indwe magazine – June 2005

Siza Mzimela
Chief Executive Officer

Carpe Diem
Text: Sam Weber
Image: © SA Express
“I am so pleased to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you,” I say as I shake hands with Siza Mzimela, CEO of South African Express Airways.“ The staff at SAX speak about Siza with respect, even a measure of awe, and it is immediately obvious why. She exudes confidence, competence and power. Smartly dressed in a mustard coloured suit (the shoes are to die for) with understated, expertly applied make up, Siza nevertheless has a presence that goes far beyond power suits. It glows from the inside out.
We exchange pleasantries and Siza invites me to sit down. “Tell me about yourself,” I say. “I really know nothing about you.” Admittedly, my opening gambit is far from fiendishly clever. In my defence, I am a little nervous. I already know that Siza is not keen to talk about herself, that her time is very limited, and that her focus on airline matters is unyielding.
“No,” she says with a little smile. “That can’t be true. When you walked in you said you had heard a lot about me so there is no way you can know nothing about me.” In this instant Siza Mzimela reveals herself as one sharp lady and I know at least one more thing about her: nothing slips past this woman’s razor sharp attention. Siza laughs generously as I squirm in my seat.
South African by birth, Siza grew up with her brother who was a bank manager in Swaziland. She went to a convent school where she often was the despair of the nuns. Silence and genteel behaviour was highly prized at the school and Siza often didn’t fit the mould. “I was a bit of a tomboy,” she explains, laughing. “I used to get into a lot of trouble because of the amount of noise I used to make. I laugh a lot and I laugh loudly!”
Another aspect of Siza’s personality that reveals itself during the course of our conversation is that she thrives on challenges, with all the pressures and responsibilities that come with the territory. She credits both the school and her family with her lifelong positive, can-do attitude. “Even now, I hate it when people tell me ‘I can’t’. One of the things I appreciate most about the way I was brought up is that I was led to believe that I could do anything. I still find it so frustrating if I realise I am hitting a wall because people don’t believe I can do something,” she says. One cannot imagine that this happens too often in the life of this dynamic woman. Today, Siza also strives to instil this self-fulfilling winning attitude in her children.
Home for Siza now is the open spaces of Irene, outside Pretoria. She treasures the feeling of peace that comes from living outside the city and values the contribution this setting plays not only in her own life, but also in the lives of her children. It remains important to Siza to connect with the simpler things in life as well, to get back to the basic firm foundations that a successful life can be built upon. “I still want to be responsible for driving my children to the mall,” she says. “I would hate to live in a place where they could just walk to a mall. I think that sort of situation builds up different values and habits that I don’t quite identify with.”
Her career started at Standard Bank – an organisation Siza particularly respects for their relentless focus on training and development. “My experience there laid such a firm foundation, even though I might not have fully realised it at the time,” she says. She values learning, something that has probably stood her in very good stead over the course of her rapid rise to professional accomplishment. From working for Standard Bank, Siza moved on to hold several, progressively more responsible positions at South African Airways, before taking over the reigns of South African Express.
Siza is married and met her husband at the insistence of two different friends who were both convinced that this couple would be a match made in heaven. It turns out that they were right. There was an almost instant connection and her husband remains Siza’s greatest champion and supporter. Siza also leans heavily on her mother, who helps with her children, especially during the times that Siza has to spend away from home. “Actually that is probably the best aspect of my current job,” says Siza. “I don’t have to travel so much anymore.”
One cannot help but wonder how this powerhouse relaxes. “What do you do in your spare time?” I ask. Siza doesn’t hesitate. “I sleep!” she exclaims and her office rings with that famous laugh that had the nuns of old fingering their worry beads. However, it transpires that Siza also enjoys entertaining at home where new friends, who might only have met her in a professional context, are constantly surprised at how comfortable she is also in this more domesticated environment and role.
Siza has also recently engaged a personal trainer to guide her through the rigours of personal fitness. “It is difficult,” Siza says of going to gym. “One needs some form of motivation to get it going. What is great is that my trainer works around my schedule. I had a discussion with her and I warned her that I will probably try to get out of our sessions on most days and that, if I am going to have any benefit here, it would be critical for her not to let me. And I do try to call her with all sorts of excuses but she just calmly reschedules the sessions so that I stick to the overall plan.” Again, Siza’s wonderful laugh fills the office.
In a more reflective mood, Siza pays tribute to her family – the one thing in her life that she is the most grateful for and the most proud of. “I wouldn’t be anything without them,” she says, uncharacteristically quiet. “There is nothing in my life that I regret. That is not to say that, with hindsight, there aren’t things I would have done differently but, the way I look at it, as long as I learned from those experiences there is nothing to regret. Whatever happened was part of building me as a person.”
I leave Siza Mzimela feeling strangely humbled by the experience of meeting such a ‘real’ person. She pulls no punches. She holds no grudges. She is focussed. She demands excellence from herself first, and then also from those around her. She lives out loud, with passion and with joy. She thinks with clarity, feels from the heart, laughs from the belly. If you are reading this on the plane, take my word for this: with Siza Mzimela at the helm of this company you are in safe hands indeed.
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