This month SmartProcurement profiles Lerato Sebata, Category Manager: Marketing & Communications; and Intermediaries, with the Liberty Group, South Africa.
| Full name: | Lerato Sebata |
| Position: | Category Manager |
| Your organisation’s procurement expenditure: | N/A |
| Who does P & SM report to?: | Chief Specialist: Category & Supplier Relationship Management |
| Private sector or public sector?: | Private sector |
| Core business activity of the enterprise: | Pan-African life insurer and financial services company, offering asset management, investment and insurance solutions. |
| Number of people in your P & SM organisation: | N/A |
| Management motto: | Unleash your full potential |
| Personal motto: | Do better than yesterday |
| Professional bodies membership: | CIPS |
| What is your vision for P & SM: | To build a strategic partnership, by elevating the procurement profession and changing the way our profession is viewed so that we remove the stigma, myths, false truths surrounding our profession on different social media platforms. |
| Personal best achievement: | Nominated among top 3 best-performing women in ICT awards in 2017 and establishing a procurement network on Instagram @lerato_procurement that brings together all Procurement & Supply Chain professionals in one place, sharing industry insights in a practical manner, reaching African and Global markets. |
| Most important commodities: | Marketing, Facilities, Consultants & Contractors, Vehicles & Fleet (all non-ICT commodities) |
| The person who has had the biggest influence on your life: |
My Mother |
| The person who has had the biggest influence on your career: |
Dalton Datechong, Head of Category and Supplier Management, Liberty Group |
| Person you would most like to meet: | Phuthuma Nhleko, South African businessman |
| What do you like most about your job?: | Doing in-depth market analysis to make robust and sustainable procurement decisions |
| Is there anything you dislike about your job: | I wouldn’t say dislike, but a challenge is accepting that change management is part of the procurement function |
| Businessperson who has impressed you the most: | Charles M. Henderson – Co-founder of EQUITAS Advisory Group, executive fellow and coach |
| Favourite quote: | Just do it! |
| Your favourite South African organisation: | Township Entrepreneurs Alliance (TEA) & NYDA |
| Your favourite global organisation: | Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) |
| Your philosophy about life: | Focus on positive energy and give others the same privilege you received. |
| Favourite reading: | The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable |
| Favourite music: | Gospel and Commercial house |
| Favourite sport: | N/A |
| Favourite website: | N/A |
| Hobbies: | General exercises & travelling |
| Car: | Mercedes Benz GLC SUV |
| Married: | Not yet |
| Children: | Not yet |
| Twitter handle: | Lerato Sebata |
| Facebook/Instagram: | lerato_procurement |
