TUT confers honorary doctorate on renowned business leader Mpho Makwana

The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) has conferred an honorary doctorate on corporate leader and governance expert extraordinaire, Mpho Makwana, for his exceptional contribution to the public and private sectors in South Africa.

Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Tinyiko Maluleke and Dr Mpho Makwana TUT’s Tshwane School for Business and Society (TSB) awarded the Doctor of Business Administration to Makwana on 8 May as part of the Faculty of Management Sciences graduation ceremony held at the Pretoria Campus.

Makwana – who is the current Chairman of the JSE-listed Delta Property Fund – has held leadership roles across multiple sectors, including energy, banking, manufacturing, mining, and forestry. His current Board responsibilities include Invicta Holdings Limited and Platinum Gold Metals Limited.

His previous chairmanships include Nedbank Group (2021-2023) and the Eskom Board (2022-2023). He is a former Trustee of Brand South Africa International Marketing Council (2003-2007) and Brand South Africa (2016-2019). He was one of the five Co-chairs of the World Economic Forum Africa in 2011.

Between 2011 and 2022, he served on the Boards of ArcelorMittal South Africa, the South African Forestry Company Limited, Illovo Sugar South Africa, Adcock Ingram, Limpopo Economic Development Agency and BioTherm Energy (BTE Renewables). In these roles, Makwana has guided listed companies and state-owned enterprises through complex governance and transformation challenges.

Business guru Mpho Makwana was awarded the Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa). In his acceptance speech, Makwana highlighted the importance of contributing to society’s greater good.

“My life journey taught me that life is a perpetual struggle between extractors and contributors. We are at our best if we seek to leave the world better than we found it, especially if, as leaders, we seek the moral high ground to contribute rather than to extract from the public resources of the universe,” added Makwana.

Having started as the first Director of Equal Opportunities at the Department of Labour after 1994, Makwana has since held, amongst others, the roles of Chief Executive at Saatchi & Saatchi South Africa, Chief Executive of the Marketing Federation of South Africa, Polokwane Region Director for Standard Bank, and Group Executive for Corporate Affairs at Edcon.

Makwana holds a Bachelor of Administration from the University of Zululand, a Bachelor of Administration (Honours) from the University of Pretoria, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Retailing Management from the University of Stirling, Scotland.

A corporate leader and governance expert of the highest calibre, Makwana has led with excellence, integrity, foresight and an unwavering commitment to advancing South Africa’s developmental agenda.

Registrar Michael Mushaathoni and Dr Mpho Makwana.

Registrar Michael Mushaathoni, Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Tinyiko Maluleke, Dr Mpho Makwana and TSB Director Prof Hlengani Mathebula.

Prof Tinyiko Maluleke delivers the welcome and congratulatory message.