Jerry Mabena

ByWBSComms

Jerry Mabena

Current title Chief Executive Officer, Thebe Services Division; Chief Executive Officer, Thebe Tourism Group Course at Wits Business School Certificate Programme in Accounting and Finance, 2010 International Executive Development Programme, 2015 A defining moment in my career Two events forged my career path. When I was 29, I came up with a concept that I sold to my then employer, Telkom. I used to run the advertising and promotions department for Telkom when I started working on a plan to pitch selling advertising space on phone cards. The idea was that the consumer uses the phone card many times to make a call. Each time they use their cards, the advertiser’s product or service gets exposure. I bought the advertising space for 5c a card and sold it for 7c, across up to three million cards per month. That was my first adult, postgraduate entrepreneurial venture. I was later headhunted by Kagiso Media but didn’t initially get the job to run their exhibitions business and subsequently their property holdings business. Getting the job happened in a peculiar manner. I was first turned down for the role and only got the job after asking the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Kagiso Media to present my ideas to them. The Kagiso Media experience helped prepare me for my current employment at Thebe, first in property and later into a bigger role looking after their services portfolio.

Similar Posts

  • Maurice Goodman

    ByWBSComms

    Looking back, two defining moments stand out for me. The first was enrolling for a Wits MBA as a result of the encouragement from my late dad. At the time it was very unusual for a medical doctor to do an MBA and I am indebted to the then dean, Prof Andy Andrews, for putting his faith in me and accepting me onto the course. 

  • Ebrahim Kharsany

    ByWBSComms

    As an activist and a businessman, I experienced several defining moments in my career. I completed my MBA at Wits Business School in 1971. I could not find any meaningful employment as the predominantly white corporate business sector would not employ people of colour in senior management positions.

  • Diane Radley

    ByWBSComms

    When I was growing up I feared failure and the devastation I thought would ensue. I wanted to be perfect and felt any form of failure was letting me and other people down, particularly my mother who had made tremendous sacrifices in bringing up three children alone on a music teacher’s salary.

  • Dino Rech

    ByWBSComms

    It’s not easy to pinpoint one defining moment. There have been a number that has shaped the person and professional I am today. One person (and series of events) that stands out was a young patient of mine during my internship year as a junior doctor.