For a long time, Basani Maluleke wanted to be like her father, so she became an attorney. But soon, she realized that this was not something she wanted to do. In law, she felt like she was just documenting other people’s decisions, but never part of shaping the bigger future.
She told TRUELOVE in an interview that she wanted to play a larger role in creating ideas and seeing them through to fruition. She had, at the time, earned a BCom in Accounting from the University of Cape Town and had subsequently pursued an LLB in 2001.
She then decided to go into corporate finance and found a job at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) that combined finance skills with law. While at RMB, she got to know a lot about banking, and by 2009, she was studying for an MBA at the Kellogg School of Management in Illinois, United States, to grow her expertise in business management.
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She returned to South Africa and started working at RMB’s sister bank, FNB, as Head of Private Clients. She, however, left after a year and returned to corporate finance.
Maluleke went on to join African Bank as an independent non-executive director in 2015. In July 2017, she became the Group Executive Head of Operations for the bank.
By March 2018, Maluleke had been made the CEO of the bank, becoming the first black woman to run a major bank in South Africa.
“It’s a privilege to be the first in anything because it means a lot of people have trusted me with this responsibility, and many more have supported me along the way, something I’m deeply grateful for,” she told TRUELOVE. “But being the first also comes with immense responsibility. You need to make sure you are not the last. That means consistently performing at your best, demonstrating excellence and meeting the expectations of stakeholders.
“You are carrying the weight of so many people’s dreams, and it’s important to ensure that those watching see they can bank on their own dreams being within reach if they commit and apply themselves. When women see someone like them in spaces like this, they start to believe better possibilities exist for them, too. That visibility is powerful. It’s not something I take lightly.”
As reported by Business Tech, the group’s board believed that Maluleke played a major role in the turnaround of African Bank “after it was placed under curatorship in August 2014 amidst reckless lending and rising debts.”
While CEO, African Bank also expanded its digital banking offerings and was rated the best in customer satisfaction in the 2019 South African Customer Satisfaction Index.
Despite her numerous achievements at African Bank, Maluleke resigned in January 2021 after only three years and joined Capitec seven months later. Capitec is one of African Bank’s biggest competitors in the retail mass market, even though Capitec is the dominant player, having 23 million customers. African Bank, however, has about 5 million customers, according to figures cited by Business Tech.
Joining Capitec was not a tough choice for Maluleke, as she had always admired the bank’s system and its feat of having the best operations engine of any bank in South Africa, as reported by Business Tech.
At Capitec, Maluleke started as the divisional executive of business solutions in October 2021 before becoming the divisional executive of operations in July 2022.
“Her leadership ensures that every interaction, whether in-branch or through digital channels, is designed with a clear focus on simplicity, transparency, affordability, and personalisation,” Capitec said.
“Basani’s passion lies in empowering clients, enabling them to make informed decisions that best suit their financial needs, while always striving to improve and innovate the way Capitec engages with its valued clients.”
The South African history maker went on to become the group executive for the bank’s personal finance division. Maluleke now hopes that her career journey will inspire young women to work hard to reach bigger positions in their field.
“As for inspiring young women, my hope is that by consistently showing up and giving others confidence that excellence can take many different forms, I’m opening doors.”
