Sowetan-born leader puts township traders at the center

For Thembi Dlamini, the story of South Africa’s informal economy has never been an abstract policy question. It is the story of the spaza shops she grew up around as a proud Sowetan raised in Naturena, south of Johannesburg, and of the township entrepreneurs whose livelihoods rise or fall on whether they can reach suppliers, secure fair terms and move beyond cash. As Channel Lead: Brands & Suppliers at Shop2Shop, she now spends her working life building the commercial bridges that connect those traders with established brands and suppliers.

Her path there was anything but straight. Over more than 15 years she has moved through engineering and construction, rural development, financial services, employee benefits and fintech, along with marketing, business development and commercial leadership. She describes the journey as proof that growth is seldom linear, and she would not have it any other way. The defining moment, she says, was joining Shop2Shop, where those seemingly unrelated experiences converged at the intersection of commercial strategy, technology and financial inclusion. She has since grown from managing strategic accounts to leading the Brands & Suppliers Channel, overseeing key commercial partnerships and a team.

What drives her is reshaping the narrative around the informal economy while creating tangible value for the people who sustain it. Shop2Shop connects established brands and suppliers with an ecosystem of traders, from spaza shops to wholesalers and distributors, using digital payments, technology and data-driven insights to unlock efficiency, visibility and growth across the value chain. For Dlamini, the meaning lies in three things: empowering entrepreneurs through stronger supplier relationships, delivering measurable commercial value for partners, and improving the safety of drivers by reducing their exposure to cash. Payments that arrive within seconds, she notes, eliminate time spent counting cash, reduce shortages and simplify reconciliation. Beyond the commercial gains sits a profound human one: every cashless transaction potentially reduces the risks faced by drivers who would otherwise transport significant amounts of cash. The true power of technology, in her view, lies not in the innovation itself but in its ability to improve lives and unlock economic potential.

Her reflections on leadership carry the same grounded, personal register. Confidence, she has learned, is not something a career begins with; it is built through experience, preparation, resilience and trusting your own voice. Earlier on, she put tremendous pressure on herself to get everything right, and fear of failure made her hesitant to take risks. Over time she came to see failure not as the opposite of success but often as an essential part of achieving it. She no longer believes she needs to conform to a particular leadership mould, nor to have every answer. What matters is the courage to ask the right questions, challenge thinking and contribute meaningfully. Confidence, she says, is not about being the loudest voice in the room; it is about knowing the value of your voice and having the courage to use it.

That philosophy has evolved from being results-driven to recognising that sustainable success is achieved through people. Leading a team with diverse personalities, strengths and aspirations has been one of her most transformative experiences, teaching her that leadership is not one-size-fits-all. Her approach is anchored in authenticity, integrity, accountability, collaboration and continuous growth, and her aspiration is simple: to develop leaders, not followers.

Meanwhile, on partnerships, she insists that trust, mutual understanding and a shared commitment to value matter more than transactions. Data and insights play a growing role in identifying opportunities and enabling informed decisions, but even the strongest strategy means little without disciplined execution, accountability, transparency and consistent communication. The most meaningful partnerships, she believes, are built when we stop asking what we can gain and start asking what we can build together.

The township dimension of her work is the one closest to her heart. Spaza shops, informal retailers, wholesalers and distributors, she argues, are far more than small businesses: they sustain households, create employment and contribute meaningfully to local economies. Her vision is a South Africa where a spaza shop owner in Soweto has the same opportunity to build a thriving, sustainable business as an entrepreneur anywhere else. When township businesses grow, families benefit, communities flourish and the broader economy strengthens.

Her wider argument about women in business is that representation alone is insufficient. Women need access to opportunities, mentorship, sponsorship and the authority to influence strategic decisions, and the conversation must extend beyond corporate boardrooms to women entrepreneurs in underserved communities who need access to markets, resources and commercial opportunities. True empowerment, she says, is not simply a seat at the table; it is a voice, the power to influence decisions and the chance to build tables of their own.

Her advice to the next generation is to embrace individuality, remain unapologetically ambitious and never let fear dictate the opportunities pursued. Her full reflections, including her thoughts on her marketing and brand management foundations and the legacy she hopes to build, appear in the original interview published at https://www.glamour.co.za/lifestyle/women-in-charge-thembi-dlamini-on-shaping-the-future-of-south-africas-informal-economy-2e3eb0fa-2ffe-4891-9700-08f5e9b78295. She hopes to be remembered as someone who challenged conventional thinking, created meaningful opportunities and developed people who went on to achieve extraordinary things: proudly rooted in where she comes from, unapologetically ambitious about where she is going, and deeply intentional about creating opportunities for others along the way.