ArcelorMittal CEO gets Wits award

Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita and Prof Wendy Ngoma

Nyembezi-Heita, who this year was also named eighth in the Forbes rankings of Most Powerful Black Women in the world, served as chief corporate strategy officer of the Vodacom group before joining ArcelorMittal SA in 2008. She sits on numerous boards, including JSE and Exxaro Resources. She has a BSc (Hons) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manchester's Institute of Science and Technology, an MSc (EE) from the California Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Open University Business School in the UK.

The Management Excellence Awards, now in their 29th year, are a Wits Business School initiative that acknowledges South Africa's top business icon every year.

Taking receipt of the award, Nyembezi-Heita said that one of the most important lessons MBA students today could learn was how to manage in turbulent times - something she, herself, had never been taught. "The environment in which today's CEOs manage is extremely complex - perhaps too complex. Schools like Wits equip their students with the skills my generation never had to learn: how to forecast in turbulent times, how to manage risk, and - most importantly - how to take advantage of the free-flow of thought that is inherent in the companies of today.

"I thank Wits Business School for this honour and for recognizing me in this way. I will always treasure this award."