Relebohile Mosaletseng-Malahleha, Barloworld’s finance chief, navigated the company’s 123-year history through a transformative acquisition in 2025. Keeping the team intact and communication open were key as she oversaw the complex transaction. Her strong work ethic and relationships forged from an early age in Matatiele shaped her rise to finance leadership.
At the end of 2025, Barloworld financial director Relebohile Mosaletseng-Malahleha sat down with CFO South Africa in a quiet office in the normally bustling business centre of Sandton. Most of the city had slipped into December holiday mode, but Relebohile was still at her desk with a small skeleton crew – keeping the lights on while the company completed one of the most consequential acquisitions in its 123-year history.
The calm belied an exhaustive, two-year acquisition process led by Newco – a consortium comprising Entsha and Gulf Falcon Holding (wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Zahid Group) that culminated with the release of the standby offer results on 10 November 2025, paving the way for a squeeze-out and delisting steps.
Despite an impressive career, with extensive experience at Barloworld Group, Avis Car Rental, KPMG and the National Treasury, the latest challenge in Relebohile’s professional life came when a consortium moved to acquire Barloworld, ultimately taking the 123-year-old South African industrial group private. An independent board provided oversight on the offer, fairness and process, working with external advisers while management ran the operating workstreams.
“I felt 2025 was just too long. It wasn’t ending. And then we had to close the transaction and suddenly, everything was urgent. We toiled for long hours and the experience was quite intense,” she reflects.
From the outset, people were our priority. “We were conscious of the fact that you don’t trip over people to the point that you end up alone,” she says. The process drew the executive and broader teams closer. “It became less competitive because we realised that all we have is each other and we have to hold the fort.”
Open, honest communication became non-negotiable – alongside relentless diary discipline. Even as she juggled multiple advisers, stakeholder management, liquidity, leverage and restructuring workstreams, Relebohile kept the face-to-face commitment with her leaders. “Keeping communication open and honest ahead of what you anticipate is very helpful,” she says.
It was the largest takeover she had been part of. “I have been involved in a number of significant M&A transactions in my life but I’ve never been part of a transaction of this nature so being part of the process was phenomenal, insightful in so many ways,” she adds.
Roots and early influences
Long before cross-border transactions, Relebohile’s work ethic was forged in Matatiele, the mountain town straddling KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Lesotho. Raised by her grandparents while her mother pursued further studies, she was particularly close to her father and to her grandfather – an influential figure who worked with royal houses in Botswana and Lesotho and authored several Sesotho, Setswana and English books.
Relebohile smiled as she remembered her childhood. “My grandfather marvelled at professional excellence. He studied in Natal and was one of the first family members who travelled to England,” she recalls with pride. Despite his professional responsibilities and author deadlines, he always made time for his young granddaughter – his powerful presence ultimately set the standard for her adult life.
“If I needed wisdom, that is where it came from,” she notes. “His EQ was high – he always made time to sit with you, give solid advice and still treat you like the child you were.”
Relebohile also shared a strong bond with her father. Their relationship formed during the daily school run where they shared many stories and dreams for the future – he also taught her to drive at the age of 13.
“I have a strong affinity for the men in my family because I spent so much foundational time with them. I must also say my grandmother and mom were strong female role models that would put any competitor to shame,” she says.
Close ties to the women in her family would come in her later years. “My grandmother was the school principal of a private school she co-founded which became and still is one of the largest primary schools in Lesotho, while my mom would qualify as a high school teacher who partly managed our family businesses.”
The makings of an accountant
While she started her career and later polished her professional toolkit at KPMG as a partner of the international firm, the crucible was the public sector. She joined National Treasury at a pivotal moment for the South African accounting and audit profession.
Across the Atlantic, the Enron scandal of 2000 had erupted, its effects were felt on South African shores. Enron’s accounting opprobrium had laid bare a culture of “creative accounting”, eroding public trust and dragged audit firm Arthur Andersen (part of the global top five audit firms) into a tailspin after its role in shredding sensitive documents was made public.
“What was significant was that I joined during this transition,” she notes. While the scandal continued to unravel in the news, Relebohile got to work behind the scenes.
“We converted accounting in the South African government to accrual accounting. We also brought stronger oversight via the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) including the introduction of new legislation. I learnt how to draft legislation – we took it to Parliament – and I later served on the board of the first IRBA,” she explains.
Only in hindsight, she adds, does the magnitude of that work truly register. Relebohile hadn’t just been a part of history, she had helped rewrite the rules of the game.
Growth in real time
For Relebohile, growth happens daily – sometimes celebrated, often uncomfortable. One of the toughest seasons was 2002, when she passed her CTA and board exams while working and becoming a mother. “The discipline required was intense.”
Then came Covid-19. Fresh from a sabbatical, she stepped into an organisation that had to pivot overnight. Companies around the world were suddenly put on notice to overhaul their entire operations for remote work. “We had to turn this business upside down and position it in a place where it was ready for survival,” Relebohile adds.
“President Ramaphosa was ‘with immediate effect’ all the time,” she laughs. In roughly a year, Barloworld implemented a Section 189 people restructuring; drove cost optimisation and cost saving, including renegotiating several contracts; closed two M&A transactions and sold half of its largest motor fleet business by year-end.
“Looking back you can’t believe that we did so much in such a short space of time but we did,” she says.
With over 27 years’ experience in the finance industry, Relebohile nurtures a deep-seated passion for people and country. Providing career mentorship for a new generation of accountants, maintaining historical relationships and skillful conflict resolution is what defines her work ethic.
“Relationships matter,” she states simply and firmly. “As you navigate your environment, be hard and soft. Don’t burn bridges. Respect everyone – old, young, green, or blue. Life is cyclical; it brings you back to people.”
Relebohile adds that this is not about being a pushover. It’s about skilled conflict resolution, being honest, providing redirection while respecting one’s time and goals. “Keep your word. Keep communicating. And keep your people.”
