Naspers South Africa CEO’s R240 million sale

Naspers South Africa CEO Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa sold R239.61 million worth of shares at the end of July 2025.

According to News24, this sale was a routine trade, in keeping with how directors occasionally manage their portfolios.

On 4 August, Naspers informed the market that Mahanyele-Dabengwa had sold 42,305 Naspers shares for an average price of R5,663.84 per share on 30 July.

The total value of this transaction was R239.61 million. The announcement further explained that this sale was linked to the vesting of share options.

 These share options relate to –

• 13,281 Naspers share options, awarded on 21 September 2020 with a base cost of R2,827.88 per share
• 11,237 Naspers share options awarded on 21 June 2021 with a base cost of R3,040.00 per share
• 21,252 Naspers share options awarded on 27 June 2022 with a base cost of R2,348.69 per share 
• 6,534 Naspers share options, awarded on 27 June 2023 with a base cost of R3,261.28 per share

Naspers explained that Mahanyele-Dabengwa disposed of 42,305 Naspers N ordinary shares to cover taxes and other related costs on market and took delivery of the remaining 9,999 Naspers N ordinary shares.

The company told News24 that Mahanyele-Dabengwa continues to hold the balance of the shares in her portfolio and has not monetised them.

Mahanyele-Dabengwa has headed up Naspers’ South African division since July 2019. Currently, she is also an independent director of Vodacom. 

She also serves on the advisory board of Stellenbosch University’s business school and on the board of the United Nations’ Global Compact Network South Africa. 

Mahanyele-Dabengwa completed a BA in Economics from Rutgers University, USA, in 1993 and an MBA from De Montfort University, UK, in 1996. 

She also completed the Kennedy School of Government Executive Education programme “Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century” at Harvard University in 2008.

Before joining Naspers, Mahanyele-Dabengwa was the co-founder and Executive Chairperson of Sigma Capital, an investment holding company formed in 2015. She also held the position of CEO at Shanduka Group from 2004 to 2015.

Early in her career, she worked in New York at Fieldstone, an international firm specialising in the financing of infrastructure assets. She later transferred to the South African office, where she served as a Vice President.

Now, she leads Naspers South Africa as its CEO and has overseen the company through significant changes over the past few years.

This includes the separation and international listing of Prosus, the Covid-19 pandemic, top leadership changes, and portfolio expansions.

In Naspers’ 2025 remuneration report, the company revealed that Mahanyele-Dabengwa received a fixed remuneration of €439,000 (R9.08 million). Including other incentives, her total remuneration was €2.27 million (R46.96 million).