MTN Zakhele Futhi, the black economic empowerment scheme of MTN Group, has tapped lawyer Belinda Mapongwana as its chairperson.
Mapongwana will replace Sindisiwe Mabaso-Koyana, who will be stepping down given her appointment to the board of MTN Group. But she will remain a director of MTN Zakhele Futhi.
Mapongwana’s appointment is effective from 16 September 2020.
MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi is a ring-fenced special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating investment by previously disadvantaged South Africans in MTN Group (MTN).
It holds about 77 million shares in MTN, amounting to 4% of MTN’s issued share capital.
It also has about 89 000 shareholders holding 123.4 million MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi ordinary shares.
The MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi shares are tracking the performance of MTN Group.
Mapongwana is the founder of Mapongwana Attorneys, a boutique law firm based in Sandton.
Her law firm began operating in 2014 and provides practical and cost-effective legal solutions to businesses experiencing corporate commercial law and commercial litigation challenges.
She commenced her articles in the Commercial Department of Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys. Soon after that, she was awarded a scholarship to study an LLM in International Business Law in Amsterdam, where she graduated with Honorable Mention. After that, she completed an internship at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. She returned to Bowmans where she was promoted to Associate. In 2005, she joined the Corporate Commercial Department of ENS.
From 2007 to 2009, she was a Fellow of the Cyrus Vance South African Visiting Lawyer Program in New York, where she spent time at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (in the M&A and Private Equity Departments), and at Morgan Stanley, in the Global Structured Products team.
In 2010, Belinda joined Absa Capital Compliance as Vice President, advising the Private Equity and Investment Banking Divisions on all Compliance, Risk Management and Corporate Governance matters. In October 2011, she was seconded to Barclays Capital in London in the Investment Banking and Equity Syndicate Compliance Department. In April 2014, Belinda left Absa and founded Mapongwana Attorneys. – [email protected]