Herman Mashaba
|
The Honourable Councillor Herman Mashaba |
|
|---|---|
| 3rd Mayor of the City of Johannesburg | |
|
Assumed office 22 August 2016 |
|
| Preceded by | Parks Tau |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
26 August 1959 Hammanskraal, Transvaal, South Africa |
| Nationality | South Africa |
| Political party | Democratic Alliance |
| Spouse(s) | Connie Mashaba |
| Children | Khensani Mashaba and Rhulani Mashaba |
| Alma mater | University of Pretoria (BCompt) |
Herman Mashaba is a South African entrepreneur, politician and Mayor of Johannesburg. He is the founder of the hair products company Black Like Me. He is famous in South Africa for his life story: one of growing up and struggling against poverty and the Apartheid government to open his own hair business, which became the biggest hair brand in South Africa, making him a millionaire. He publicly backed Mmusi Maimane in the Democratic Alliance leadership race. He also wrote the book Black Like You which is his autobiography. Philosophically, he is a libertarian and "capitalist crusader" whose highest value is "individual freedom."
On August 22, 2016, Mashaba was voted in as Mayor of Johannesburg by the first sitting of council.
Mashaba was brought up in near-poverty in GaRamotse in Hammanskraal, Gauteng, by his sisters while his absent domestic-worker mother worked to provide for the family.
His older brother dropped out of school at 15, going from one unsubstantial job to another. Mashaba realised that an education would be crucial for him to break out of the cycle of poverty. He graduated from high school, but did not complete his tertiary education.
From a young age he was a strategic thinker - he bought a car without having a license and drove out of the dealership without ever having learned to drive. He drove himself from one selling job to another, in the process confirming for himself that he was a natural salesman with an unswerving instinct for business. He started selling "SuperKurl" African hair-care products and became their number-one earner. He soon realised that these products excited him and that he wasn't content to be just an employee. (Reference: Book titled "South Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs", compiled by Moky Makura, article written by Isabella Morris)
His company, "Black Like Me", was launched on Valentine’s Day in 1985 with a R30,000 loan from his friend, businessman Walter Dube.
Mashaba is also a music lover. After five years of secret lessons, he revealed himself as a pianist.
From 2012 until May 2014, Mashaba served as chairman of the Free Market Foundation (FMF). He stepped down from his position when he joined the Democratic Alliance as an "ordinary card-carrying member", citing the need for the Foundation to remain political impartial.
...
Wikipedia