The Two Faces That Mean Business

Two women, one in her 40s, the other in her 30s, both powerful entrepreneurs in their own space, share a morning with FORBES AFRICA, recounting their journeys to corporate success and stardom.

- Ancillar Mangena

A complete irony that just as the words ‘women power’ are mentioned in the room, the power goes off.

It’s a cold winter’s day in Johannesburg and the Greenside suburb that we are in for this interview is encountering unscheduled load-shedding.

The word power was in describing Phuti Mahanyele’s and Stacey Brewer’s ascent to corporate celebrity.

On this day, just before the photoshoot, they are quivering in the cold, dark studio, defiantly relating separate stories about their successes, but united in their quest for excellence in a renewed South Africa. They are resolute about gender dynamics and what it has meant to stave off stereotypes and rise to being leaders in their individual spheres.

Sipping hot coffee out of a styrofoam cup, Mahanyele talks about success born of years of hard work.

It was not just blood, sweat and tears that defined her growth, but also sacrifice and illness.

Today, she is one of the most respected entrepreneurs in South Africa, a mentor and businesswoman commanding the boardroom.

This is a world away from apartheid South Africa into which she was born.

Her beginnings were in the urban township of Soweto, home to icons like Nelson Mandela, Richard Maponya and Trevor Noah. Here, she first learned about struggle, power and resilience.

In the 1970s, it was a place of defiance and resistance. She credits her parents’ hard work, in the face of a racist South Africa, for her success. Her father, Mohale Mahanyele, one of the country’s pioneers of black business, taught her that limitations are actually opportunities.

Mohale knew hardship. He grew up in a four-room house in the township with 12 siblings.