We invest in entrepreneurs and social innovation.
Set up in 2010 as one element of the broad-based black economic empowerment transaction conducted by South African Breweries Ltd (SAB), the SAB Foundation is an independent trust that annually invests millions of rands towards developing entrepreneurship in South Africa and the benefit of the wider South African community. It is an independent trust overseen by a board of trustees, which include respected South African businesspeople.
The SAB Foundation held 8.4 million SAB shares and applied the dividend and special dividend income received from these shares for the benefit of the wider South African community. SAB Foundation was the first organisation in South Africa to received tax exemption and is registered as a tax exempt Small Business Funding Entity under section 10(1)(cQ) of the Income Tax Act.
Our mandate is to provide funding for small, medium and micro-sized enterprises, in order to contribute to the economic and social empowerment of historically disadvantaged persons. This is done primarily (but not necessarily exclusively) by means of entrepreneurship development and with a priority focus on providing opportunities within small, medium and micro-sized enterprises for women, the youth, people in rural areas, as well as persons with disabilities.
Meet the team.
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Bridgit Evans
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: SAB FOUNDATION
Bridgit Evans heads up the SAB Foundation which invests in and provides business support to entrepreneurs and social innovators. Prior to this, Bridgit was the CEO of the GreaterGood Group, a firm specialising in socio economic development consulting across eight African countries to international aid agencies, impact investment professionals, social enterprises, the private sector and South African government departments.
Bridgit began her career at Tshikululu Social Investments, philanthropic grant managers for Anglo American, De Beers and the First Rand Group. She also spent time at the Gordon Institute of Business Science running the Social Entrepreneurship Programme as well as the Imagination Leadership Programme. Bridgit has two degrees in Psychology and an MBA from University of Cape Town and the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. She currently serves on three boards including Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) South Africa. She is an Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellow with a passion for unlocking opportunities for people to transform their lives and realise their potential.
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Thiloshnee VythiIlingam
COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Prior to driving impactful communication at the SAB Foundation, Thiloshnee honed her skills in both internal and external communications for SAB, spearheading initiatives like launching social media platforms and crafting engaging content. She played a key role in propelling SAB's brand voice across all social media channels.
Thiloshnee's background extends beyond corporate communications. She brings a wealth of experience from the publishing industry, where she contributed to B2B publications.
Thiloshnee holds a degree in Communications Science and has certifications in social media marketing, project management, and even Google AI Essentials. Thiloshnee has served as a SAB Soul Ambassador, an HIV/AIDS peer counsellor, and a safety officer.
Thiloshnee's dedication to impactful communication, coupled with her drive to see entrepreneurs flourish, fuels her passion for contributing to the SAB Foundation's mission.
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Wendy Simunyu
MONITORING AND EVALUATION SPECIALIST
Wendy Simunyu is the SAB Foundation’s Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist. She is passionate about enhancing human development and well-being using data as a guiding tool to help organisations and leaders make informed decisions that bring about lasting, impactful change.
She has experience in managing the monitoring and evaluation structures, systems, standards, and processes of companies. She has also managed the accountability relationships of organisations to enable them to effectively monitor, evaluate and report on the performance of their interventions and continuously demonstrate their social impact on various programs against set KPIs and initial impact goals.
Prior to joining SAB Foundation in 2019, she was a functional trainee within the Legal & Corporate Affairs Department at AB-In-Bev. She holds a Bachelor’s Honours degree in Social Work and a Post Graduate Diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation from the University of the Witwatersrand.
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Itumeleng Dhlamini
HEAD OF PROGRAMMES
Itumeleng Dhlamini is the Head of Programmes at the SAB Foundation. She is a social innovation enabler and business development practitioner with extensive experience designing, implementing, and managing multi-stakeholder education and skills initiatives.
Prior to joining the SAB Foundation, Itumeleng led the Digital Skills Academy and managed strategic partnerships at the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct.
She was also the Country Programme Manager at Nuffic, a Dutch International Organisation overseeing development projects in five African countries. Itumeleng also led the Skills and Enterprise portfolio at the British Council and spent some time managing the Social Entrepreneurship programme at the GIBS Business School.
Itumeleng holds an MPhil in Development Practice from the University of Pretoria and is passionate about developing and investing in sustainable businesses that improve communities while contributing to economic growth.
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Michel-le' Gamalitshoyo
SAB FOUNDATION COORDINATOR
Michel-le’ Gamalitshoyo is the SAB Foundation coordinator. She is an accomplished professional with a background in corporate governance and procurement. She has served as a Company Secretarial Coordinator at The South African Breweries (Pty) Ltd, where she provided comprehensive support to the team on all company statutory and governance matters.
Michel-le’ has a Diploma in Media Practices, specialising in Radio Broadcasting, and has a passion for authentic communication and storytelling. She is currently completing a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing Management.
Her valuable contribution to the team stems from her aptitude in problem-solving, project and event planning, and creative thinking, as well as her ardent passion for making a positive impact on the lives of the youth in our country.
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Onthatile Ditshego
SAB FOUNDATION PROGRAMME SPECIALIST
Onthatile Ditshego is the SAB Foundation as Programmes Specialist. She is a highly skilled programme manager and development specialist with a diverse background in public health education, advocacy, social entrepreneurship, education, and the arts.
With a strong passion for development, Onthatile is dedicated to driving meaningful change in individuals' lives and society at large. With extensive experience in programme management, she has successfully led various initiatives in the social entrepreneurship and education sector, including curriculum development, stakeholder engagement, and facilitation.
Onthatile's commitment to social change extends to diverse communities, where she has facilitated discussions on sustainability and innovation. She is a dynamic and dedicated professional ready to make a significant impact in the field of social innovation.
