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.

A dedicated and towering development activist and public servant who gave life her all.

The spear has fallen!

May her soul rest in eternal peace.Human Communications 115382

Tribute in Memory of Thembisile (Sis Thembi) Nwedamutswu, former CEO of the IDT