8:37 AM
Ndivhuwo Manyonga, CEO of The Federated Mutual Assurance Company
(FEM), became a true South African pioneer when she obtained her
fellowship in 2005 as the first black African female actuary.
The first step
towards her destiny was attaining a Bachelor of Business Science Degree
(Actuarial Science) and a Post Graduate Diploma (Actuarial Science), from the
University of Cape-Town (UCT) – the number one university in the whole of Africa.
After a series of sixteen gruelling exams, she was finally inducted as a fellow
of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA) in a qualification that is
known for its high attrition rate.
Little
did the young Venda ingénue know that she would make history in a male
dominated, white majority profession, and thus open the door for other black African
women to follow.
In the footsteps of women like Manyonga, now almost 300 women
in South Africa are actuaries and the number of black females among them is
growing steadily.
Manyonga recollects that she was
a 16-year-old matriculant, who was still very much a baby, although a very
determined one, when she ventured into this uncharted territory.
Her main
concern was to harness her sterling academic proficiency in choosing a
profession that would provide financial freedom for her and her family. So initially,
she gravitated towards becoming a doctor or chartered accountant because her marks
were so good as to give her options.
Thanks to her Grade 11 Mathematics
teacher, Mrs Maganbhai at Nest Phuthing (now Summit College), who identified
her aptitude for numbers and introduced her to Actuarial Science. And so, Manyonga
met her appointment with destiny.
The reluctant pioneer
Not one to fly the flag of her
remarkable achievement, Manyonga is quick to point out that she only became
aware of her pioneer status while writing her final board exams.
When asked if
she is comfortable with the label of “pioneer” she replies: “How do I embrace
something that was not a deliberate decision on my side? It was not an
objective. In fact, even when I qualified, it was not a limelight I was
seeking. I am an introvert and did not want the publicity. But over time I saw
the interest around me in a positive light.
"I realised that my journey could
hopefully be a platform to influence others. Because sometimes you can
underestimate the impact you have just by being you. You can show people that
you have the same struggles as them, but still stay focused on the prize”.
The numerous qualifications which
have armed Manyonga for the profession include a Certificate in Board Leadership:
GIBS (October 2010); a Certificate of Competence in Enterprise Risk Management:
Alexander Forbes Risk Services (May 2008); a Post Graduate Diploma in Actuarial
Science: University of Cape-Town (2002 – 2003), a Diploma in Actuarial
Techniques: Faculty and Institute of Actuaries (2002); a Bachelor of Business
Science (Actuarial Science): University of Cape-Town (1998-2001) and her
Matriculation: Nest Phuthing High School (renamed Summit College) (1997).
Together with her qualifications,
she also garnered awards from the Actuarial Women’s Committee: Woman Pioneer in
the Actuarial Profession (2012); Association for South African Black Actuarial
Professionals: Achiever’s Award (2011); Old Mutual Corporate Excellence Awards:
Recipient of the product innovation award (2006); Old Mutual Group Assurance’s Recognition
Awards: Recipient of the innovation award and joint overall winner (2005); ABSIP
(Association for Black Securities and Investments Professionals) Achievers
Award: Awarded for being the first Black African female actuary in SA (2005).
Quarter-life crisis
Manyonga reflects on how intense
her academics and training were.
After her single-minded goal of finishing the
degree, training and fellowship, she paused afterwards, only to discover that
she had met her daunting goal of qualifying for her profession, but had not had
the time to plan the way forward from there.
She laughs when she divulges her
“quarter life-crisis” experience because she had a one-track mind to qualify
and once she was done, she was not sure where to from there. “And then what
now? How do I take control of my own destiny?” she asked herself.
EQ is as important as IQ
As one of the youngest among her
work colleagues, yet notching up confidence-boosting successes with her work,
Manyonga was still feeling around in the dark to identify her authentic
destiny.
It soon dawned on her that she had the IQ to fulfil her job
specifications, but was still cultivating the EQ to match.
Through deliberate introspection,
Manyonga realised that overcoming psychological and emotional battles to
cultivate EQ were just as important as applying IQ.
In much the same way she
sacrificed to achieve her professional goals, she realised that she needed to
undergo a rite of passage in her personal development too.
An impeccable career trajectory to match an impressive qualification
Manyonga’s career trajectory is
just as impressive as her qualifications. Building upon her academic
foundation, Manyonga assumed her first professional tenure in 2002 as an Actuarial
Assistant with her academic sponsor for her last year at UCT, Old Mutual.
