Renowned for her contribution to the empowerment of black women in South Africa and described as a torchbearer of our times, Gloria Tomatoe Serobe is a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Committee and the Presidential Working Group for Women, as well as a member of various boards.

"At just 1.52 metres, she proves the adage that dynamite comes in small packages".

Best known for her role as one of four co-founders of Women Investment Portfolio Holdings (Wiphold) - the first women’s group established post-1994 to list on the JSE (listed in 1999, although it de-listed in 2003) - and for her current role as CEO of Wipcapital, a subsidiary of Wiphold focusing on operational financial services, Gloria ascribes her success to hard work and a driving ambition. And this, she says, is at least in part attributable to the high expectations of her held by her maternal grandfather, Rev John Zamile Ndaliso, who played a formative role in her life.

Although born in Cape Town, this competent and tough corporate businesswoman was sent to St John’s High School in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, where schooling was of a higher quality. She was amongst the first group of five girls to attend the boys’ high school.

After matriculating, Gloria, who is one of 10 siblings and hails from a large family of successful entrepreneurs, obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Transkei. She then went on to complete her MBA at the University of Rutgers State in the US on a Fulbright scholarship.

Her first job was for Exxon Corporation in the US as a trainee accountant, after which she returned to South Africa to work in various positions for the Premier Group’s Epic Oils and then Munich Reinsurance. She opted for a cut in salary to escape the routine of accounting and moved into investment and merchant banking with Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank.

Gloria, who turns 50 on September 20 this year, moved to state transport utility Transnet as group financial director in 1996 and stayed there until 2001, serving as a member of the board as well as on the boards of subsidiaries at the time, including Spoornet, Portnet, Petronet and South African Airways.

Wiphold was founded in 1994 as a dedicated broad-based black empowerment company focused on the empowerment of women. The company listed on the JSE in 1999 and survived some turbulent years leading up to a delisting in 2003 as one of the few surviving BBBEE companies that established soon after the 1994 democratic elections. Wiphold’s shareholding is majority owned (in excess of 60%) by women, also majority black-owned (50.3%) and has 1 200 direct beneficiaries and 18 000 indirect beneficiaries through the Wiphold Investment Trust. A further 200 000 women benefit through the Wiphold Non-Governmental Organisation Trust, making an economic impact in each of South Africa’s nine provinces.

In 2005 Gloria was instrumental in brokering a R7.2 billion empowerment deal for a 12.75% stake in the London-listed Old Mutual Group, of which Wiphold and other BEE consortiums were beneficiaries. Critics say she is haughty and used to getting her own way, but her admirers say she’s just driven.

Her hard work has been rewarded with a number of accolades, including the Impumeleleo Top 300 Award in 2003 for her contribution to transformation, job creation, the economy and as a BEE role model. In 2004 she received the ABSIP Pioneer of Empowerment Award and was winner of the Business category of the 2005 Top Women in Business and Government, and twas the 2006 winner of Businesswoman of the Year Award in the corporate category.

"Gloria remains a much-loved pioneer in the field of economic empowerment for women and a well-respected businesswoman"

In 2006 she also won the African Woman Chartered Accountants Woman of Substance Award and was a finalist, together with Wiphold CEO Louisa Mojela, in the SA chapter of the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Award. She has also been awarded the president’s award by the Institute of People Management, and recognised by the Black Management Forum for championing the empowerment of women. Although she received some negative press for controversy surrounding her nomination onto the SABC board, Gloria remains a much-loved pioneer in the field of economic empowerment for women and a well-respected businesswoman.