LeadUP Podcast

Reverend Charlotte Sibanyoni is the first black woman to be ordained by the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NG Kerk). She is currently a PhD scholar and lecturer in Hebrew at the University of Pretoria (UP), where she obtained her Masters of Divinity and undergraduate degrees. She is actively involved in the Pretoria community and runs the student Greenleaf student ministry on UP’s Groenkloof (Faculty of Education) Campus. 

On this episode she speaks about:

How growing up in the house of a Dutch Reformed minister shaped her character and love for her community. 

• Leading change from within a community instead of criticising from outside, and how she has done this in her work. 
• Rising above one’s doubts to lead.
• How she is using her PhD to combine biblical ideas about exile and violence in current South Africa.
• Making an impact by serving in small and practical ways locally.

Subscribe to the LeadUP Podcast today ­– click here to find LeadUP Podcast in your favourite podcast app, or go to www.up.ac.za/LeadUP and click on LeadUP Podcast. New episodes are out every second Monday. Help us out by rating and reviewing us. 

 LeadUP is a production of the University of Pretoria’s Alumni Office. Our host is Lennox Wasara and our team includes Elna Schütz and Samantha Castle. Our sound engineers are Louis Cloete Productions.

Miss South Africa 2020, Shudufhadzo Musida, obtained a Bachelor of Social Science in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Pretoria. 

She has used her reign to bring awareness to mental health issues, has launched her #MindfulMondays mental health online programme and addressed the United Nations on the subject. Musida has also placed her focus on the educational and economic empowerment of children and women. More recently, she published a children’s book that focuses on bullying and the power of friendship. 

On this episode she speaks about:

• the journey that led her from being a shy girl with big dreams to trusting her inner voice and winning the crown;
• the significance of education and being of service, and how change can start small; 
• how self-awareness and mental health support can advance not only your own journey, but society as a whole;
• what she has learned about leadership during her reign; and
• the change for women that she would like to see; 

Subscribe to the LeadUP Podcast today ­– click here to find LeadUP Podcast in your favourite podcast app, or go to www.up.ac.za/LeadUP and click on LeadUP Podcast. New episodes are out every second Monday. Help us out by rating and reviewing us. 

LeadUP is a production of the University of Pretoria’s Alumni Office. Our host is Lennox Wasara and our team includes Elna Schütz and Samantha Castle. Our sound engineers are Louis Cloete Productions.

As a Tuks student he moonlighted to pay his bills, and now his team has won a technical Oscar for creating new technology that gets used in making many of our favourite movies and shows. 

Nicol Verheem is an entrepreneur and innovator who completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic Engineering degree at the University of Pretoria, and went on to become CEO of Creative Solutions and founder of Teradek. In 2021, he won an Oscar at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Technical Awards. 

On this episode he speaks to us about:

• His surprise at winning an Oscar, and what that process was like. 
• How something they had already created turned out to be an innovation for the movie industry.
• How entrepreneurship means striking out on your own and taking some risks.  
• How failure is an important part of entrepreneurship and growth. 
• That one of his first leadership experiences was moonlighting as a programmer to fund his studies.

Subscribe to the LeadUP Podcast today ­– click here to find LeadUP Podcast in your favourite podcast app, or go to www.up.ac.za/LeadUP and click on LeadUP Podcast. New episodes are out every second Monday. Help us out by rating and reviewing us. 

LeadUP is a production of the University of Pretoria’s Alumni Office. Our host is Lennox Wasara and our team includes Elna Schütz and Samantha Castle. Our sound engineers are Louis Cloete Productions.

She became a minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, but has had a passion for social justice since childhood. On this second episode of the LeadUP Podcast, we speak to the Honourable Yvonne Dausab, Minister of Justice of Namibia, who holds a Master of Laws degree, specialising in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa, from UP. 

Dausab is the former Chairperson of Namibia’s Law Reform and Development Commission, and was previously the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Namibia. 

On this episode she speaks to us about:

• How her time at UP has influenced her career. 
• Leading, particularly in government, during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• How her upbringing in Windhoek’s Katutura township set her on a path in pursuit of social justice. 
• What she has done to stay grounded and connected with herself and her constituents. 
• How her values have influenced her service-orientated leadership style.

Find us by going to www.up.ac.za/leadup and clicking on Podcasts. To listen, you can stream, download, and subscribe online or on your favourite podcast app on your phone. Help us out by rating and reviewing us. New episodes are out every second Monday. 

LeadUP is a production of the University of Pretoria’s Alumni Office. Our host is Lennox Wasara and our team includes Elna Schütz and Samantha Castle. Our sound engineers are Louis Cloete Productions.

On our very first episode of the LeadUP Podcast, we speak to a University of Pretoria alumna who is a trailblazer in her field. 

Taelo Mojapelo has been the CEO of BP Southern Africa since June 2020, making her only the second African woman in the country’s oil and gas industry to head a multinational company. Mojapelo did her MBA at UP’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). 

On this episode she speaks to us about:

• Finding your purpose or your ‘why’ as a basis for leadership and building trust in teams. 
• Articulating your strategy clearly as a leader by tailoring your communication throughout the hierarchy of a big organisation.
• Successes that got her to where she is now, and how to lead yourself toward your success.
• Starting a new position during the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrating ethical leadership during this time. 
• Promoting diversity of thought and not only of demographics in an organisation. 

Subscribe to the LeadUP Podcast today – click here to find LeadUP Podcast in
your favourite podcast app, or go to www.up.ac.za/LeadUP and click on
LeadUP Podcast. Help us out by rating and reviewing us. New episodes are out every second Monday. 

LeadUP is a production of the University of Pretoria’s Alumni Office. Our host is Lennox Wasara and our team includes Elna Schütz and Samantha Castle. Our sound engineers are Louis Cloete Productions.

Alumni and friends of the University of Pretoria share their stories and leadership lessons on this podcast developed by the leading contact university in Africa.

Keep your eyes and ears open for this brand new podcast launching on 2 August, with new episodes every second Monday. 

You’ll hear how leaders from the worlds of the arts, business, sport, and more became who they are. Hear from the likes of the CEO of BP Southern Africa, Taelo Mojapelo, and Namibian Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab. 

Go to www.up.ac.za/leadup and click on Podcasts. To listen, you can stream, download, and subscribe online or on your phone.
Help us out by rating and reviewing us.

LeadUP is a production of the University of Pretoria’s Alumni Relations Office. Our host is Lennox Wasara and our team includes Elna Schütz and Samantha Castle. Our sound engineers are from Louis Cloete Productions.