Dr. Makaziwe Mandela – Eldest daughter of Evelyn Mase and Nelson Mandela

Biography

Dr Makaziwe Mandela is the eldest daughter of President Mandela. Based in Johannesburg, she is the Chairperson of House of Mandela, a lifestyle business she runs with her daughter Tukwini, as well as leading the House of Mandela Family Foundation.

Dr Mandela has degrees in Social Work and Sociology.

She received a Fulbright Foreign Scholarship and a Fulbright Distinguished Fellowship Award to study at the University of Massachusetts, for a Masters in Sociology and a Doctorate in Anthropology.

As the eldest daughter of President Mandela, she carries a name that reverberates globally.

But as her father used to say to her; ‘If your ambition is to be just like your father, you have no ambition at all.’

Dr Makaziwe Mandela has worked hard to carve out her own identity, expose herself to experiences in different sectors, different continents, and become an independent thought leader/globally in demand speaker, especially in the D&I, Gender Equality, Food Poverty & Leadership space.

She has enjoyed a range of roles in businesses as well as sitting on boards.

Dr. Makaziwe Mandela was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, growing up in Soweto, Johannesburg and is the eldest daughter of Evelyn Mase and Nelson Mandela.

After matriculating from High School in Swaziland, she went on to study for her BA degree in Social Work at Fort Hare University in the Eastern Cape, and then her Honours Degree in Sociology at the University of Natal in Durban.

In 1984, she received a Fulbright Foreign Scholarship and a Fulbright Distinguished Fellowship Award to study at the University of Massachusetts in the US for a Masters in Sociology and a Doctorate in Anthropology.

She has had a full and varied career that has involved working in several other countries, and holds directorships with Nestlé SA among others.

She has presented numerous papers over the years, including the role of women in a changing South Africa.

She has been intricately involved in developing a substantial investment portfolio within Nozala, a women’s investment group, and using these funds in the economic upliftment and empowerment of women in South Africa.

She has worked for a number of academic institutions in South Africa and abroad. She spent a number of years working for the Development Bank of Southern Africa as Executive Manager Corporate Services. Prior to that, she worked for Spoornet as General Manager Human Resources.

Dr. Mandela previously sat on the Boards of Rand Water Services, Myriad Medical, Envirosev and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. She is also a consultant in training development and life skills at Self Empowerment International.

Dr. Mandela is currently the Chairperson of House of Mandela, a business that she started with her daughter Tukwini Mandela in 2010.

She is also a director of the House of Mandela Family Foundation that was set up in 2017.

The ambition of the Foundation is to improve the livelihoods of poor communities and globally advocate for social issues that affect African communities including; HIV and AIDS, education, health, agriculture, women empowerment and promoting alternate energy sectors.

Speaker

Dr Mandela is available internationally for in person and virtual speaking engagements (keynote, fireside chat, Q&A or a combination of these).

We work with clients ensuring that Dr Mandela’s content neatly matches with the event objectives and audience. Her speaking topics include:

Diversity & Inclusion
Female Empowerment / Gender Equality / Economic Freedom
Servant Leadership
Collaboration v Competition
Why Differences Matter + Allyship
Agriculture / Food Poverty & Security / Climate Change
Social Justice & Prison Reform
The Importance of Technology in Developing Countries
The Modern Work Place/ Authentic Self

BOOK – Mandela: In Honor of an Extraordinary Life

A tribute to her father, Dr Makaziwe Mandela shares the most definitive portrait of Nelson Mandela to date, revealing the man behind the anti-apartheid movement that changed the world.One of Time magazine’s Most Important People of the Twentieth Century, Nelson Mandela continues to be a symbol of equality and justice: a Nobel Prize winner, South Africa’s first Black president, and an unrelenting leader in the movement to dismantle racial inequality.

Written by his daughter, her story uncovers the family man behind the international peacemaker persona.

This volume presents an extraordinary assembly of historic biography and imagery alongside never-before-published family stories and personal photographs, Nelson Mandela’s letters to friends and family, journal entries written during his incarceration, and a unique collection of rarely seen charcoal drawings and paintings he began at 83 years old.

Chapters chronicle Mandela’s childhood growing up in Mvezo, his time in Johannesburg as leader of the African National Congress, the importance of his familial relationships, decades of imprisonment, and his role as president and philanthropist. An enthralling read illustrated by powerful historic imagery, this tome delves into the life of the man that continues to galvanize so many.