyou must think about, but never, ever underestimate the role that you havebeen given of being a mother, also. thank you. [applause]
speaker: my name is [inaudible],and i'm from zimbabwe. i'm just -- i don't have a question,but i just want to say thank you. i'm one of those ladies in zimbabwethat have followed your path. i've been reading about you, and i'minspired by the decisions that you've made. and i just want to thank you fortaking time to come and talk to me this morning because i'vebeen battling with a decision. but because of the stories thatyou've shared with me this morning, it has sort of confirmed, like ijust needed some confirmation from somewhere about a great decisionthat i have to make in my life.
and the stories that you've shared havesort of been the confirmation for me. so i just rose up to say thank you,phuti, and it's an inspiration to see you face to face. i've already shared it on myfacebook page, that this is my moment. so thank you once again for taking yourtime to come and be with us this morning. phuti mahanyele: thank you. [applause] speaker: i will take some more-- three questions from the gents, we had ladies already. [laughing] speaker: okay. good morning.
i am [inaudible] from batswana, andmy question is, how do you -- you've achieved so much and done so manyamazing things at a young age. how do you articulate what youwant to do as a young person? because we tend to face challengeswhere you are discriminated, you are disrespectedbecause of your age. and in a highly patriarchal societylike batswana, you are socialized to believe that you need to respect yourelders even when they -- you know, they don't -- youknow what i'm saying. so you can't even tell a person, "well,what you said really" -- you know.
so how do you go about navigatingthat path of leadership to step up to something that you believe in, toarticulate yourself in a way that the people around you would understandwhat you are saying or, if they don't understand, at least respectyour opinion on what you said? phuti mahanyele: thankyou for that question. i see that nobody asks anyeasy questions around here. the one thing that i would say to you --and certainly which was important for me -- i think, because having -- i grewup in an environment where, you know, being a woman, being a blackwoman, being young in a career where
you didn't find a lotof women at the time. the one thing that i learnedwas the importance of just -- and i've just lost my thought, my train. but it's just so important --it's just come back, thankfully -- to choose the battlesthat you're going to fight. the easiest thing, especially whenyou're still young, is to fight every single battle. i know i was like that. you want to fight every single battle. but you know thatdoesn't get you anywhere.
and the thing about your career isthat when you get to a point where you have achieved and you're stilltrying to achieve more, the worst thing that can happen is thatsomebody can go back and trace something about you thatcreates negativity around you. so what i would say is foryou to choose the battles. and also choose howyou fight those battles. i'll give you an example. one time, my boss asked me to go andstand in for him to -- he was supposed to speak at a conference in london, and heasked me to go and speak on his behalf.
i went, and on my way back, iwas seated next to this executive whom i had only read about.i didn't know him in person. and he started to talk to me,but he started to ask me out. now, i was a young girl at the time. i was in my twenties. i'm 45 now. i was -- at the time, i was inmy twenties, and he must have been in his fifties. and he was somebody thati respected, you know. and he started talking aboutbuying me a car, and he had made
assumptions about me. he had made assumptions about mywhole lifestyle and everything. and that was okay. ithought, that's okay. it's your picture of me.not my picture; it's okay. he told me what car he wanted tobuy me, what apartment he wanted to buy me, all of this. and i was wearing a wedding ring atthe time, but somehow he didn't see it. i don't know. [chuckling] but, you know, i thought to myself,should i take this man on right now?
and the issue is that it's importanthow you take on certain battles because you also haveto think strategically. you are also -- you're stilltrying to build yourself. are you going to be a teacherof every person that offends you? and so the one thing that i learnedwas, first of all, how i respond to people who offend me. and so i responded to him withoutshouting, without raising my voice, in a very even-toned manner, exactlywhat i thought of the behavior that he was showing towards me.
and it stopped immediately. and you know -- so i learned thisthing because it's important that we choose our battles. so that's one thing that i wouldsay to you, is choose your battles, because you're notthere to teach everybody. some people, let them have theirexperience and have their views. but those people that you believeactually need a lesson, you teach them just a small lesson, butwhilst keeping your tone as a lady. they don't forget that. [applause]
speaker: good morning.thank you so much. i've enjoyed your presentation. two things which stood out for me was,number one, success comes at a price. you can't just have it. youhave to sacrifice something. and the second thing was, when womenare given a chance, they can deliver and give a good proposition, which iswhat i've just got from listening to you. now, the question which i have is,i work in an agricultural business and food security sector. and now we have problems-- i'm from zimbabwe.
