Sikhumbuzo Thabede

Sikhumbuzo Thabede
Sikhumbuzo Thabede

Over the past 18 years, I have held positions in government, the NGO sector and academia. In 2014, I was appointed Deputy Director for Service Delivery Integration at the Western Cape Provincial Department of Local Government. Two years later, I was employed by the University of Cape Town as a Senior Manager at the Graduate School of Business’s (GSB) Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Today, I am the founder and Lead Consultant of a successful management consultancy, Moyomuhle Social Solutions, which specialises in research, impact assessments, organisational development, wellness services and capacity building.

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Contact Details
  • Email

    thabskhu@gmail.com

  • Address

    thabskhu@gmail.com

  • Phone

    0834135506

About Me

I started my MBA in 2012 at MANCOSA, at the time I was working in the NGO sector where I had occupied roles such as Training Manager and National Programmes Manager. Enrolling for an MBA was an unprecedented choice as majority of my peers were pursuing qualifications in social sciences. I, on the other side was on a different trajectory altogether, I was more interested on the intersection of social discourse, business and critical theory. It is for this reason that for my dissertation, I examined the impact of integrating social responsibility into a corporate strategy . My dissertation was focused in the banking industry, this is where I came across the concept of “consumer education”, as one of the socio-economic development (SED) initiatives. At the end of my dissertation I was curious to learn more about financial literacy and how data could be used to improve financial literacy levels in South Africa.  

 

Over the p ast 18 years,  I have   held positions in government, the NGO sector and academia. In

2014,  I   was appointed Deputy Director for Service Delivery Integration at the Western Cape

Provincial Department of Local Government. Two years later,  I   was employed by the  University

of Cape Town as a Senior Manager at the Graduate School of Business’s (GSB) Bertha Centre

for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship.     

 

I spent most of 2017 researching the Consumer Education (CE) field. This is where I found that in South Africa, financial services providers (FSPs) have a legislative mandate to comply with the Financial Services Code (FSC) by contributing 0,40% of their net profit after tax to CE, with the intention of empowering the individuals and small businesses with knowledge and understanding of the financial sector and its products and services. The sector standard also stipulates that CE programmes are required to be independently evaluated to demonstrate impact. I knew I had found a niche. The outcome of my market research was the expansion my already existing management consultancy’s service offering to also specialise in CE monitoring and evaluation. To date, my consultancy (Moyomuhle Social Solutions) offers consumer education monitoring and evaluation services to leading FSPs, turning over R5 million per annum, surveying at least 10’000 CE beneficiaries each year.  

 

In 2019, I also conceptualised and hosted a financial inclusion dialogue titled FIN-Uwezo, with an objective of encouraging a dialogue on personal financial matters. This project also offered a platform for consumers to learn how to navigate the financial landscape and brought consumers closer to financial service providers and regulators. I conducted a number of media interviews (TV and Radio) on financial inclusion. 

My role as the managing director and lead consultant in CE evaluations has exposed me to rich financial literacy data, this has inspired me to study the impact of financial behaviour on personal wellbeing; as well as the impact financial of literacy on SMMEs and the economy, through a theoretical lens.