DISCOVER THE DYNAMIC AND DIVERSE
BUSINESS PERSON BEHIND THE NAME.
Khanyisa cannot be defined by just one thing. Life is too beautiful and too brilliant to live inside of a box. “I like it when people have a wide range of abilities and interests,” she explains. She lives and breathes this philosophy in her diverse business activities. As the founder and Chairperson of the Lumin International Group of Companies, Khanyisa is on a mission to improve lives and serve customers across the African continent. She elaborates, “We have seen that the use of our technology has the ability to make lives better our world. The idea that more and more Africans can have access to a mobile computer – in the form of a mobile phone – means that we can go further in providing services that empower people and address our people’s need and right to prosperity and dignity. Every new company has that amazing power to enable blooming futures – and I get a thrill from seeing each company blossom into sustainable enterprises.” The dynamic world of technology is just one avenue for Khanyisa to leave a lasting impact.
“Networks and tech are the businesses I know,” she says, "But life’s real adventure begins just beyond our comfort zone. That’s why Khanyisa has always been driven to grow beyond the borders of her primary business role, as a leader in tech businesses, and expand into other spaces that set her heart on fire: the food and creative industries. Ultimately, this is where she aims to spend all her time.
For now, she wears many hats. One, as an impactful businesswoman. Another, as a creative brand-builder. And yet another as a food-focused story-weaver, who mixes gastronomic histories in a way that invites the world to feast upon and share their own delicious heritage. “I never went to culinary school,” Khanyisa explains, “I learned to cook at home with family.” This personal food legacy birthed a cookbook series and her recent book, Khanyisa, A Culinary Storyteller, is available internationally.
A JOURNEY TO CONSIDER THE STOMACH
OF ANOTHER BEFORE ONE’S OWN.
My name, which means ‘luminance’, was gifted to me by my grandmother – building on this, my late mother, Jabile Malabi, always reminded me to approach all situations by being who I am: a bright light. Now that I am older, I understand what she meant a whole lot better.
Lady Gaga says it so well when she tells us that there is a superstar waiting to be unleashed in every child. I learned from a young age that we are all born with an equal right to succeed in something, regardless of our social status – as humans, we have an intrinsic desire to be someone. In a world, in a country, where resources are concentrated in some places and not in others,there is great power in giving where a need truly exists.
I always imagine a society where the focus is not solely on our own lives – but also on making a difference in the lives of others. Bringing this way of the world into reality is my driving force, a reality where sustainable, generous practices have a chance to thrive, and society becomes a catalyst for change.
I grew up in a home where we were taught to consider the stomach of the next person, before our own.My name, invoking a sense of light, is a constant reminder of this sentiment for me. That is why I used it as the name for my foundation. For me, Khanyisa calls me to be a source of light for social impact, a light that helps others break the chain of generational poverty. Through collaboration, we can create a society where resource es flow towards those who need it, helping them realise their dreams and achieve a sense of dignity.
This is embodied in the slogan for my investment business: money goes where it is needed. It is a rallying cry, calling for impactful collaboration that leads to positive change.
It drives my foundation focus in 1. Investing in the education and the futures of children 2. It electrifies my desire to use my professional hat in telecommunications to build an information economy to increase knowledge through connectivity 3. And it fuels my creativity, pushing me to preserve my heritage.
I come from a small community called Soshanguve, near Tshwane (Pretoria) in South Africa. Growing up, respect, generosity, and valuing elders were fundamental cornerstones in my childhood home. Today, I see so much of myself in my late mother, a selfless and soft soul. When I was younger, I did not fully understand the strength of her character. Instead, I aspired to be like my father, Degama Malabi, who was known to be firm and considered to be successful. My mother, a homemaker, never really worked outside of the home when we were growing up. Now I see her immense strength, which lay in the values she taught: those of giving, kindness and humility to everyone.
This mindset lives on in our approach at the Khanyisa Malabi Foundation, where we try to rekindle who we truly are through acts of giving and through sharing with those less privileged than we are.
My worldview can hopefully inspire and help others grow, so that they may do the same for others. We hope to evoke a celebration of sharing – a flavour that is present throughout my culinary storytelling as well – and of empowering one another. Rooted in the spirit of ubuntu – or I am because you are – I am personally empowered by the love of giving that runs in our veins as South Africans and Africans.
