For W&R Seta chief information officer Barnabas Masekwameng, the root of most business problems can be traced back to a simple lack of communication. His unique calling as an ordained reverend shapes his empathetic leadership style.
Barnabas Masekwameng, a chartered chief information officer at the W&R Seta began his career as a business analyst in a management consulting environment.
With only an IT national diploma behind his name, he describes this period as an incredibly steep learning curve, being constantly surrounded by high-flying management consulting professionals boasting PhDs and MBAs.
“It was not even a 90-degree learning curve. I would rather describe it as one that was 360 degrees,” he laughs, reflecting on his early days.
But he didn’t allow his peers to intimidate him. Instead he worked hard at his 8am to 5pm job and then at night, right into the early hours of the morning, he would immerse himself in studying business strategy concepts, frameworks and their relevance to resolve business problems.
“It worked for me because within eight months I was promoted,” says Barnabas.
He moved quickly up the ranks at Transnet group, working in various roles including senior manager in the Transnet group CIO office and was later promoted to an executive manager in the same office.
During his tenure at Transnet group, among other roles, Barnabas led the definition, design and implementation of key ICT cost-containment initiatives. These strategic interventions successfully saved the organisation between R85 million and R90 million in technology costs.
Barnabas was also responsible for reporting, IT strategy development and the programme management of special technology projects.
In this capacity, he managed corporate centre applications, business intelligence and IT operations.
On several occasions, Barnabas acted as the group CIO and the general manager for group IT operations.
After almost a decade at Transnet, he moved to Independent Development Trust for a year before taking on a 12-month contract at W&R Seta. It was a risky move for Barnabas but it paid off when the company appointed him permanently as its ICT executive manager.
During his tenure at W&R Seta, among other achievements, Barnabas modernised the organisation's IT infrastructure by implementing the Seta core system and a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform.
These systems connected business operations more effectively, streamlined access to services and optimised stakeholder engagement.
He also improved ICT governance across the organisation. By securing critical systems and information, Barnabas successfully reduced business risk and lowered the total cost of technology ownership.
Under his leadership, W&R Seta introduced automation and business analytics. These additions created new operational capabilities while significantly improving internal customer satisfaction.
As ICT executive manager at W&R Seta, his most recent career highlight was leading the first-of-its-kind hackathon in December 2025 to address critical issues in the higher education sector. The hackathon proved to be a tremendous success for young IT entrepreneurs who came up with mind-blowing solutions to address the problems.
His quest for learning has not diminished now that he is a CIO. Over the years he has accumulated various qualifications with his most current pursuit being an MBA at Gibs Business School.
Leading from the heart
Throughout his career Barnabas has led many individuals and says he has realised that people are ultimately wired for conversation. Therefore, rather than leading by expertise, he tries to first understand where people are coming from before making any judgements about a situation.
“Most business problems are not caused by people’s incapacity or incapability, but they are usually caused by secondary issues such as colleagues who are not communicating effectively with each other. They lose focus of the goal at hand. This is where I’ll come in and say to colleagues ‘let’s talk’”.
He says having these types of conversations opens him up to new perspectives.
As an eternal student himself, he ensures that his team members are constantly upskilling and developing themselves. As a leader, Barnabas supports them by creating a safe and happy work environment so that the people he works with don't dread coming to work.
“I believe in capacitating my team. Work force capacitation is not always about giving your employees more money, but investing in their education and developing their skills,” he explains.
“If you check my team, you will find that all of them are busy studying something or other. I find that if you invest in your team’s education, it shows that you care about them and the return on investment is massive, in terms of loyalty,” he says.
Even when conducting performance management, Barnabas doesn’t mind if his team scores higher than him because he ultimately meets his deliverables through them.
“I want my team to be excited about coming to work, but they must also be in a position where they can say that I mentored and affirmed them, giving them direction when they needed to achieve more,” he says.
Behind the scenes
He describes himself as strong-willed but softhearted. The most surprising thing about Barnabas is that he is also an ordained Reverend of the Baptist church. He is also the founder of a family funeral business called Masekwameng Funeral Consultants, which he runs with his life partner.
“In this business the most important thing I want to provide is the peace of mind to families during the time of bereavement,” says Barnabas.
Barnabas says he is passionate about helping people, adding that if he is not fulfilling this calling, he starts to feel like he lacks purpose in life.
“I thrive when I see people doing well and being happy. This is what really drives me,” he explains. “I’ve realised if I am not involved with humanitarian work, my energy levels are depleted very quickly.”
He is also transparent to say that he does not cope well in negative environments because it drains his energy. “I try at all times to be a conduit of positive energy, though it’s not possible at all times.”
In his free time
When asked what type of books that he enjoys reading, Barnabas says humorously that his book choices are informed by his wife’s love of fine things. “You’ll always find me reading books such as The Nature and Behaviour of Money or The 5am Club.”
With podcasts, he tends to be more selective leaning towards talks around psychology. On his phone you’ll find him using a variety of apps that range from fitness and business to religion.
Barnabas is a proud husband and father to two daughters, ages 11 and 15.
“I am the minority in the house,” he laughs. “But to be in a house full of women, I am also like the king of my house and I am loved so deeply. It is a blessing,” Barnabas concludes.
