The late Sifiso Dabengwa and his wife Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa separately led tech and telecoms giants, earning multi-million-rand pay packages.
The late Sifiso Dabengwa and his wife Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa separately led tech and telecoms giants, earning multi-million-rand pay packages.
Dabengwa, a former Eskom director and former CEO and President of MTN Group, passed away after a battle with cancer in September 2024. Dabengwa was survived by his wife and four children.
His wife, Mahanyele-Dabengwa, continues the family’s legacy. She is the CEO of Naspers South Africa and an outgoing director on Vodacom’s board.
The couple were among South Africa’s highest-paid executives. In 2015, in his final year at Africa’s largest telecom company, Dabengwa was paid R40 million.
Mahanyele-Dabengwa has been the CEO of Naspers South Africa since 2019. In 2026, she received a total remuneration package of R32.75 million.
The Dabengwas were well-connected in the South African corporate landscape and in government through their tenures at various important companies over the years.
“I first met Sifiso while doing an MBA in the early 1990s at Wits Business School,” wrote Eskom chairman Mteto Nyati in an obituary he penned for the former MTN boss in BusinessDay.
“Sifiso was razor sharp when it comes to corporate finance and strategy. I was not surprised to see how well he executed MTN Group’s geographic expansion strategy.”
Born in Zimbabwe in 1958, Dabengwa trained as an electrical engineer and spent his mid-career at Eskom.
Nyati said that during this time, he pioneered the implementation of a national electrification programme at the utility, increasing electricity access for households in South Africa.
He had experience in companies and entities in the finance, energy, real estate, tourism, hospitality, mining and railways sectors.
Dabengwa held a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Zimbabwe, alongside his MBA from Wits.
He joined MTN Group in 1999, where he held various roles, starting as the managing director of South African operations. In 2004, he was promoted to group CCO and CEO of MTN Nigeria.
MTN’s Sifiso Dabengwa Data Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, was named after him. It was the largest data centre in West Africa when it was established in July 2025.
Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, CEO of Naspers South Africa
MTN Group said that Dabengwa was instrumental in guiding MTN through significant phases of growth and transformation during his time at the company between 2011 and 2015.
“His strategic vision and deep understanding of the telecommunications sector were key to MTN’s success during this period,” it said.
Ralph Mupita, current MTN Group President and CEO, called his countryman “a giant.” The pair had spent more than a decade at the telecom together at various levels.
Dabengwa left MTN Group in 2015 amid a particularly turbulent period for the telecom. That year, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) imposed a $5.2 billion fine on MTN.
MTN was fined for allegedly failing to disconnect more than five million unregistered SIM cards on its network. As the CEO, Dabengwa took accountability and stepped down in the following months.
Not to be outdone by her late husband’s achievements, Mahanyele-Dabengwa is also a veteran in South Africa’s business environment.
She attended primary school in Maseru, Lesotho, before her family moved to Soweto, where she said her childhood home was. Her family would later relocate to Sandton.
In a 2020 interview with Women’s Report, Mahanyele-Dabengwa said that if she had a choice early on in her life, she would have become a ballerina.
However, her parents did not support this dream and instead pushed her to study. She completed her BA in Economics at Rutgers University in the United States.
She also has a Master’s Degree from De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom. Following her education, she returned to South Africa and was immediately placed in management roles.
Her earliest work experience included working as the manager of I&J Frozen Fish, an iconic South African frozen and battered fish supermarket brand, from 1995.
Nine years later, she was already a prominent CEO in South Africa, serving as head of the Shanduka Group, a leading South African investment holding company founded in 2001 by Cyril Ramaphosa.
The company has a sizeable portfolio, investing in sectors such as resources, telecommunications and financial services and had reported net assets worth around R8.8 billion in 2015.
In 2019, Mahanyele-Dabengwa became CEO of Naspers South Africa. She has since been recognised for her work at the company by various international organisations.
Mahanyele-Dabengwa was ranked 42nd in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women International list in 2020. She was also awarded CNBC Africa’s “Women of the Year Award” in 2019.
