Charmaine Mabuza Receives Prestigious Business Woman of the Year Award

Charmaine Mabuza, Group CEO of ITHUBA, has been honored with the Business Woman of the Year Award at the 19th Annual Premier Black Business Quarterly Awards (BBQ Awards) held on Friday, 24th March 2023, at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg. This award category recognizes female business leaders who demonstrate original entrepreneurship, leadership, diversification, innovation, and involvement in socio-economic development initiatives.

ITHUBA acknowledges Mabuza’s accomplishments as a significant black female leader in South Africa, having become the first black female CEO to be awarded the license to operate the National Lottery in June 2015. Under her leadership, ITHUBA has transformed into a digitally-driven organization, expanding its digital playing platforms and introducing the first-ever National Lottery Mobile App.

Mabuza co-founded Zamani Holdings, which includes subsidiaries like ITHUBA, each with independent management teams. As the licensed operator of the National Lottery, Mabuza’s leadership has facilitated life-changing wins for numerous players and created revenue for the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) for distribution to good causes.

Throughout her career, Mabuza has earned multiple awards, such as the Vision 2030 Top Woman in Education Award, Forbes Africa Social Impact Award (2020), CEO of the Year, Outstanding Women Leadership Award at the Africa Leadership Awards 2021, and a place on the Top 10 Influential Women in the global iGaming Business (IGB) list.

Passionate about gaming and socio-economic development, Mabuza has initiated numerous social corporate responsibility projects under ITHUBA, reflecting her commitment to sustainable growth and community investment. These initiatives include housing projects, food parcel distribution drives, the ITHUBA Bursary program for underprivileged students, the Supplier Enterprise Development program (SED), and the Female Retailer Development program.

Mabuza’s journey is a testament to the power of opportunity, hard work, resilience, and creativity. As Group CEO of ITHUBA, she aims to continue growing as an entrepreneur and achieve international recognition as a businesswoman.

“I believe that education is a critical contributing factor to economic growth; therefore, bursary programmes play a crucial role in increasing opportunities for those unable to afford tertiary education,” says Mabuza.