Trustees.
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Moss Ngoasheng
CHAIRMAN AND EXTERNAL TRUSTEE
Moss Ngoasheng is co-founder of Safika Holdings, an investment holding company with a broad interest in mining, industrial, gaming financial services, human resources, telecommunication, media and the technology sectors of the economy.
Moss served from 1995 to 2000 as economic advisor in the South African Presidency and spent a number of years on the African National Congress (ANC’s) economic policy unit. He has consulted to the World Bank and National Housing Forum (South Africa) on aspects of economic policy in South Africa and sits on the board of Dimension Data (Middle East and Africa), South African Breweries and Winsaf – an Australian based Private Equity Fund and Business Leadership South Africa.
He is also a member of Harvard University’s Index of African Governance Advisory Council and a Trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.
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Dr William Rowland
EXTERNAL TRUSTEE
Dr William Rowland has extensive knowledge of and experience in the field of disability and is esteemed for his leadership in many areas.
He was the long-time National Executive Director of the SA National Council for the Blind, Chairperson of Disabled People South Africa, and President of the World Blind Union.
He currently serves on the boards of several public and private institutions, including the SAB Foundation and the University of Johannesburg. He also co-chairs the US-based Disability Rights Fund.
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Modula Mofolo
EXTERNAL TRUSTEE
Modula Mofolo is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of SummerPlace Equity Partners.
She has over 18 years of combined experience in law and private equity(funds and direct investments) investing in South Africa.
Prior to joining the SAB Foundation, Modula has led transactions in various sectors and is currently a non-executive board member at Merchant West Holdings and Counterpoint Asset Management.
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Matsi Modise
EXTERNAL TRUSTEE
As Founding CEO of Furaha Afrika Holdings, Matsi Modise is on a mission to contribute to Africa’s skills revolution and boost South African entrepreneurs.
She sits on several boards and is Vice-Chairperson of SiMODiSA, non-executive Director of Innovation Hub, and Chairperson of Kuehne + Nagel. Matsi has formidable experience planted squarely in the technology disruptions and innovation space. She was named one of the Top 30 African leaders in technology, business, art, science, politics, design, and media by Quartz Media Africa.
She has numerous other awards to her name including being chosen by the World Economic Forum as one of the Top 50 Global Shapers to attend the annual Davos conference. Matsi is an experienced international speaker with a passion for entrepreneurship, leadership, and South African startups.
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Zoleka Lisa
INTERNAL TRUSTEE
Zoleka Lisa is the SAB Vice President of Corporate Affairs South Africa. She joined SAB in 2014, where her portfolio has been to lead special programmes that support the achievement of Procurement’s business objectives on a global and regional level, including driving continuous improvement, sustainability, intra/entrepreneurship and transformation for the Africa Zone.
Prior to joining SAB / ABI, Zoleka was a Senior Manager in the Accenture Strategy division where she consulted across the consumer goods, retail and energy sectors as well as a few of the SOE’s, primarily responsible for leading projects requiring strategy development, cost optimisation, business model definition, journey management and procurement transformation.
Zoleka holds a BSc Environmental and Geographical (UCT), a BSc Hons. in Geography and Environmental Science (Wits). Zoleka has attended a number of Executive Development programmes from Wits and LSE throughout her career. She currently serves on the SABMAS board.
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Barbara Copelovici
INTERNAL TRUSTEE
Barbara Copelovici is the Entrepreneurship Director at SAB. She joined SAB in 2017, initially to shape and amplify the supplier development programme.
Prior to joining SAB, Barbara was a management consultant, and then senior manager in the consulting arm of SizweNtsalubaGobodo. In this role, she led the delivery of strategic projects around supply chain transformation, defining strategy and supporting the strategic planning process of large organisations across diverse sectors including energy, education, mining and the public sector.
Barbara was involved in social enterprises, first by founding and running one which empowered homeless individuals to start a business, then in supporting another social enterprise to deliver. Barbara was awarded Brightest Young Mind in 2014 and was part of the World Economic Forum Global Shaper – Soweto Hub from 2016 to 2019 and more recently in 2021 has been invited to join the Africa-French Young Leaders community.
Partners.
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EDHE
The Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education Programme is intended to develop the entrepreneurial capacity of students, academics and leaders.
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Fetola
Fetola is an enterprise development consultancy that supports the growth of small and medium sized enterprises. It also assists them to become independent, sustainable, thriving businesses and qualified suppliers.
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Further Impact
Further Impact designs and implements integrated development programmes for entrepreneurs, to grow them into high performing leaders and sustainable businesses.
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Impact Amplifier
Impact Amplifier supports the growth of high-impact, innovative businesses in Africa. It addresses socio-economic and environmental challenges by providing investment readiness and capital raising services to post revenue businesses.
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Lead Capital
LEAD Impact Capital is a licensed asset manager focused on investing into innovative solutions for persistent problems of poverty and inequality. We are squarely focused on building an inclusive, equitable, and environmentally resilient society, and we believe that private sector social enterprises hold the greatest potential for unlocking long term, sustainable solutions to systemic inequalities.
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Medusa Organisation for Disabled Entrepreneurs
THE Medunsa Organisation for Disabled Entrepreneurs develops, popularises and recognises a holistic vocational and economic model for South Africa that transforms persons with disabilities into integrated members of society.
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The Jobs Fund
The Jobs Fund is to co-finance projects by public, private and non-governmental organisations that will significantly contribute to job creation. This involves the use of public money to catalyse innovation and investment on behalf of a range of economic stakeholders in activities that contribute directly to enhanced employment creation in South Africa.