Dr Divine Ndhlukula is a Zimbabwean businesswoman, founder and Managing Director of DDNS Security Operations Ltd which is the holding company for SECURICO Security Services. Dr Ndhlukula is also the Chairperson of ZNCC Women’s Desk.
Early life and education
She was born on 5 February 1960 in rural Gutu to Mary and Piniel Simbi. She grew up in Gutu, having attended a number of schools, namely, Zvinavashe School, Machingambi School, Bondolfi Mission, St. Domincs Secondary School, Makumbe Mission. She was married to Stanely Ndhlukula and has one son - David Simbi and two grandchildren. She studied for an Executive Masters in Business Administration at Midlands State University and she holds another an MBA from Women’s University in Africa and a PhD in Business Leadership from the Women’s University which was conferred in recognition of her business leadership and gender equality initiatives.
General career
She worked for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and Old Mutual for six years as an Accounting Officer and then joined Intermarket Life Assurance as a Marketing Executive where she worked for 16 years and left to found SECURICO.
Business career
She founded a security company Securico from humble beginnings in Zimbabwe in 1998 In an interview she said that the idea to form Securico was conceived out of the need to earn a livelihood but critically to revolutionise the male dominated security industry. Speaking to a Zimbabwean newspaper she said,
I thought there was a gap in the industry. Companies that were there were not living up to the needs of the clients. The industry was renowned for wild cat strikes and guards generally were perceived as the lowly-paid in any sector. I wanted to change the perceptions and create a niche in which people could carve out a career and I knew I needed to go in with a different approach and that approach was going to make the difference, the people had to be key or central feature of the vision.
Securico is the first Zimbabwean manned security company to be certified to the internationally acclaimed ISO9001:2008 Quality Management System. Dr Divine Ndhlukula was named one of the most successful women in Africa by Forbes. She also founded Zvikomborero Farms, an agricultural company involved in a variety of farming activities and presently employs 17 permanent employees and over 12 on a temporary basis. In August 2018, Dr Ndhlukula was also named in the top 10 CEOs in Africa.
Positions held
Security Association Zimbabwe – Past Chairman
Chamber of Mines – Past Chairperson of the Joint Suppliers and Producers Committee
Professional Executives & Businesswomen Forum – Trustee
African Women Entrepreneurs Prog – Founding Trustee
Harare Sunshine Holdings
Member of the National Competitiveness Commission Board
First Lady Development Advisory Board
Philanthropic Work
She is the founder of the Mentorship in Practice programme, Woman Owned Brand initiative, an offshoot of the Women in Enterprise Conference and Awards platform which she started in 2013 to help women scale up their businesses. Became the first SADC member at Women Presidents Organization.
Honours and awards
Empretec Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 and Empretec Entrepreneur of Decade 2002;
Manager of the year 2005 for Zim Institute of Management
