Up For The Challenge

Meet Gloria Serobe, the business dynamo who’s been tasked with overseeing the president’s Solidarity Fund

The thought of heading up one of the most important financial aid projects in recent history might make even the most seasoned of businesspeople nervous. But the woman who’s taken on the challenge of running the president’s Solidarity Fund is no stranger to tackling tough tasks.

When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced businesswoman Gloria Serobe would be in charge of the fund he’d created to help South Africans badly affected by the Co vid-19 strain of coronavirus, many who know her were relieved.

She’s a savvy businesswoman and a great choice to head up the independent board that decides how the money donated to the Solidarity Fund will be spent, corporate analysts said.

And she proved this when she and her team swung into action, committing R100 million to allow for the urgent buying of critical medical supplies, including five million surgical masks for health workers.

“Our key objective is to ensure rapid, nimble and targeted action to cushion the impact of Covid-19 for the most vulnerable members of society,” she said in a recent interview with online newspaper Daily Maverick.

The fund, which is receiving donations from far and wide, including from ordinary South Africans, had more than R500m within days.

But this isn’t daunting to a woman who’s been on the boards of several global businesses, held several high-powered positions and who cofounded Wiphold, the first investment company in SA owned and run by women.

She’s been dealing with formidable challenges ever since she was a young girl, one of only five in a prestigious boys’ school in the Eastern Cape.

Her experience at the school helped to form who she is today, she says in the book by Karina Turok, Life and Soul: Portraits of Women Who Move South Africa.