As Mazi Asset Management marks two decades in business, the journey of its founder, Malungelo Headman Zilimbola, offers a powerful lens into the values that helped shape the firm, from discipline and difference to a lifelong belief in learning.
For Zilimbola, asset management began on a farm outside Mahikeng, where he grew up as the eldest son of Xhosa-speaking cattle farmers. Wealth had four legs, needed watching and carried family responsibility.
Born in Klerksdorp and raised in the North West, Zilimbola was sent to a rural school near Mahikeng during the 1976 uprising. In a Setswana-speaking environment, he was often treated as an outsider because of his Xhosa roots.
Headman
His second name, Headman, carried a connection to Xhosa royalty. At school it became “Herdman”, an accidental fit for a boy helping to look after his parents’ cattle.
“I was an asset manager when I was still a boy, looking after my parents’ assets,” he says.
iMazi (cow) in Nguni cultures symbolises enduring value and prosperity. Their investment philosophy prioritises opportunities that deliver consistent, long-term returns.
Hunger for learning
Zilimbola read his older sister’s schoolbooks long before reaching the relevant grades, and his academic performance earned him a full scholarship throughout high school.
He qualified as a quantity surveyor but moved to finance after the 1998 interest-rate shock, when rates rose to 25% and the property sector came under pressure. After completing his honours degree at UCT, he joined Investec Asset Management (now Ninety One) as an investment analyst. He was later recruited by RMB Asset Management, where he served as Senior Portfolio Manager and Director.
Being different
In 2006, Zilimbola founded Mazi Asset Management. He wanted a firm that reflected a different way of thinking. Therefore, after three years, he gradually started building an investment team that brought together engineers, mathematicians, actuaries and finance professionals to strengthen debate and reduce groupthink.
“I know that I’m different, and I enjoy being different,” he says. “If you do things the same way, you cannot expect a different outcome.”
Twenty years on, Zilimbola sees Mazi’s milestone as proof that a South African firm, built on difference and discipline, can stand its ground.