Mthunzi Perry-Mason Mdwaba is an entrepreneur, businessman, executive and passionate advocate for business in all its diverse forms and across developing and developed nations. He is a fierce defender of skills development, the conditions required for sustainable enter-prises and business and human rights.
He is the founder, President and CEO of TZoro IBC, an investment and business consul-tancy, building on his career as an entrepreneur, deal-maker and negotiator.
Until November 2010, Mthunzi held the post of Group Chairman & CEO of Torque IT, South Africa, now a world-class company. When he and his team purchased Torque IT, it was insolvent. Mthunzi and his team turned it into a company that now operates across 27 countries, dedicated to Computer Technical Training Solutions (the largest partner for Cisco and Microsoft). He was also the Deputy CEO of a listed entity on the JSE which acquired Torque IT. Under his leadership Torque IT won numerous business awards annually, including “Cisco Partner of the Year” for 7 years in a row. Mthunzi has also personally won numerous business awards, nominated by his peers, including IT personality of the year (2004), and businessman of the year by two organisations (2009), among numerous others.
Within organized business in South Africa, he has held numerous leadership positions – testament to the confidence that people have in him. He has held the position of Chairman of the Employer Organisations, namely, the BITF (Black Information Technology Forum) made up of black IT professionals in South Africa and for two terms was President of the ITA (Information Technology Association), made up of all the major IT & Telecoms companies such as Cisco, SAP and Siemens. He was a board member of the Business Women’s Association in South Africa and was, in fact, the first man to have this honour! He subsequently held the positions of firstly, Vice-President for Professionals, made up of all members of the professional organisations of BUSA (Business Unity South Africa) and, subsequently, Vice-President of the Uni-sectoral Sector, made up of the technology, hospitality, banking and mining sectors.
His achievements in South Africa have been recognized at a global level. He currently holds many strategic positions within the global employer arena, including that of IOE Vice-President to the ILO, Vice Chairman of the ILO GB, ex-officio member of the Global Commission on the Future of Work, Employer Spokesman for the PFA (Programme, Finance & Administration), member of the B20 Task Force on Employment & Education (having been a member of all Task Forces since the beginning of the B20/G20 process), Chairman of the CSR & Business and Human Rights Policy Working Group of the IOE and at home in South Africa is Chairman of Signum Alliance(Telecoms & Fibre Optic OSH Association), Chairman of the University of the Western Cape, as well as Chairman of Productivity SA.
Born in the rural village of Coville, Herschel in the Eastern Cape in South Africa, he is the proud father of three (two boys and one girl) and one granddaughter. Both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (BA LLB) are from the University of the Witwatersrand Wits). He is a very keen cyclist and duathlete (to include running)11, participating in cycling races and tours over the last 17 years, including sections of the Tour de France a few years ago. He has also taken part in the Change a Life Cycling Tour, together with about 70 CEOs and Executives from different companies. The Change a Life Cycling Tour raises millions of rands (approximately $200,000) annually for deserving charity causes.