Full Name: Dr Makhapa Makhafola
Position: GM: research and development (R&D), Mintek
Main Activity of the Company: The State-owned Mintek provides minerals processing and metallurgical engineering products and services for industries worldwide. Its commitment to innovation and R&D is supported by a physical infrastructure of modern laboratories, pilot plants and workshops
Date and Place of Birth: July 11, 1966, Pretoria, in a township called Saulsville
Education: High schooling at Holy Trinity and then a British Council scholarship to read for a BSc (chemistry) degree in the UK. On completion of the honours degree, I continued to study towards an MSc degree at Manchester Metropolitan University. I returned to South Africa in 1994 and enrolled for a PhD in analytical chemistry at the University of Pretoria, after which I obtained a Unesco scholarship to pursue postdoctoral training at Indiana University, in the US. I have completed a postgraduate diploma in project management and hold an Executive Development Programme qualification
First Job: Laboratory assistant, Houseman Burnham, Manchester, UK
Size of First Pay Packet: R3 600 a month
Value of Assets under Your Control: About R750-million
Number of People Under Your Leadership: 161, comprising five senior managers, heads, technical specialists, engineers and scientists, including technicians
Management Style: I am visionary, inclusive and believe in team work
Personal Best Achievement: Obtaining a scholarship to pursue undergraduate studies in the UK
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: My parents
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: My primary school teacher, the late Peter Ngobeni, for reminding me that I was capable of growing into what I wanted to be
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Barack Obama: “Sometimes the underdogs rise and the mighty fall.”
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Dr Richard John Pelwana Maponya, who is best known for building a business empire, despite the restrictions of apartheid, and his determination to see Soweto develop economically
Philosophy of Life: “We are what we repeatedly do. Greatness, then, is not an act, but a habit” – Aristotle
Biggest Ever Opportunity: My current job of leading Mintek’s R&D portfolio and the team around me – this gives me an opportunity to contribute to the South African national system of innovation and position the organisation globally
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Working to career deadlines and travelling on business. I missed most of my sons’ school activities
Hope for the Future: Our youth knowing that the success of our country lies in their having education and patriotism
Favourite Reading: The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch, with Jeffrey Zaslow
Favourite TV Programme: The Big Bang Theory
Favourite Food/Drink: Lobster Newberg and Uva Mira Merlot
Favourite Music: R&B and soul
Favourite Sport: Soccer and rugby
Hobbies: Reading and playing scrabble
Car: Lexus
Miscellaneous Dislikes: A lack of time management and rude and insensitive people
Married: To Noella Refilwe, for 25 years
Children: Two sons – Motheo, 28; Kagiso, 22
Clubs: None