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Industry Voice

Professor Bonang Mohale

Chancellor of the University of the Free State, former President of Business Unity South Africa, Professor of Practice at Johannesburg Business School, company chairman, author and values-driven business leader.

Lecture Role Industry Voice
Focus Ethical leadership, transformation and economic development
Professor Bonang Mohale
Biography

Business, education and public-purpose leadership.

Professor Bonang Mohale is the Chancellor of the University of the Free State, former President of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), and Professor of Practice in the Johannesburg Business School in the Faculty of Business and Economics.

His post-graduate business education includes executive study at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia; ITO University in Madrid, Spain; the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland; and Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

He is chairman of four companies, including The Bidvest Group Limited and ArcelorMittal, as well as Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Africa and SBV Services. He has also been appointed Sherpa of the Values 20 (V20), a global community of values-driven experts and practitioners engaging with the Group of Twenty on value-based, human-centred policy proposals.

In 2022, he was asked to convene, moderate and chair the Eskom Electricity Crisis Roundtables, focused on partnering to address South Africa's generation capacity shortfall and structural constraints in the electricity sector.

Professor Mohale has been conferred three consecutive three-year terms as Honorary Professor in Marketing Management by the University of Pretoria, where he serves on the Advisory Council. He is a member of the Community of Chairpersons of the World Economic Forum and the best-selling author of Lift As You Rise, Behold The Turtle and Coming In From The Cold.

Recognition

Selected awards and honours.

2026

Rotary Foundation of Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow Award.

2026

Toastmasters Southern Africa Communication and Leadership Award.

2025

SAICA Chairman's Friends of the Profession Award.

2025

Future of Leadership Awards Lifetime Leadership Award.

2024

African Union Lifetime Achievement Award at the Africa Career & Gala Awards.

2001

Presidential Award for servanthood in South African industry and economic empowerment.