Some leadership journeys begin in politics. Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster’s began much earlier, on the road between a township home and a private school in one of Johannesburg’s established suburbs.

From the age of four, Nobuntu grew up between two very different environments. Her family home was in a developing township, while her school was in a leafy, established part of the city. The daily journey between them took her through neighbourhoods with very different histories, communities and living conditions.

Sometimes she and her father travelled by car. Sometimes they took a bus. Those journeys became an early education of their own. Her father spoke to her about apartheid, the struggle, politics, capitalism and opportunity. He explained why the quality of education, infrastructure and resources could differ so sharply from one part of a city to another, and why these differences were not simply a matter of geography.

Looking back, the significance of those years is not simply that Nobuntu saw two sides of Johannesburg. She learned to ask why opportunity is distributed differently, and what it takes to change that.

One question has remained with her throughout her career:

“Who gets a real chance?”

For Nobuntu, that question eventually became an economic one. Who gets access to capital, networks and markets? Who can build a business rather than simply survive? Who has the opportunity to create wealth and connect to a wider economy?

Her professional journey took her from corporate South Africa into entrepreneurship, enterprise development, business organisations and civil society, where she built businesses and platforms focused on economic participation. Her move into politics was a natural continuation of this work, bringing her experience closer to the institutions that shape opportunities for people and businesses.

Today, Nobuntu is a Member of the South African National Assembly and serves on the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition. She is also the President of the BEA South Africa National Chapter.

And now she is taking another step in that journey: Nobuntu is running for Mayor of Johannesburg in the 2026 local elections.

Johannesburg can play an important role in that process. For Nobuntu, this is not simply a question of policy. She brings to this challenge direct experience from both business and Parliament, where she has engaged with issues affecting small businesses, entrepreneurship and economic participation. Her focus has consistently been on widening opportunities for people to build sustainable businesses and participate more fully in the economy.

For MSMEs, the city is part of the business environment in which entrepreneurs find premises, reach customers, employ people, move goods and build their companies. The challenge is therefore larger than supporting individual entrepreneurs. It is about creating an environment in which businesses can move from survival to sustainability and from local activity to wider markets.

This is closely aligned with the work of BRICS Entrepreneurs Alliance and its focus on strengthening entrepreneurial communities and connecting businesses across BRICS+.

For BRICS Entrepreneurs Alliance, Nobuntu’s role is also a reflection of the people who make the Alliance what it is: entrepreneurs and business leaders who bring practical experience from their own markets while looking beyond national borders.

Her journey began with a child looking through a bus window at a changing Johannesburg. It continued through business and institution-building and has now brought her to a new chapter in the city whose contrasts first shaped her understanding of opportunity.

For BEA, we are proud to know Nobuntu as our South African National Chapter President and to see her take this next step in public life.

We wish her success on the road ahead!