THABISILE PHUMO, A GIFT TO THE NATION AND A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH
(Left to right) Prof Letlhokwa Mpedi, Mr Frans Baleni, Ms Thabisile Charity Phumo, and Prof Bettine van Vuuren
If there is someone who is the epitome of academic development and support, it has to be Thabisile Phumo. As a 2023 recipient of UJ’s Dignitas Awards, the Corporate Affairs Specialist is a force to be reckoned with and more. Born and bred in the east rand township, Daveyton, Phumo was always inspired by the women who raised her.
Phumo, who is a mother of three daughters, studied at what was then the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), did her Honours in Corporate Communication and this, she said, was the start of the opening of her horizons. “After I finished studying at RAU, I was called a couple of years later to do what they call Content Review from a corporate perspective. I came in and did that for the Department of Strategic Communication at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). That is how I became associated with the University, and I went on to collaborate with the same department through research. This culminated in the publishing of Strategic Communication: South African Perspectives . This is a book that I co-edited with two of the Profs, one of which is the late - Prof Sonja Verwey.” Phumo was pulled in and has been involved in curating programmes, course facilitation and training, and academic projects as a curriculum reviewer, contributor to research and one of the content reviewers for the 10th Edition of the Handbook for Public Relations . As mentioned before, she is co-editor of Strategic Communication : South African Perspectives and is a member of the Academic Advisory Board for Strategic Communication at UJ. She was previously a board member of the Public Relations Institute of South Africa (PRISA) and Chairperson of Group Technical Security Management (Pty) Ltd. Phumo was recognised as the 7th leader in Mining Elites in Africa 2022.
“I GREW UP AROUND STRONG WOMEN AND THIS HELPED SHAPE MY CAREER, PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF WORKING IN MALE- DOMINATED ENVIRONMENTS. THAT STRENGTH ENABLED ME TO KNOW THAT NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU WORK HARD. NOTHING CAN STAND IN YOUR WAY IF YOU ARE ABLE TO SEE PEOPLE AS PEOPLE,” SHE SAID.
52
ALUMNI IMPUMELELO
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online