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Brief Interview
UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
Mac Mia: Chair, UKZN Council and
Vice-Chair, UKZN Foundation
Mr Mac Mia spent much of his early working life in the banking sector, culminating in the position of Managing Director
of New Republic Bank which he held until 1996. Since then he has been involved in helping others to acquire businesses
through empowerment transactions and presently sits on the Boards of, among others, Tongaat Hulett, Mutual and
Federal, and Ithala Limited and is Chair of the Audit Committee of Momentum Health. Mr Mia has an abiding interest in
the wellbeing of the disabled and is presently Treasurer of the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in
South Africa and Deputy-Chair of the Association for Persons with Disabilities in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). He has also had a
long association with the South African Chamber of Business, of which he was President. Dr Connie Israel, Deputy Director
of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Foundation, spoke with Mr Mia.
Many know about your business accomplishments
and involvement at the University.
Can you tell us something about your
other preoccupations
MM: My professional life has embraced
multiple sectors: insurance, health, the
industrial sector, empowerment, and
banking. I have been involved with the
disability sector since 1974. What I enjoy
about working in this sector is that it gives
me a different perspective on life in general.
We are all very busy and we all do whatever,
wherever, whenever we want. We forget
that others don’t enjoy the same privilege.
We have lost our way as a community and
forgotten the people around us. As a society,
we have a tendency to see how much we
can amass. This is dangerous. We must
ensure that we also think of others in the
broader community and take them along with
us ... .Oh, I was also actively involved in sport,
as President of the Durban Football Association,
as well as playing soccer, cricket,
squash, and running three Comrades
Marathons. I play golf now.
Clearly we don’t have to convince you
about giving back! What energises you
What do you get from all this
MM: We have forgotten the art of giving,
especially our time, and must remember
that we can give many things, not just
money. We ask “How much do you want”,
as opposed to “What can I give” There is a
huge difference ... Giving has to be in the
form of saying “Hey, I have obtained so much
already from society, let me give something
back now.” So, to me, life is about balance:
if we do that, then we have achieved something.
The same applies to my involvement
at UKZN, which is very important to me: I
did not seek these offices actively, but when
the requests were made, I took them up and
gave my time.
What are the greatest challenges facing the
University over the years to come
MM: Following the merger the University is
now in a consolidation phase, but the challenges
remain huge and will not necessarily
be overcome overnight. A major challenge
lies in how to increase financial support to
the University. We generate income from
government and fees, but there is another
element we need to work on. Given the
number of graduates that come out of the
Institution, we should be generating large
sums from alumni. It is incumbent on them
to play a role and help to ensure we have
more well-educated people.
We also need to make sure our education
system is beefed up, not just at
tertiary level, but in the primary sector.
Though our product is the student coming
out with a degree or diploma, we have an
important role to play in improving the
system as a whole. I think we tend not to
suss out what happens in the community,
to see how best we should marry community
needs and education. And then there is
business, which must certainly play a bigger
role in the life of UKZN. How else but through
bolstering universities will the scarce skills
needed by the corporate sector be met
What is the role of the UKZN Foundation
MM: We are fortunate in that we have a
very strong Foundation, but other university
Foundations are also strong, so we must
work harder and be creative to stay ahead
of the game ... There is a tendency for people
to forget KwaZulu-Natal’s immediate economic
context. We dip into our pockets for
other things, but not this! Resources must
grow, though, and it’s sad it takes so long.
We need to make sure the spirit of ubuntu
is brought to the fore, and that means not
just through the adult community, but starting
with children at primary level: they are
the future of tomorrow ... It will not augur
well if we do not do this.
What are some of the lessons you have learned
straddling the business and education sectors
MM: We all need to understand that, unless
education and business enter into true
partnership with one another, we will always
just battle along as a society. This is the real
challenge ... Another learning is that we have
to make sure we think of others before
ourselves. No matter what religious background
one has, there are basic, common
human values that are being forgotten. We
have a long way to go in terms of education
to get back to those value systems ... I’ve got
this little saying that I’ve lived by for quite a
while: “There is no trailer behind the
hearse” – we came with nothing and we are
going to take nothing! I’m not preaching
here, but amassing wealth is not useful
unless it is also utilised for the betterment
of mankind. It’s not that we shouldn’t enjoy
what we work for, just that we need to do
more with ourselves ... We must make sure
that we leave the world a better place for
those coming after us.
Mr Mac Mia, Chair of the UKZN Council
and Vice-Chair of the UKZN Foundation.
4 UKZN Foundation www.ukzn.ac.za/ukznf