we have problems whereby the peoplein power, the senior, the gray-haired people, those are most ofour government officials. what recommendations would you givetowards influencing minds and changes towards young people giving a goodvalue proposition that can actually transform the country? because we're an agri-basedeconomy, and that's the only way our country can change. thank you. phuti mahanyele: yeah, that's anothertough one because it's about an industry that i know very little about.
but what i would say in a situationlike that is that, to the extent -- because i assume that theprivate sector can participate in agri-businesses. and so what i would suggest is thatyou look at agri-businesses that you can be involved in in the privatesector but that firstly you understand the industry that you'rein, but also practically, through doing some work on the variousagricultural projects that you can become involved in. but once you have that, i wouldsay that you look at ownership.
and i don't know how the rights workin zimbabwe, the legislation around ownership of farms. but if you can have ownership of thefarms, because those you can control. but legislation at a governmentlevel in zimbabwe, it's tough. my only experience has really beenin looking at regulations around other industries in zimbabwe. so i actually don't have aproper answer for you there. i'm sorry about that. but what i would suggest is that ifyou can get into the private sector
in agri, then you try tomake a difference there. speaker: [inaudible], phuti. my name is [inaudible].i'm from batswana. i'm a real estatedeveloper by profession. i deal with building shopping centers,light industrial parks, and offices. my question really is on economicfreedom and wealth creation because some of our biggest challenges -- allof us here have great ideas, but the reality of matters is for us to beable to implement some of our ideas, we need financial freedomand economic freedom.
now, i want your view on issues ofland policy, on issues of how do we create wealth, not just to addresscurrent situation, but generational wealth because it's through thoseissues that we must address now that our efforts, whether it's froman ngo point of view, where they need support financially, and havethe ability to drive the [inaudible] and the different social aspects, togovernment, to address public issues and policies, as well as business, whichis the area we're in, to access funding. so i just want -- it's a very broadquestion, but i would like your specific sort of views and, goingforward, what are your views on that?
phuti mahanyele: sure. [applause] so i think the one area where i wouldsay there needs to be a lot of focus on is actually on finance. in property, you're looking at a lotof leveraged financing of those assets. i think it's important because oftenwhat we do is that we understand the industry that we're in, butwe don't understand the enabler of those industries. and finance is an enabler,having access to capital. and it's sad when i see how easy itis for those of us who have been in
finance to be able to raise capitalas opposed to many other people who are very knowledgeable in theindustries that they are in but because they don't really speak alanguage that the banks and other financiers can relate to, they'renot able to raise the capital. so it's important that you canknow how to raise the capital. that's something that's importantbecause when you're looking at property and you're looking atproperty development, you're looking at big capital sums. so from that perspective, i wouldsay that if you can, take some time to
understand how you finance thoseprojects and then be able to raise the capital, because then you havea significant enabler to be able to do your projects. because you can then givelife to those projects. many of us are very knowledgeable inthe various industries that we're in, but it's important how wecan make them commercial. so it's important that we can have someunderstanding of the financial side of it. so my suggestion would be that,that you meet with somebody who is in property, in financial services, andyou speak to them and see how you can
commercialize the opportunities that youhave because -- especially in property because property is long-term. you raise significant debt. you fund it. but the biggest issue for you will beto raise that small amount of equity. you know, it's a small amount, butit's actually not so small in many instances because theprojects are large. it's one thing to raise three rand. it's another thing to raise 300million rand, and the bank is saying,
look, we're going to put in threebillion rand, so could you put in just your 300 million? you know, it can be a bit tough. so if you understand how to look atways in which you can raise equity capital and put in funding towardsyour project -- because once you get the first project on the go, then atleast you can look after the project and make sure that you gear it tomake sure it's got less debt, and then you are able to use thatvalue towards the next project. and then you can grow.
