Ms. Zodwa Manase, is a businesswoman, an international award winner and one of the first few women Chartered Accountants in the country. She is a co-founder of the African Women Chartered Accountants organization (AWCA) an organisation which has played a significant role in increasing the numbers of women Chartered Accountants and supporting their advancement in the country.
She serves as Chairperson of the Advisory Council of the AWCA. She is a member of the international Women President’s Organisation (WPO) and the International Women’s Forum South Africa (IWFSA). She serves as a Trustee on the board of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and the Thabo Mbeki Foundation and is chairperson of the audit and risk committees of both.
With a nine-year tenure as a board member of the South African Reserve Bank, she became the inaugural Chairperson of its Non-Executive Directors Committee. A pioneer in her field, she made history as the first female Chairperson of the board of Total South Africa in 2006.
Ms. Manase was also the first female chairperson of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). She held various
board memberships, including Denel, Medical Research Council, (MRC), Mediclinic, Central energy Fund (CEF), MTN Zakhele, and others.
She played a major role in transforming the South African government departments and state-owned company to transparency, governance, and accountability by serving and chairing various audit committees including,
The Presidency of South Africa, International Marketing council (MIC), Central Energy Fund, Denel, City of Johannesburg, Department of international Relations and Corporation (DIRCO), and many others.
As the founder of Manase and Associates, she established a notable auditing and business advisory company in 1996, a company which played a critical role in transforming South Africa to be, (at that time), one of the best performing countries in corporate governance in the world.
A qualified Chartered Accountant with degrees from the University of South Africa, (UNISA) and a post graduate Tax Diploma from the University of Natal, she expanded her quest for knowledge of the future and the digital transformation expertise with executive programs in Blockchain Technology and Artificial Intelligence at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management, Fintech and Cybersecurity from the Harvard VPAL at the Harvard University, as well as the Women Transforming Leadership Program, Digital Marketing and the Algorithmic Trading Program at Oxford University Said Business School.
Her impactful leadership, groundbreaking achievements, and commitment to continuous education positions, Ms. Zodwa Manase is a prominent figure in the business and financial sectors.
Ms Manase serves as the Chairperson of the Audit and Risk Committee at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.