AFTER WALKING HER OWN ROAD TO ECONOMIC FREEDOM, AMANDA DAMBUZA HAS PEARLS OF WISDOM TO SHARE
We can’t get enough of Amanda Dambuza – the CEO that’s leading the way in beating unemployment through entrepreneurship and leadership – so caught up with her and friend Londy Ngcobo at Tintswalo Lapalala.
In a country blessed with powerful leaders, Amanda Dambuza and Londy Ngcobo stand out. One is a multi-talented project management company CEO and author. The other, a ship’s captain turned business woman.
Amanda Dambuza is a South African businesswoman whose achievements and business journey started at the tender age of 23, and have since catapulted her into the limelight where she’s been able to share her drive, insight, and leadership ability with industry around the globe.
Amanda Dambuza makes a return to The Insider SA. Watch her first interview on our show and find out more about her journey.
We met up with the trailblazers for a weekend at Tintswalo Lapalala. Just 3 ½ hours north of Johannesburg, the lodge is located on an astonishingly beautiful reserve that is 44 500 hectares of spectacularly scenic African bush encompassing high cliffs, valleys and rolling plains. Not to mention the 27 kilometres of pristine river frontage courtesy of the 2 perennial rivers which bisect the reserve!
In addition to the luxurious accommodation on offer, Lapalala offers the chance to see rare and unusual game which the reserve has bred so successfully over the last 4 decades – from sable and roan antelope to wild-dog as well as the usual Big 5
While there we got the full measure of the trails Amanda and Londy have blazed for their fellow women.
Londy Ngcobo challenges gender and racial stereotypes one victory at a time. Not only is she an international ship navigator and Africa’s first female dredge master, she’s also the founder of Global Maritime Youth and director of Womaritime Experts.
“It was very puzzling for me, and it’s very much related to women’s month, that globally we only have 2% of participation in the oceans economy. That was unsettling for me and led up to me starting Womaritime Experts. I sleep better at night knowing that I now contribute to the incline of the statistic,” shares Londy.
Known as The Blaqmermaid, Captain Ngcobo spends her days advocating for unlocking Africa’s ocean economy.
Amanda and Londy have worked smart to be where they are today and have achieved great success. It goes without saying that they lead busy lives – yet they make the time to impart knowledge and encourage others.
“I have had an amazing career. I have had great success professionally. What I stand for is having the ability to build platforms that I can then open up for others. Because the single biggest challenge in our country is access – access to opportunities, access to information, access to markets – and I’ve been able to do that through my professional career. It’s something I’m really proud of,” states Amanda.
It was a weekend of beautiful vistas. good food, encouraging conversation and upliftment with these two wonder women who remind us yet again that in tricky times good leadership is even more important. In Amanda Dambuza and Londy Ngcobo we believe our trust is well placed.
