As the days draw nearer to the annual Founder’s Lecture, MUT has firmed up its programme with confirmed speakers, especially the keynote speaker, Zwelakhe Mnguni.
He is a distinguished South African investment professional, entrepreneur, and Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Benguela Global Fund Managers, an investment management firm established in 2013 that manages more than R7 billion in assets.
Mnguni’s journey is a compelling story of resilience, discipline and the transformative power of education. Raised in Sebokeng, Mnguni completed matric with strong academic results but was unable to proceed to university immediately due to financial constraints. Determined to pursue higher education, he worked as a security guard for four years, diligently saving towards his studies. His academic excellence later earned him bursaries and scholarships.
Mnguni holds a BCom Honours degree in Financial Management and has built a distinguished career spanning more than two decades in investment management. His professional journey includes experience at Cadiz Asset Management, Allan Gray, STANLIB and Mergence Investment Managers, where he served as Head of Equities and Portfolio Manager. At STANLIB, he managed the Global Science and Technology Fund and co-managed the STANLIB Value Fund.
In 2013, he co-founded Benguela Global Fund Managers, driven by a vision to build globally competitive investment-management capability in South Africa while creating opportunities for local skills development and participation in the financial sector. From working as a security guard to becoming the Chief Investment Officer of a multibillion-rand investment firm, Mnguni’s journey embodies the possibilities that arise when education, opportunity, discipline, and purpose converge.
His story speaks profoundly to the very reason Mangosuthu University of Technology exists. When Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi conceived the institution that would become MUT, his vision was rooted in a simple yet powerful conviction: that a young person’s circumstances should never determine the limits of their potential, and that education could serve as a bridge between exclusion and opportunity.