Tribute in Memory of
Thembisile (Sis Thembi) Nwedamutswu,
former CEO of the IDT
A dedicated and towering development activist and public servant
who gave life her all.
The spear has fallen!
On 9 January 2015, Thembisile Nwedamutswu, one of the few breed of our country’s gallant heroes
and selfless development activists, passed away. The death of “Sis Thembi”, as she was affectionately
known, has left us with fond memories of one of the gentlest souls - an exceptional person. She ran her
part of the race with dedication, passion, commitment and resolve. For ten years, from November 2003
to April 2014, Sis Thembi was at the helm of the Independent Development Trust (IDT), the country’s
premier social infrastructure development agency. Her leadership of the IDT took the organisation into
a new direction.
Thembi, the fourth child of Mr Gilbert and Mrs Ntoni Mkhumane (originally from KwaZulu-Natal), was
born on 17 December 1960 in Swaziland. She finished her high school education in Swaziland. She caught
the eye of a revolutionary young South African, Mamabolo Nwedamutswu, who had gone into exile
in Swaziland to fight the atrocities of the apartheid system and they would later marry and have four
children.
With the demise of apartheid, Thembi, her husband and children would return to her ancestral home,
South Africa, in 1991. Upon her return, her selfless contribution to our fledgling democracy started
in Limpopo when, in 1995, she joined the Public Service Commission as a Director: Human Resource
Development and later progressed to Director responsible for Transformation. Thembi played a key role
in redefining the strategic vision of transforming the Commission from an apartheid structure to one
serving a developmental state in a fledgling democracy. Her depth of experience and understanding of
the socio-political terrain, complemented by her insight and thought leadership, enabled the Commission
to successfully implement a range of innovative programmes to transform itself into an organisation that
developed and nurtured talent and expertise among previously disadvantaged staff.
In 1999, Thembi moved to the Mpumalanga provincial administration to take up the role of Head of
Department: Social Development. She facilitated the transformation of the Department from one of
social welfare to social and population development to reflect the evolving demands of the country’s
socio-economic transformation trajectory.
A loyal, dedicated public servant and development activist, Thembi answered a new call and moved to
the National Department of Social Development in 2000 to take up the role of Deputy Director-General.
During her tenure at the Department, she led the national poverty relief programme which positively
impacted the lives of disadvantaged South African communities. Over R300 million was spent on a range
of poverty alleviation programmes targeting and benefitting households - thereby transforming the lives
of those who were still at the bottom of the pyramid. In 2003, Thembi’s commitment was to be further
tested with a new daunting task: She was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the IDT. It was at the
IDT that Thembi’s exceptional leadership aptitude came to the fore, leading to multiple successes and
establishing an enviable legacy.
At the IDT, she focussed her energy first on growing and repositioning the organisation
into a formidable vehicle for delivering integrated social infrastructure across the
length and breadth of the country. She championed a more caring and
grassroots approach to human development and was adamant that
State-owned enterprises should play a larger role in redistributive
economic justice. This led the organisation to introduce a new
business model wherein new metrics of success
were integral to IDT’s approach to development.
The empowerment dividend would encompass
strong and specific indicators to measure
the involvement of women, youth, people
living with disability and the localisation
of development benefits. Her second
preoccupation was transforming the
organisation into an outcomes-driven
entity where success was not only measured in the quantum of the portfolio delivered but in the impact
of the work of the IDT on the lives of the country’s citizenry. Building on her wealth of experience in
organisational turnaround, her third focus was on transforming the organisation into a relevant, efficient
and sustainable premier development agency in the delivery of social infrastructure. Despite the
technical focus, Thembi remained a people’s person. She infused a sense of a purpose-driven family
within the IDT.
To the vast majority of the IDT community, Thembi was more than a CEO. She was a mother, sister, mentor,
comrade and colleague. She exuded passion, energy and a love for continuous skills development of her
staff (actively supporting the skills development programme targeting both IDT employees and promising
young South Africans). There was a special place in her heart for women and young professionals and
she reached out to every level of worker within the organisation. She did not demand what she could
not undertake herself, gaining the following qualifications: A Master’s degree in Policy Studies (SARIPS,
Zimbabwe); Advanced Diploma in Accounting (Institute for Finance Management, Tanzania); Business
Administration Diploma (University of Swaziland); and Organisational and Strategic Management
Certificate (PACT).
She challenged all IDT staff to go beyond the call of duty. “Being in the IDT is not a job. It is not an
8 to 5 o’clock job. It is not about the pay cheque at the end of the month or a fat bonus at the end
of the year. It is not about meeting the bare demands of your boss. It’s a calling. It is about making a
difference to those who have not yet enjoyed or are still at the periphery of the fruits of our democracy”
she would remind her staff and propel them into going the proverbial extra mile. As the CEO of the
IDT, she succeeded in turning the organisation into a highly respected and world-class development
agency which garnered national and international acclaim for its work. Thembi ensured that, as a public
entity, the IDT aligned its mandate and focus to the development priorities set by the State. Under
her leadership, the organisation was successfully reinvented to respond to the dynamic and changing
socio-economic environment. With Thembi at the helm, the IDT delivered on its contractual commitments,
increasing its portfolio delivery from R650 million in 2002/03 to R6.6 billion in the 2013/14 financial year.
The complexity related to this achievement is the ability to balance optimum service delivery without
compromising corporate governance.
Thembi had an established track record of strong fiscal management, overseeing multi-billion rand
budgets at the IDT and Government, and successfully managing the ANC fund in Dar-es-Salaam and the
its International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF) grant in the United Kingdom. During her tenure at the IDT,
the organisation attained 10 consecutive unqualified audits. She understood accountability, the need for
decisiveness and the merits of collective reflection. Her leadership aptitude was recognised, appreciated
and tapped into by various organisations.
She juggled a number of corporate responsibilities over the years. Thembi was a Board Member
and Acting Chairperson: Remuneration and Human Resources Committee at Rand Water, a Board
Member of the Housing Development Agency, Board Member at the University of Venda Foundation,
and Chairperson of the Limpopo Premier’s Employment, Growth and Development Advisory Council:
Integrated Infrastructure Technical Working Group. At the time of her death, she was the MEC for
Education in the Limpopo Provincial Government.
Her legacy is an inspiration that will never diminish. She achieved a lot through her decisiveness, focus
and purpose-driven life. Thus, instead of mourning her death, we celebrate an exceptional human being
who refused to be defined and restricted by circumstances. She fiercely fought for and tactfully advocated
on behalf of the less privileged. She understood the different terrains in which to push for her views,
beliefs and values. These included the political arena, the Boardroom, church and family. Thembi saw
the best in others, radiated love and determination and, above all, remained true to herself and those
around her.
May her soul rest in eternal peace.
Human Communications 115382