and once you have that capital mass,what i love with property is, because it's long-term, it's projects whichyou can create so much value for for other young people who decideto come into property, as well. so i would really say get close tothe financial side, and give life to what you are doing. [applause] speaker: thank you. one more questionleft, then we will wrap it up. speaker: is it the last one? so much pressure. [laughing] [inaudible], phuti.
my name is [inaudible]from south africa. you've spoken about your role in thedifferent organizations that you've worked in, and it seems like, inall those organizations, you've done something that has made them great. what is it that you carry within youthat you think has been able to make those organizations become sowonderful, and what is it you will be taking to sigma capital to makeit awesome one day, as well? phuti mahanyele: thank you. so no pressure on me, right?
many years ago, i learned from myfather that it is not about what is physically available, butwhat you can make possible. and i had parents who never wentto church, but they made sure that we went to church. and i remember it usedto be so embarrassing. we had to go with one of my friendsand their parents because my parents believed we should go to church,but they never went to church. so i would always have to explain whymy parents were not in church again. and i kept reminding them, "well, theywere here for my baptism." [chuckling]
but the one thing that i learnedthrough my father -- and i mention him because he was there for most ofmy life -- is the fact that there is so much that we can achieve that doesnot appear physically at that moment. and so, through that, i've learnedthe importance of giving reality to that which is still in yourhead, which is not existent today, but that is alive in you. you give life to it. and i don't know if i'm making muchsense, but i learned early on the importance of that.
so from that perspective, i neverallowed anything physical to limit me. i never allowed the fact that, as ayoung girl, i was -- my parents worked very hard to make sure thati was in a private school. so i was in a private school withall these rich kids, but i would go to school in a [inaudible] bus, and iwould leave home at about 5:00 to get to school by 8:00. and then i would leave againearly and arrive late at night. but those were justcircumstances, you know. i learned then that it's not --the fact that i was in a school with
friends who lived ten minutes awayfrom school, it was irrelevant. what was relevant was whati was still going to achieve. so with that, i've always hadthis thing of remaining pregnant, remaining pregnant with the idea that ihave in mind and giving birth to that idea. so it's important that you don't --sometimes we can be so active in the things that we are doing that weforget what is actually inside of us. and you remember what i said, thateach of us, i believe, each of us are here for a particular contribution. it's about your courage to tap intowhat is inside of you that you can
bring out the best tocontribute to the world. so it's importantthat you remember that. so having that has really helped me. because i'm not afraid, wherever i am. and i remember just a few years ago, wheni had a stroke and i lost all my memory. it's all of that, what i've learnedbefore, which helped me to be able to continue and to grow again. because i had to learnhow to read again. i remember, as a youngchild, i loved reading.
and as an adult, i loved reading. i always had books. and when i had astroke, i couldn't read. so i remember the first timei picked up a book, i read. and the next day, when i came backto that book to continue from where i left my bookmark, i couldn'tremember what that book was about, so i had to start again. the third time i went to thebook, i still couldn't remember. i had to start all over again.
and i told myself that i was notgoing to make this into an epidemic. it wasn't going to be a big issue. i was going to trainmyself to read again. so i kept on starting to read thatbook until one day i picked up the book and i could remember. the names that were beingreferred to, i knew who they were, what they had done. my memory was developing. and so i kept on.
and after finishing thatbook, i got on to the next one. so i share this with you to stay thatit's important that we continue on that which is within us and thatwe don't allow those things that are around us to limit us, but thatwe continue on what we're about. so what i would say is focus onwhat it is that you are to achieve, and don't allow anythingto stand in the way. and that's what i've done. in all the different businesses, i'vetold myself, this is what i want to achieve, and i've worked on it.
it hasn't been about whether i have- i remember, with fieldstone, when i went into that internship, allthe people i was in the internship program with were undergraduate. they had just graduatedfrom undergraduate schools. i had my master's degree. and you know, sometimes having a lotof education -- or a lot of anything -- can stand in your way becauseyou think you're too big for it. it's too -- this istoo little for you. but for me, that which appeared toolittle for me was exactly what i wanted.
that which appeared to be the rightplace for me was not quite what i wanted. and thank goodness that i had thecourage to go for that which appeared too little for me because, throughthat, i was able to make my big jumps. so just believe in yourself, and reallygo for what you're supposed to achieve.
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