Makaziwe Mandela

Biography

Dr. Makaziwe Mandela is a campaigner and business advisor. The eldest daughter of Evelyn Mase and Nelson Mandela, she provides an insight into leading change and the power of collaboration over competition. She also looks at the journey her country has taken, the challenges it still faces, and the lessons to be drawn from it.

After studying social work and sociology in South Africa, Makaziwe received a Fulbright Foreign Scholarship to study sociology and anthropology at the University of Massachusetts. She has since balanced charity and activism around development, social justice, and gender equality with advising businesses. 

Makaziwe has worked for the Development Bank of Southern Africa, as well as South Africa’s state transport and logistics company. She has advised Nozala, an investment group focused on projects to support and improve the situation of disadvantaged women in South Africa. She has also held board and directorship positions with organisations including Rand Water Services, Myriad Medical, Envirosev, and Nestlé SA, as well as the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Makaziwe is the chair and co-founder of the House of Mandela, a socially responsible wine business which also focuses on promoting and preserving the 200-year history of the Mandela family name. She is also a director of the House of Mandela Family Foundation. The Foundation’s global role is to highlight issues that particularly affect communities in Africa such as HIV/AIDS, health and education, agriculture and food security, the empowerment of women, and promoting alternate energy sources.

In her book Mandela: In Honor of an Extraordinary Life, Makaziwe provides an intimate portrait of her father, revealing the man behind the anti-apartheid movement that changed the world.

Makaziwe speaks about diversity & inclusion and social justice. She also considers the importance of technology in developing countries, and why differences matter.