From Survival to Momentum: What Corporate South Africa Needs to Do in 2026 with Lee Naik & Mteto Nyati

This Suits & Sneakers executive breakfast is a high-impact briefing designed to help leaders and their teams navigate the current economic shift. We have purposefully priced tickets at a much lower rate because this talk is a strategic briefing for teams, rather than just for executives. This is an opportunity for your company to bring ten or twenty people from a department, get everyone on the same page, and start moving from survival to momentum.

We are incredibly grateful to Mteto Nyati and Lee Naik, who have generously offered their time at no charge for this event. Their support is helping us raise funds to grow our Suits & Sneakers Clubhouse, which aims to assist small business owners in growing their businesses. More info on this mission is available at the end of the description.

WHY SHOULD YOU AND YOUR TEAM BE THERE?

For the last decade, corporate South Africa has operated in a defensive mode. While this focus on resilience has helped businesses survive a series of external shocks, there is a distinct difference between the skills needed to manage a crisis and the skills needed to drive growth.

South Africa is not in a boom but there are visible green shoots and a slight tailwind. The challenge in 2026 is twofold: you still have to navigate a tough environment, but you also have to figure out how to use the bit of momentum we’re finally seeing. The risk for many businesses in 2026 is that the habit of "survival mode" has become the default setting. If a leadership team remains stuck in a defensive, firefighting mindset while the market begins to move, they will miss the window to pick up speed.

On the morning of 4 March, Mteto Nyati and Lee Naik will join us on stage for a straight-talking session on how to change gears and move from a survivalist culture to a momentum-building culture. Between them, they have navigated the highest stakes in South African business. They understand that being sharp right now means balancing the reality of a tough environment with the courage to actually move forward:

• Breaking the Survival Habit: How to move a team from "just getting by" to a culture of execution.
• Finding the Gap: Where the actual opportunities are in the SA economy right now and how to use data to spot them.
• Building Real Velocity: Practical steps to make sure a business is ready to catch the turn when it happens.

Mteto Nyati is a renowned business leader with a reputation for leading large-scale turnarounds. He is currently the Chairman of Eskom and the Executive Chairman of BSG. He has previously served as the CEO of Altron and MTN South Africa, and was the Managing Director of Microsoft South Africa. He is widely respected for his focus on ethical leadership and his ability to stabilise and grow complex organisations in challenging environments.

Lee Naik is the CEO of TransUnion Africa and is recognised as one of the continent's leading voices on digital transformation and strategy. Before joining TransUnion, he was the Managing Director of Accenture Digital. Lee specialises in helping businesses use data and technology to understand consumer behaviour and find new avenues for growth. He is a frequent commentator on how South African companies can navigate the shift toward a more digital, data-driven economy.

SPONSORS & PARTNERS

This Suits & Sneakers event is proudly brought to you by EasyEquities, who have been incredibly helpful in supporting our vision, and the many Suits & Sneakers members who are our partners in everything we do. Together, we are building a support structure for small business owners with a collective goal to grow the economy while lowering unemployment.

We are also deeply grateful to Mteto Nyati and Lee Naik, who have generously offered their time at no charge for this event. Their support is assisting us in raising funds to grow the Suits & Sneakers Clubhouse, which ultimately aims to assist small business owners in growing their businesses. By attending this event, you are directly contributing to that mission.