For many years in my career, philanthropy was something we did quietly, uplifting others in the background. It took some time, and some convincing, to understand the powerful potential of formalising my approach to helping society by creating the Khanyisa Malabi Foundation structure to amplify our impact. Now, we’re on a journey to create lasting, sustainable impact that fuels its own waves of lasting change.
LEVERAGING ROOTS TO HELP
OTHERS FLOURISH AND BLOOM.
CREATING CONNECTION THROUGH
THE TIMELESS MAGIC OF FOOD.
The lion’s share of my career has been dedicated to connectivity – now, I am excited as I dedicate my future to connection. Both words and food are forms of language.
In my world, they collide to create magic and nurture nourishing connection, through the gift of my culinary story to families around the world. When I wrote my first cookbook, I was searching for salvation and for evidence that I could do something momentous.
This slowly evolved into a series of books sharing the story of creativity through food, a universal language spoken with countless dialects, each delicious.
Creativity in the kitchen shores up my soul. My approach to food is authentic, accessible, and simple.
I look to create an experience for guests to marvel at, taking home precious memories served up on a plate. I look at a plate as a canvas, and each dish as a piece of art – every bite we take is the sweet spoils of life.
My new book blends together tradition – in honouring my Tsonga cuisine, family rituals and the timeless way of cooking that centres imagination, speaking to who I am is about the third leg of my foundation to reserve heritage.
The Khanyisa Malabi Foundation is a personal approach to sustainability, granted, Philanthropy and social acts of kindness to others will also be central, but more and more, we want to be light to people who think differently and inspire those we gift and we meet to look inside themselves to harness the power of who and why they are. We do so by: Investing in education development, literacy and mentorship, we are breaking chains of generational poverty, enriching the economy by creating minds who have been schooled to be better at finding solutions.
We have developed literacy board games, Apps and lectures, scholarships to refine future leaders. To our founding mother’s name “Khanyisa” we believe in the idea of being a light to others to help them leap, “but what is mostly fulfilling is my thought leadership and Philosophies accessible to all.”
“The second leg of the sustainability program electrifies my desire to use networks to build an information economy, the idea that everyone has a powerful computer in their hands means there is a lot more we can do to deliver solutions.
We have seen that connectivity does make lives better.” Stats SA showed up to 92% of South African households, now have access to basic communication in the form of a mobile phone as access continues to accelerate.
National stats further tells us that up to 78% of the South African population have access to the internet, yet the digital divide still persists, “a rural woman in a village of Ga Mothiba, Limpopo, is less likely to access and utilise information and communication and neither would a young girl in Soshanguve, 30km outside Pretoria, Gauteng will have access to a quiz or digital books to study and revise for her matric exams.
This leads us to the conclusion that the stats don’t always report usage by all parameters and factors of social barriers.
We still need to continue connecting all who are in need by uplifting literacy and direct investing, money must go where it is needed. I visualise a scenario where every woman in the village can send an email to check on family or check on their stock as we have seen in Kenya and India.
“So I have decided to get the ball rolling and see if I can change this, one day at a time.” The foundation is the voice, champion, and our contribution is to help guide and channel resources, bringing together business communities and generous hearts all over the world to champion our mission.
CARING FOR EVERYONE THROUGH GENEROSITY, SOCIAL INTEGRATION, BUILDING, INSPIRING AND NURTURING.
WHERE THE PAST MEETS THE PRESENT -
WE ARE GOING BACK TO OUR ROOTS AND PRESERVING TRADITION.
The foundation‘s endeavour is in preserving and celebrating the rich culture of Africa to unite people around the world, “through investment, restoration and storytelling we inspire people to find hope in the past and believe in the endless possibilities of tomorrow.
As Africans, we have in our veins the spirit of Nelson Mandela, the spirit of humility and giving. I am because you are, I consider your stomach first before my own and extend our values of kindness without expecting anything in return.
NDUNA MPOFU
The Khanyisa Malabi scholarship enlarged my understanding of business operations. It gave me the chance to cover the different legs that make running a business possible.
I can say it gave me the chance to expand and enhance the way I think about business. In future I see the foundation giving more young people access to take on world class opportunities and therefore empowering them to realise their dreams, Nduna Mpofu.
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NDUNA MPOFU
© 2024 Khanysia Malabi Foundation.
House of Khanyisa
19 9th Street,
Houghton Estate
Johannesburg 2196
email@khanyisamalabifoundation.com