The Mandela community and the public flocked to the University’s Conference Centre at North Campus for the address by Dr Ntombifuthi Mtoba, 2025 honorary doctorate recipient at Mandela University, under the theme: Reimagining Inclusive Economies and Institutions for a Just Society: The Role of Ethical Leadership and Women’s Economic Empowerment.
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Dr Dikeledi Mokoena University of Johannesburg lecturer, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sibongile Muthwa, Dr Jasmine Kinsman Business Management HoD, Prof Hendrik Lloyd Business and Economic Sciences' Executive Dean, Prof Pamela Maseko Humanities Executive Dean and Dr Ntombifuthi Mtoba.
Dr Ongama Mtimka, acting director of the Raymond Mhlaba Centre, was the programme director for the lecture, anchored by the world-renowned business leader, chartered accountant and governance expert.
Dr Mtoba opened her keynote by framing ethical leadership as a practical, lived responsibility rather than an abstract ideal.
Dr Ntombifuthi Mtoba
She stressed that ethical leadership is revealed through decisions made and avoided, and through the distribution of benefits and exclusions within society.
“Inequality is not incidental, so when leadership fails to engage the question of moral responsibility, the consequences are not abstract, but real.”
A major focus of her address was framing gender inequality and women’s economic exclusion as moral and institutional failures, rather than mere policy gaps.
She argued that these inequalities are rooted in historical systems and perpetuated by institutional practices that normalise exclusion.
“Institutions are never neutral arrangements but repositories of values, reflecting what society chooses to privilege and what it chooses to overlook,” Dr Mtoba said.
She reframed women’s economic empowerment as a matter of justice and structural transformation, emphasising that inclusion must go beyond presence to meaningful access and resources.
She identified four key pillars:
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Ethical leadership as an institutional imperative
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Women’s empowerment as structural transformation
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Policy as a moral instrument
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Reimagining inclusive economies as a just society
Across these themes, she argued that leadership must be embedded in systems rather than reliant on individual virtue, and that economic systems must prioritise dignity, care and shared prosperity, noting that budgets are not just numbers but statements of societal priorities.
Dr Mtoba concluded by reminding universities of their responsibility in the contestation of ideas, particularly shaping ethical leadership discourse.
Dr Jasmine Kinsman, right, Head of the Department of Business Management at Mandela University, who was one of two respondents, echoed this sentiment, stating, “We are not neutral observers. We shape professional standards, curricula, and ethical norms.”
She stressed that ethical leadership and women’s economic empowerment are not abstract concepts but lived realities that shape households, markets and intergenerational wealth.
“Ethical leadership is not simply a matter of personal virtue, but of moral courage to confront and redesign systems that reproduce inequality. When finance lacks ethics, it extracts more than it gives. When ethics lack structural change, it becomes symbolic,” Dr Kinsman said
Dr Dikeledi Mokoena, lecturer in Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg, argued that ethical failures are not only institutional but also occur through everyday silence and inaction.
She warned that individualising systemic problems risks widespread corruption, emphasising that women’s empowerment benefits entire societies through increased productivity, tax contributions, and social stability.
In her opening remarks, Mandela University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sibongile Muthwa, left, highlighted the lecture series’ growth into a flagship event, emphasising its role in fostering dialogue on values-based leadership during a period of global uncertainty.
She stressed the importance of universities as institutions of public good, arguing they must actively create platforms for engagement, critical dialogue and leadership development rooted in ethics and social responsibility.
“We need to continue creating platforms to engage in courageous conversations on what it means to lead society from a values-based standpoint,” Prof Muthwa said.
She linked the lecture to one of the University’s strategic priorities of revitalising the Humanities, centring ethics and human-focused leadership in discussions about economic development and societal challenges.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, patron of the lecture series, reinforced the view that education must restore dignity and create justice. “Universities must remain places where truth is spoken boldly and where future leaders are shaped with integrity and compassion,” he said, framing the lecture as a platform for dialogue on pressing social issues.
The lecture was preceded by a masterclass led by Dr Mtoba, which emphasised that ethical leadership is not optional and cannot rely solely on good individuals but must be embedded in institutional frameworks.
Prof Pamela Maseko, right, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, reaffirmed the Vice-Chancellor's point by positioning both the masterclass and public lecture within the University’s strategic priority of revitalising the Humanities.
She highlighted the Faculty’s broader intellectual project to reaffirm the importance of the Humanities in addressing governance, inequality, and social justice.
Prof Maseko further noted that Women’s Economic Empowerment is not an isolated topic but a critical entry point for institutional transformation and the advancement of the public good.