She may be retiring, but she is excited about the new and exciting journey ahead. Matshidiso Mlaba, the Deputy Director of Marketing, is a fashion designer, mother, cook and cyclist. But for the past 14 years, she was also a whiz in the City’s marketing directorate and one of the key builders of brand Joburg.
She joined the City in 2008 as Director of Marketing and was tasked with helping establish the marketing unit. She headhunted an amazing team of people and together they became formidable. “It was an exciting time for me,” she says with a smile. Departments and entities were allocated to team members, and she took on Economic Development, the City Manager’s and Mayor’s offices.
Her focus was “one brand, one everything”. During her tenure, she played a crucial role in building the City’s brand into what it is today, to the point that “when you see just one element in your head, you will complete the whole picture”.
In 2009, the team prepared for the FIFA World Cup and successfully launched the “You Make Joburg Great” campaign. In 2014, she joined Tourism as a Deputy Director, and in 2016 returned to Marketing.
Mlaba hails from Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, but spent many of her childhood years in Polokwane before returning to Pheli, as her hood is called. She obtained a Marketing degree from the University of the North (Turfloop) and a BCom Honours in Marketing and Research from Unisa. She has extensive experience in sales and marketing and also worked for big companies like Nestle and Gillette.
After taking a break to do fashion designing, Mlaba returned to the corporate world before joining the City.
She has a zest for life, which is reflected in her personality and never shies away from a challenge. She recently passed a food preparation course in flying colours, and she never says no to travelling and new experiences. You can’t say Mlaba without thinking of fun, food, and travel.
Mlaba travels regularly to India, and it has become one of her favourite destinations. She has also travelled to Brazil, the US (New York was her first international trip), Italy, France, and the Czech Republic, among others. Her next destination is Germany.
For leisure, Mlaba enjoys watching Formula 1 and thinks Lewis Hamilton is the best thing since sliced bread. She helped form the City’s cycling team and has had close brushes with the tarmac.
The mother of three, one son and two daughters, has several ideas for her next chapter, but farming will definitely be part of it. Her last day in the office is Thursday, 30 June. Mlaba is signing off in style and is ready to make a success of her new beginning.
Written by Brümilda Swartbooi
24/06/2022