Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa September 2015 | Page 44

POWERFUL WOMEN IN PROPERTY

Ipeleng Mkhari
Starting small, step by step
BY MONIQUE TERRAZAS

I

peleng Mkhari is the co-founder and Chief
Executive Officer of Motseng Investment
Holdings (MIH). With a Bachelor of Social
Science degree from the University of Natal, she
established the first black woman owned CCTV
business from humble beginnings.
“When I finished varsity I landed a job as the
marketing director of a CCTV company. A year
later, I started my own CCTV business,” says
Ipeleng. “I operated out of my father’s study in
the beginning. I landed a CCTV contract with
Kunene Brothers, but with no money and no access
to credit to buy equipment, I had to get bridging
finance from the bank. I had to pay the money back
within a month, so I made sure the installation
was absolutely perfect and reimbursed the bank
as agreed. This deal provided the seed capital for
Motseng.”
Ipeleng, along
with
Sandile
Nomvete,
subsequently co-founded the diversified MIH
group in 1998. Over the next few years, Ipeleng
held various positions in the company and is still
a director of all MIH subsidiaries. She has also
served as an independent, non-executive director of
various public companies. Her achievements have
been recognised through a number of nominations
and awards, including being named Cosmopolitan
Mover of the Year, and being recognised as a finalist

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SEPTEMBER 2015 SA Real Estate Investor

in the BWA’s Entrepreneurial Business Woman
of the Year and the WPN 5 Star Woman Award
in 2006. In 2008, Ipeleng was awarded the Tutu
Fellowship and was recognised as a leading woman
in government and business by the CEO magazine.
Ipeleng also completed the Executive Development
Programme at Wits Business School.
Motseng takes off
“After Sandile joined the business, we concluded
our first deal with a large security company,”
recalls Ipeleng. “We moved into property services,
enabling us to start managing assets valued at
over R1,7 million. Today we are the largest wholly
black-owned property management company in the
country and our executive management comprises
of 100% black South Africans.”
Motseng Investment Holdings is a diversified
investment holding company with investment
and operations in property through the property
investment and property services boutiques, as well
as diversified strategic investments. This multifaceted organisation employs 600 people and is
invested in a wide portfolio of listed and unlisted
companies with key holdings in the property sector.
“We strive to become the premier blackowned investment group in Southern Africa and
to have a universal reputation for our investment
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