Business

Unisa’s CIO, Mathabo Nakene-Mginqi.

The University of South Africa’s vice principal of ICT and CIO, Mathabo Nakene-Mginqi, was born and raised in Dube, Soweto. When her parents divorced, her mother moved back home with her three children.

Her grandmother became a central figure in Nakene-Mginqi’s upbringing. “When she took us in, she and my grandfather had just lost their business in Diepkloof. They had nothing,” she recalls. “There were times when we ran out of soap to bathe, and we’d use Surf washing powder. But through all the hardship, my grandmother showed incredible tenacity.” Nakene-Mginqi’s mother reinforced the same lesson in a different way.