It was nearing the end of March 2005. Dolly Mokgatle had surprised the nation by resigning as chief executive of South Africa’s rail utility, Spoornet, at the beginning of the year, only eighteen months into her five-year contract. The press had speculated wildly about the causes of her resignation. The words of the new Transnet CEO, Maria Ramos, had been particularly cutting. “We want people to be committed and work hard,” she had said. “There is no space in Transnet for ‘half measures’.”

It was October 2007 and more than 13 years had elapsed since South Africa’s first non-racial, democratic elections. Social entrepreneur Reverend Spiwo Xapile sat in his immaculate office at the J L Zwane centre, located on the corner of NY2 and NY7 in Gugulethu. He reflected with pride on what he had built up over the past 17 years. His congregation had grown from a handful of people to over 2000 members, and the centre attached to the church ran a number of programmes which benefited the Gugulethu community at large.

To the outside world, Sarah Visagie was a partner at law firm Bell Dewar & Hall (BDH). But those inside the firm knew that she was a junior partner and not an equity partner. This was largely because she felt unable to commit herself to earning the same fee targets as the other equity partners (all of whom happened to be men) on account of her family commitments and the ‘shorter’ hours she spent at the office. However, it had really hurt last year when a junior partner who was younger than her had leapfrogged her to the position of equity partner.

In July 2008, Brian Bruce, chief executive of the 106-year-old construction, mining, engineering and manufacturing giant Murray & Roberts, had been at the helm for eight years. His leadership has resulted in a steady and remarkable change in the character of the group, as well as its fortunes. At the time of his appointment in July 2000, the share price had slumped 96% to 300 cents on the JSE Limited. In his words, “the company was dying.” Bruce embarked on an extended initiative, to reposition the group in the construction economy of South Africa and the world.

n July 2008, Brian Bruce, chief executive of the 106-year-old construction, mining, engineering and manufacturing giant Murray & Roberts, had been at the helm for eight years. His leadership has resulted in a steady and remarkable change in the character of the group, as well as its fortunes. At the time of his appointment in July 2000, the share price had slumped 96% to 300 cents on the JSE Limited. In his words, “the company was dying.” Bruce embarked on an extended initiative, to reposition the group in the construction economy of South Africa and the world.

My job is about creating harmony… It’s about coming up with solutions, keeping your eye on the bigger picture, and the often requires a lot of patience and putting aside your differences

My PDM at Wits Business School was probably my most memorable academic year of all, and that includes Harvard and Oxford... You were working with people very different from you, yet you were still expected to produce quality outputs

My MBA was a new and exciting period in my life because it opened my thinking to the crucial areas of accounting, finance, marketing and operations management

Doing an MBA was demanding, but not that difficult, because if you are willing to meet the demands, nothing is impossible. It created new opportunities for changing my career

The PDM qualification exceeded my expectations – it was more than just learning textbook knowledge. I learnt a lot about myself and my capabilities. The programme also aims to prepare you for the working environment and the career development class definitely built my confidence and instilled values I'll always carry with me as I navigate through my professional work journey.