The storytellers: From left-Gugu Mthembu(Telkom), Toni Gumede(Brand SA), Elizabeth Mokwena(Unilever) and Sbusiso Kumalo(Africa Bank) share insights at Pat on Brands Conversations
By Simon Manda
JOHANNESBURG, 1 October 2025 — Tuesday evening, 30th September, at Workshop17 in Sandton wasn’t your typical marketing event. It was the kind of conversation that stays with you long after you’ve left the room — the kind where you find yourself quoting speakers days later and genuinely rethinking how you approach your work.
Pat On Brands Dialogues hosted “The Evolution of Heritage Brands,” and over two hours, three remarkable brand custodians unpacked something we don’t discuss enough: how do brands built on decades of history stay relevant when everything around them is changing at breakneck speed?
Host Pat Mahlangu called it “the most enriching dialogue” in the platform’s six-year history, and honestly, you could feel why. This wasn’t PowerPoint presentations and buzzwords. This was raw, honest storytelling about brands that have shaped who we are as South Africans. Mahlangu’s passion for creating accessible platforms for learning was evident throughout — as one speaker noted, “I think when I was starting out in my career, I would have appreciated platforms where I could listen to captains of industry. You guys are privileged to have a platform like this that is available and accessible to you.”
Skilfully navigating the evening was Toni Gumede, from Brand SA, whose deft moderation transformed what could have been a standard panel discussion into an intimate brand masterclass. Gumede’s ability to draw out personal stories whilst connecting them to broader market trends, consumer behaviour, and the realities of operating in South Africa’s diverse economic landscape made the two hours feel both comprehensive and conversational.
The Storytellers
The evening brought together three speakers whose brands span everything from struggle-era defiance to morning routines that connect four generations.
African Bank’s Sbusiso Kumalo opened with a story that stopped the room. Picture this: June 1964, the same month Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment. A group of young businessmen — most of them under 40 — gather in Soweto for NAFCOC’s first conference. They’re facing a system designed to exclude them from everything, including something as basic as borrowing money. The banks simply wouldn’t lend to black people. Not because of creditworthiness, but because of skin colour.
“My mom never used to refer to an ID as an ID book. She used to call it a dompas,” the Kumalo recalled, painting a vivid picture of the world these founders inhabited. “This is the world that they lived in. A world where it was just so hard to just exist, to breathe, to just be yourself.”
So they decided: if the banks won’t lend us money, we’ll start our own bank. Simple as that.
What followed was extraordinary. One member stood up at that first conference and said: if we don’t put our own money in, this will just remain an idea. They collected 70 rand that day — the seed capital for a dream that would take ten years of persistence to materialise. Ten years just to raise a million rand. Ten years of navigating conditions deliberately designed to make them fail, including not being able to employ white staff or train in white institutions.
“It was almost like, okay, you can do this, but you’re not going to get any help,” the Kumalo recalled.
Fast forward fifty years, and African Bank’s mission feels even more urgent. Just two months before this dialogue, they launched a B2B account, diversifying into business banking. “The saving grace for this economy is going to be entrepreneurship,” Kumalo emphasised. “But how many entrepreneurs can walk into any bank and say, ‘I’ve got an idea, I need a million bucks,’ and actually walk out with it? It’s zero.”
The focus now? Building a technology platform that meets 2025 standards whilst keeping their heart in the right place. “If our banking app doesn’t stack up, you can have a good story but it means nothing. Young people are not going to bank with you.”
Elizabeth Mokwena from Unilever brought a different kind of heritage story — the weight of stewarding brands older than anyone in the room. Vaseline has been around for over 150 years. Sunlight is turning 135 next year. “Nobody in this room is that old,” she noted with a smile. “And probably none of us are going to live to that age.”
But here’s what struck everyone: these global brands feel profoundly South African. How many of us knew Unilever wasn’t born here? Less than half the room raised their hands. Mokwena herself only discovered this six or seven years into her FMCG career. That’s the power of cultural integration done right — what she called giving global brands a “South African passport.”
Her description of the recent Vaseline campaign captured why: “I thought of my grandmother. But in a nice way. This is the one person who cared for me the most because she was willing to beat you up if you didn’t have Vaseline on.” The campaign tapped into something deeper than skincare — it was about dignity, hope, and the way South African families show love across generations.
The brand has evolved far beyond its origins. Sunlight now has over 110 SKUs across 11 categories. Vaseline is no longer just petroleum jelly — the Cera-Glo oil has become part of daily beauty regimens. But the core purpose remains: Sunlight was created to “ease the burden of cleaning so that women can live their lives and do more,” whilst Lifebuoy aimed to “save people from sickness and disease.”
On local impact, the numbers are staggering: 3,000 people employed formally, 90% of products manufactured locally. “Think of all the supply chains — people farming the trees, creating the oils that go into our products. We impact society in a truly South African way.”
Perhaps most remarkably, South Africa is one of the only countries globally where Sunlight still exists as a powerhouse. “It’s fizzled out everywhere else in the world. Nowhere else do we have the first original bar that the founder made.”
Telkom’s Gugu Mthembu represented nearly two centuries of connecting South Africa, from the first post office to the undersea cables that literally connect us to the global internet. When Gumede asked who remembered “Eita,” hands shot up across the room — a moment of collective nostalgia for Telkom Mobile’s iconic campaign.
The challenge for Telkom? Being both a heritage brand and a challenger brand simultaneously. “It’s quite difficult because challenger brands come in to destabilise the status quo. And who sets the status quo? The heritage brands.”
Mthembu traced Telkom’s evolution through its slogans — each reflecting transformation at different stages. “Touch Tomorrow” spoke to evolution towards the next phase. “Tomorrow starts today” emphasised immediate possibility. “Live your passion” connected to personal aspirations. Today’s “Possible begins here” maintains that thread of transformation.
Their recent rebrand wasn’t cosmetic. “If we are the champions of transformation, we cannot stay the same. We have to transform ourselves first before we can transform the people.” This is particularly crucial given Telkom’s role operating undersea cables through their Openserve division — the infrastructure that literally connects South Africa’s internet to the world.
The Conversations That Mattered
Gumede steered the dialogue beyond marketing theory into real-world impact. Questions from attendees probed how brands support township economies, media strategies for underserved provinces like Limpopo, Eastern Cape, and Mpumalanga, and balancing heritage with Gen Z relevance.
Mokwena highlighted the youth imperative: “By 2050, one in four young people will be on this continent. You cannot ignore the importance of youth in the sustainability of your brand moving forward.”
The discussion touched on cultural authenticity — how brands become woven into rituals and traditions. “We are ingrained in how people cook with Knorr and Robertsons and Royco. There’s no other product in nine out of ten South African households like Sunlight,” Mokwena noted.
Why This One Stood Out
What made this dialogue the best in six years was its unflinching authenticity. These weren’t sanitised corporate narratives. They were honest reflections from custodians who understand that heritage brands carry responsibilities beyond profit.
The unsung heroes got their due — the wives of African Bank’s founders who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, travelling to communities and lobbying tribal leaders. The South African marketeers who kept Sunlight alive as a powerhouse whilst it disappeared globally. The custodians who understand they’re temporary stewards of something permanent.
As Mokwena put it perfectly: “I’m a custodian, but it’s not me to change the story. It’s me to pass on the story as best as I can.”
Pat On Brands Dialogues continues proving itself essential for anyone who believes brands are about more than selling — they’re about shaping society.
