Sasol, Enoch Godongwana & titans celebrated at 2026 Nedbank Oliver Top Empowerment Awards

Sasol Oil (Pty) Ltd was honoured with the Top Empowered Company: Business of the Year Award Sponsored by Nedbank at the 2026 Nedbank Oliver Top Empowerment Awards for their genuine commitment to transformation and empowerment. Sasol Oil won the award because they leveraged their massive corporate scale to execute a historic B-BBEE ownership deal benefiting millions of citizens, setting a powerful benchmark for national transformation. Rather than treating compliance as a paper exercise, the well-established South African brand demonstrated a genuine commitment to transformation through strong performance across all scorecard pillars, achieving broad-based impact via substantial program expenditure and a high number of staff members positively affected.

The Sandton Convention Centre hosted the 25th Annual Nedbank Oliver Top Empowerment Awards 2026 organised by Topco Media, to celebrate the 2026 winners on the 18th of June. The evening was hosted by the esteemed Carol Tshabalala, a renowned South African Sports Broadcaster, as Master of Ceremonies.

The Nedbank Oliver Top Empowerment Awards distinguish South Africa’s most prestigious businesses and individuals who have shown true commitment and accountability to securing a transformed and empowered future for South Africa.

We extend our sincere gratitude to our platinum partner, Nedbank and our dedicated category sponsors, SALGA and Sanlam, for their instrumental support in championing the advancement of empowerment in leadership and business. A special thank you also goes to Jenna Clifford, Isanti Glass, Nestlé and Seated by Jenkie, our lifestyle partners and all our Media partners whose collaboration elevated this prestigious event.

The Nedbank Oliver Top Empowerment Awards boasted two keynote speakers in the evening. Our first keynote was delivered by the esteemed Mbali Phewa, Executive Head: Group Transformation at Nedbank. Mbali brings deep expertise and leadership in driving transformation, inclusion, and sustainable impact across the financial services sector. In her role, she has been instrumental in advancing meaningful change within one of South Africa’s leading banking institutions. Following this, we welcomed Dr Mathews Phosa, a giant of South African history, an esteemed attorney, an iconic political trailblazer, and a visionary business leader. From his pivotal role in drafting our democratic constitution to his lifelong advocacy for economic justice and inclusive growth, he embodies the very spirit of empowerment.

This year’s Lifetime Achiever Award honoured a true titan of our nation, an individual whose life’s work spans over four decades of fierce, unyielding dedication to South Africa’s socio-economic evolution. From the frontlines of the anti-apartheid struggle as a fearless trade union pioneer, to the global stage as a visionary economic statesman, his journey is the very story of our democracy. In an era of global turbulence, his masterful fiscal stewardship has stood as a beacon of macroeconomic stability, while his unwavering crusade for broad-based black economic empowerment has reshaped our economic landscape. He has proven, unequivocally, that pragmatic financial governance and radical economic transformation can walk hand-in-hand to uplift historically disadvantaged citizens. We congratulate the Honourable Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana.

The awards honoured 70+ finalists with over 600+ attendees who spanned from small businesses to JSE-listed companies across multiple categories. This demonstrated the wide range of leadership, transformation and empowerment across the public and private sectors respectively.

A special thank you to our esteemed judges for journeying with us throughout this process. Selecting the right industry leaders for this important task is always a rigorous undertaking, and we are grateful for your commitment, insight, and excellence. Your leadership and stature stand as beacons of transformative impact within the industry.

Awards Winners Include:

● TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: FAST GROWTH BLACK-OWNED SMME OF THE YEAR - Winner: Bahlaping Mash

● TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Sponsored by Nedbank - Winner: Coega Development Corporation (Pty) Ltd

● TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN THE WORKPLACE OF THE YEAR - Winner: South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Limited

● TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE YEAR AWARD Sponsored by Nedbank - Winner: BEE Online & Eyethu Group

●TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: LOCALISATION OF THE YEAR AWARD - Winner: Mondi South Africa (Pty) Ltd

●TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: PUBLIC SECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD - Winner: Coega Development Corporation (Pty) Ltd

● TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: EDUCATION AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEAR AWARD - Winner: Durapi

●TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: ENTERPRISE AND SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT AWARD - Winner: Mondi South Africa (Pty) Ltd

●TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: SOCIO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEAR AWARD - Winner: BASF

●TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: JOB CREATION OF THE YEAR AWARD - Winner: Youth Employment Service

● TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: YOUTH DEVELOPMENT Sponsored by Sanlam - Winner: Investec Limited

●TOP EMPOWERED: BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR AWARD - Winner: Cheree Dyers from Prescient Investment Management

●TOP EMPOWERED: YOUNG ACHIEVER AWARD (Under 40) - Winner: Sharon Mashishi from Bahlaping Mash

●RICHARD FLETCHER ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD - Winner: Kushela Naidoo from Wallace and Green

● TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD Sponsored by Nedbank - Winner: Sasol Oil (Pty) Ltd

Our 2026 Legends of Empowerment are:

● Pamodzi Unique Engineering

● Kopano Bus Services

● Y- Brand

● Fasset

● Merchants

● Schneider Electric

● VEA Road Maintenance and Civils

● NTGR Engineering

● Rand Water

● TSL Group

● Exxaro

Our Award Winners of the Municipal Women and Youth Leadership Excellence Award Sponsored by SALGA are:

● Cllr Nomvuyo Mposelwa - Joe Gqabi District

● Cllr Vuyokazi Matwasa - Ntabankulu LM

● Cllr Zukiswa Ndevu - Umzimvubu LM

● Cllr Tunyiswa Manxila-Nkamisa - Mnquma LM

● Cllr Queen Xulu - Umlalazi LM

● Cllr Mamedupe Teffo - Capricorn DM

● Ald (Dr) Elna Von Schlicht - Cape Winelands DM

● Alderman Antoinette Steyn - Breede Valley LM

Other Awards Winners Include, our Highly Commended Recipient:

● TOP EMPOWERED COMPANY: YOUTH DEVELOPMENT Sponsored by Sanlam - SIOC Community Development Trust

To see the incredible individual and organisational category finalists, as well as the esteemed panel of judges who dedicated their time and expertise to selecting the very deserving winners, you can view the official Nedbank Oliver Top Empowerment Awards 2026 Souvenir Programme:

https://issuu.com/topcomedia/docs/nedbank_top_empowerment_awards_2026_souvenir_pro

Source: Briefly News