From
then onward she would be catapulted into various actuarial science roles from
2002 to date. Over the past decade and a half Manyonga has cultivated impeccable
experience as a risk consultant, consulting actuary, deputy CEO, executive head
of employee benefits and CEO. The companies at which she gained this experience
include Old Mutual, Aon South Africa and now FEM.
In addition to her corporate
roles, Manyonga developed her entrepreneurial skills and diverse work
experience in actuarial concepts, employee benefits, retirement funding, and
investment strategies. She wanted to add value to organisations through
consulting and board participation as a non-executive director.
In a rather productive
“quarter-life-crisis”, Manyonga enhanced her career footprint, as a
self-employed independent actuary in the financial services industry. Key
clients at this stage were the Presidential Working Group on Women as well as
Old Mutual South Africa on their joint Financial Solutions for Women
initiative, aimed at economically empowering women of South Africa through the
provision of appropriate financial solutions.
A different environment at FEM with a different impetus
Manyonga was then headhunted in
2017 to become the CEO of FEM, a position she holds to date.
From a landscape
of international, multinational, listed companies and shareholders, and board members
situated in different countries, Manyonga is now enjoying a less complex and centralised
decision-making structure at FEM.
“Coming from mainly profit-driven industries and joining an entity
that is a mutual, I quickly saw that I am in a very different environment with
a different impetus. Rather than profit, efficiency of delivery is the driver
at FEM. From an underwriting perspective, the mutual still has to break even
and remain conservatively capitalised, but the shareholders in this instance
are the construction industry employers who are our policyholders.
"Income generated
from employer premiums is ploughed back into a compensation structure for their
injured employees and rebates are paid out to policyholders for exemplary health
and safety practices, as evidenced by a lower claims experience, “explains
Manyonga.
The higher purpose of what we do at FEM
In addition, Manyonga has fervently
adopted FEM’s motto of passion and compassion for FEM clients, particularly the
injured employee and the beneficiaries of their compensation outlays.
“The
construction industry is one of the largest employers in the economy, it is
also a high risk industry. There is a high number of low-income earners who are
also likely to be bread-winners with multiple dependents. This means that when
an accident occurs in the line of duty, resulting in an injury, all effort needs
to be made to pay the claim speedily, so that the worker can get the necessary
medical attention, be rehabilitated, and return to their much-needed job. In
the worst case scenario, where a death occurs, we need to ensure that the
beneficiaries receive their compensation timeously for continuity of income”
says Manyonga.
What is Manyonga’s higher purpose?
Careful to note that even though
she is steering the ship at FEM, she is only one of a team. Through FEM, Manyonga finds that she is
serving a social purpose, entrenched in Section 27 of the South African
Constitution, with respect to facilitating the basic rights to social security
for employees and their dependents, when they unable to support themselves due
to a work-related accident..
When considering the 8000 odd
reported accidents per annum across FEM’s policyholders, she has top of mind
awareness of the people whose lives are affected.
“Most of these workers have
no alternative career options, moreover when they are injured. So it’s
imperative for FEM to fund medical services and
provide compensation as soon as possible, because the injured employees cannot afford
a gap in ability to earn income,” elaborates Manyonga
Manyonga is often disheartened
that FEM can only step in when health and safety has failed, when someone has
become vulnerable, or in the tragic eventuality of death when the family has to
be taken care of.
“It’s about empowering employees to access benefits, also about
engaging with employers who are not compliant. If needs be, we report those employers
to the Department of Labour for underreporting accidents, where they will
suffer penalties for non-compliance”, she says.
Therefore, she highlights,
effective compensation is ensured by both employers and employees.
Black budding actuaries are in serious need of mentorship
With the understanding that black
females have to surmount the perception that Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) careers are the reserve of men; that even when they
enrol for the actuarial academic programme, many fall by the wayside owing to a
combination of factors which are among others, social issues, societal
pressures and lack of mentorship.
In this light, Manyonga believes that it is
imperative to help them surmount these hurdles.
Thus, she has welcomed opportunities
over the years to speak to and mentor these young black women. Manyonga
welcomes platforms to inspire, motivate and guide these budding actuaries.
She believes
that most of the women who are capable in her sphere just need all the support
to know that it can be done in much the same way that she did. She believes
that being a pioneer is not about her destiny only, but about the destinies of
those who follow suit.
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