As the deputy board chairperson of the uMngeni-uThukela Water Board, Nothando Mkhize’s job entails contributing to corporate governance, strategic planning and oversight, risk governance and financial oversight, and ensuring that the entity achieves its mandate of selling bulk water to customers who supply communities, industries and companies in KwaZulu-Natal. She was 26 when she was appointed to the board of one of the largest water utilities in South Africa — the youngest non-executive director in the water space in the country.
Being under-prepared and under-experienced did not deter her and, six years later, she is a director. She serves on various board committees and chairs the social and ethics committee, tasked with tackling social issues and the corporate branding of the entity.
Nothando has led initiatives that empower youth and women and hosted and addressed ministers, international delegates and C-suite executives. But she says her greatest achievement is co-founding the Catch Them Young Foundation, an NGO that responds to the sustainable development goal of zero hunger in the world by year 2030.
“I am happy that, since my appointment, more young and female leaders are taking the leap of faith and exposing themselves to leadership roles and positions,” she says.
The name of the organisation at which you work
uMngeni-uThukela Water Board
Your educational background, listing your qualifications and institutions, if any:
- Global Executive Development Programme, GIBS Business School
- Completed:
- Certified Director, Institute of Directors of South Africa
- BTech: Civil Engineering (Water), Durban University of Technology
- Postgraduate Diploma in Project Management, Management College of South Africa
- Diploma: Civil Engineering, Mangosuthu University of Technology
- Matric, Khombindlela High School
Your greatest achievement
My greatest achievement is the project that is closest to my heart. In my other life, I am a founder of the Catch Them Young Foundation, an NGO that responds to sustainable development Goal 2 of zero hunger in the world by year 2030.
I have founded a soup kitchen that feeds more than 200 children and adults. It takes the pressure off many families and child-headed homes, especially in times like these when the unemployment rate is so high. The foundation has also created five new job opportunities, of which three are permanent roles assigned to women. I sleep with a smile at night knowing that more than 200 stomachs are not growling with hunger at night, because of the work that I do. There is no achievement greater than that, in my eyes.