Manqoba Kubheka, 32

Manqoba Kubheka is a chartered accountant on a quest to make his mark in the development of internationally competitive African businesses. He began his career as a trainee accountant at SizweNtsalubaGobodo (now SNG Grant Thornton) and left the firm as assurance audit manager, having been the only manager in his year to be promoted to second-level manager in a single year.

In 2017, he joined SAMRO as manager in the office of the CEO. His impact and involvement during a turbulent turnaround period at SAMRO enabled him to swiftly grasp the inner workings of collective management organisations and the music industry’s eco-system in general. Finding the company on the brink of a reportable irregularity and qualified audit report, he steered the company to an unqualified report after having developed and implemented process and reporting changes in the finance department. He also initiated and was the front liaison for a forensic audit carried out against the impaired international investments and had the findings of the report presented to the SAMRO AGM in October 2018. Having taken on demanding challenges such as acting CFO only five months into his time at the organisation, Kubheka’s contribution was widely noted.

In February 2019, he became interim general manager in the Licensing Division of SAMRO, which is the revenue-generation core of the organisation. He was appointed permanently in June 2019 and has since led the entity to revenues exceeding R500 million for the first time since its inception in 1962. As a key driver of change and a firm believer in recognising and empowering women, he has placed young black females in all four managerial positions reporting to him, which has contributed to his department’s outstanding achievements.
Kubheka also serves on the board of the Arts and Culture Trust (an NPO focusing on enriching talent and arts organisations through funding and skills development programmes) and chairs its audit and risk committee. He is also a member of the management committee. His philosophy is to shoulder the primary responsibility of managing all operational aspects from strategy formulation and planning to business development, analysis and key decision-making.

As custodian of SAMRO members’ interests, he faces the challenge of improving their earnings through being directly involved in revenue-generation activities. His love of and respect for the arts provide him with the fire to fuel his noble and meaningful contribution to the music industry.

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