Smart Money – BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso on how the private sector can solve South Africa’s political challenges

In this Smart Money with Alishia Seckam interview, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busisiwe Mavuso details South Africa’s current business landscape and how political challenges are a constant hurdle for the private sector.

Mavuso is a Chartered Accountant with a postgraduate qualification in Business Management from GIBS and a Master’s Degree in Business Leadership from UNISA’s School of Business Leadership.

She began her career in 1995 as a Clerk at Absa before joining First National Bank and later moving to Nedbank.

Beyond the banking industry, Mavuso has gained significant experience across the training, consulting, telecoms, and healthcare industries.

In 2009, Mavuso joined the Black Management Forum as CFO and Operations Manager and later became Managing Director.

Mavuso then joined BLSA in 2017 as the Chief Operations Officer before taking on her current role as CEO in 2019.

She is also a Director on the boards of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Eskom, BMF Investment, and PIC investee company Resultant Finance.

Interview with Busisiwe Mavuso

In this interview, Mavuso begins by discussing her journey to becoming the BLSA CEO and explaining what her role entails.

She then unpacks how populist agendas ahead of the 2024 elections threaten the South African business landscape through unacceptable policy proposals.

Mavuso also emphasises the importance of collaboration within the business community to push back against what she describes as a “broken” system.

She also discusses her dream for South Africa and its return to being the “gateway” to the African continent for international investment.

According to Mavuso, this is critical as South Africa doesn’t have enough local savings to escape its economic rut.

Watch the full interview with BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso below.