About
Leadership
Refilwe Maluleke
Managing Director
Refilwe joined the Yellowwood team as Strategy Director in January 2016. She is an experienced marketer with over 15 years in the FMCG sector working across multiple brands and geographies.
Refilwe began her career at Unilever in 2006. There she joined the Asia, Africa, Middle East and Turkey (AAMET) team where she worked on the spreads and dressings portfolio across sub-Saharan Africa. The mix of brands allowed her to build her ability to make global brands locally relevant, as well as build strategies for local brands.
In 2010 she moved SABMiller where she worked on Hansa Pilsener, the third largest beer brand in South Africa, for five years. Her time there included work on strategy, sponsorship and communication development.
Refilwe has Business Science degree with Honours in Marketing from the University of Cape Town, and recently completed her MBA at Cass Business School in London.
Managing Director
Refilwe Maluleke
Ntombizamasala Hlophe
Strategy Director
Ntombizamasala has 14 years’ experience in marketing and has worked across Africa in some of the most formidable FMCG companies; Unilever, SAB and Yum Restaurants.
In her capacity at TBWA\Yellowwood Zama leads strategy development for key clients across brand growth, positioning, architecture projects along with being the Chief Strategy Officer for Omnicom on the MTN Group account.
She also currently serves as a Board Trustee for Columba leadership, a non-profit youth development organisation based in Johannesburg.
Zama is a graduate from Rhodes University and the University of Cape Town; with qualifications in B.A Journalism and English; and PGDip Project Management respectively. Prior to joining Yellowwood, her focus was on driving KFC’s business development and, more recently, managing Castle Lager’s marketing and communication across Africa. Zama enjoys working within developing markets, industries and categories and is an ardent believer in the power of purposeful action in bringing to life growth strategies for brands and businesses.
Strategy Director
Ntombizamasala Hlophe
Hlengiwe Mkhize
Finance Manager
Hlengiwe joined the Yellowwood in October 2018 as the Finance Manager. She began her career as an accounting consultant providing tax and accounting services to SME’s. Over the years she has worked in various sectors such as construction, retail, and mining. She has honed her abilities of being able to view a business with a wide lens, narrow it down to connect the dots, understand complex issues, take initiative, and drive results. This has largely been her contribution to organizations’ growth and sustainability as they continuously navigate changes and intricacies within their business environment.
Hlengiwe is enthusiastic about people’s growth and providing them with the platforms, support, and opportunities to display their brilliance, and her time at Yellowwood has enabled to further this initiative.
Hlengiwe is a University of KwaZulu Natal graduate with a BCom Accounting degree and a Management Accounting Diploma from Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Finance Manager
Hlengiwe Mkhize
Mmasechaba Gxolo
Head of Data Strategy
Joining the business in 2015, Mmasechaba contributes towards research approaches, data analysis techniques and sourcing information and stats that inform on various strategic recommendations across the business.
With a combined experience of over 10 years in research at Kantar TNS and Yellowwood, her portfolio of projects spans across finance, automotive and retail industries.
Qualification
B.Bus.Sci with Marketing Honours (UCT)
Head of Data Strategy
Mmasechaba Gxolo