Meet Our CEO

1. About Prof Phakeng.

Prof Phakeng is a globally recognised leader and the driving force behind PerspicuityConsulting. An esteemed academic-turned-businesswoman, she served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (Africa’s top university) after holdingsuccessive executive roles in the South African higher education space, includingExecutive Dean and Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
A mathematician by training (PhD, University of the Witwatersrand), she is one of theworld’s leading scholars in mathematics education, honoured with two honorarydoctorates (University of Bristol in the UK, 2019; University of Ottawa in Canada,2022). 

2. Awards & Global Recognition.

Her excellence in research and education has been recognised withnumerous awards, notably the Order of the Baobab (Silver) bestowed upon her bythe President of South Africa (2016) and inclusion in Forbes’ “50 Most PowerfulWomen in Africa”.

3. Leadership at UCT.

When Prof Phakeng assumed leadership at UCT, the institution faced one of its mostchallenging periods in modern history. The aftermath of Fees Must Fall had left theuniversity deeply divided, its campuses disrupted by repeated shutdowns thatrequired police and private security intervention, and its global rankings had fallenacross all major university rankings.
Under her leadership, UCT rose to hold the top position in Africa across all five majorglobal university rankings a position it retained throughout her tenure. Sheachieved this by rebuilding institutional stability, championing academic excellence,and uniting a fractured community under a shared purpose of dignity, equity, andexcellence. Through consistent and transparent engagement with students, staff,and alumni, she restored the university’s sense of pride and belonging. During herleadership, there were no major shutdowns and not once was police or private security deployed on campus, which is testament to decisiveness as a leader andempathy as a mother, qualities that earned her the affectionate title “Deputy Mother”.
Her tenure also marked unprecedented growth in fundraising and institutionaladvancement. She personally led donor relations and global campaigns, and securedthe largest cumulative fundraising in UCT’s history, which significantly expandedresearch, infrastructure, and scholarship opportunities. Under her leadership, theGraduate School of Business, which had fallen from the rankings and operated foryears without an executive director, was revived. She appointed a capable leadershipteam, stabilised its finances, and repositioned it as a globally respected businessschool once again.
At the same time, she diversified the university’s revenue base by, among otherthings, launching new short-course portfolios and establishing the UCT OnlineSchool, which enrolled over 4,000 students in its first year. 

4. Impact During COVID-19.

Prof Phakeng led the university through a succession of crises, including the global COVID-19 pandemic, yet no crisis under her leadership ever derailed the university’s academic project.UCT became the first university in South Africa to send students home in responseto the national health emergency, even before the national lockdown began.
Under her direction, UCT was the first institution in the country to deliver laptops tostudents from disadvantaged backgrounds, to ensure equitable access to remotelearning. She also personally phoned the CEOs of major mobile-network providers tonegotiate zero-rated access to UCT’s online platforms, which enabled all students tostudy without data costs. This groundbreaking step was later adopted nationwide.

5. Philanthropy.

Prof Phakeng is also a passionate philanthropist. She founded the Adopt-a-LearnerFoundation in 2004 to support disadvantaged students, and as Vice-Chancellor shefamously waived her inauguration fees to clear the outstanding debts of over 100students who had completed their studies but were unable to graduate due tofinancial constraints. Since then, she donated 20% of her monthly salary and 100%of proceeds from her public speaking engagements to her scholarship fundadministered by UCT.

6. Entrepreneurship.

After retiring from academia in 2023, she was appointed to the Presidential AdvisoryCouncil on National Orders and embarked on an entrepreneurial journey. Herbusiness interests include energy, farming (poultry, crop and tobacco), media, andprofessional services. As a speaker, she has delivered over 200 keynotes worldwide.In all roles, Kgethi (as she is affectionately known) exemplifies integrity, vision, andcompassion. Under her leadership, Perspicuity Consulting brings this spirit ofpurpose-driven service to every client engagement.