AVBOB’s young trailblazer Mabore Sefara

“A teacher affects eternity, no one knows where his influence stops,” US historian and politician Henry Adams once said, stressing the vital role teachers play in a learner’s life. For Mabore Sefara, live may have turned out very differently had it not been for one highschool teacher.

The 36-year-old Sefara would probably be out on a construction site planning, organising and overseeing all aspects of large and complex construction projects as a construction manager, which she had initially studied towards becoming after high school, before changing course to follow what was clearly sound advice. Thankfully, Mrs Boshoff, Sefara’s high-school

English teacher, advised her to rather study communications after matric. “I think I had a flair for the English language and writing, but I also think my talkative nature played a major role in her advice. I’m still talkative – that hasn't changed!”

Sefara tells Spot-On.

She is now a corporate communications specialist at AVBOB Mutual Assurance Society and has been with the leading funeral company for six years now.

THE TRAIL THUS FAR

After completing her NDip in Business Communication in 2010, Sefara landed her first job at the Department of Basic Education (DBE). She started as an intern in the Communications Directorate, which she says helped strengthen her character – from building a thick skin to being steadfast about what she wants to do. The environment also gave her a glimpse of the dynamics of hard-hitting news.

“The year I was an intern, the DBE received a lot of media coverage and being thrown in the deep end was the order of the day,” says Sefara. “But because I have a curious mind and asked a lot of questions, this set me on a path of learning more quickly about the ins and out of media relations and PR as a whole.” At the time, the directorate had few available positions and Sefara was moved to a newly formed department to assist districts in ensuring that they met their mandate to provide support to schools. “That’s when my journey as a personal assistant began and, from there, I didn’t want to think being a PA was just about doing admin.”

Ambitious and determined, she studied further while working at the DBE, acquiring a BTech in Business Communication and sharpening her writing skills so that she could prepare herself for a time when she may leave for greener pastures.

Some of her responsibilities involved arranging events for the department, including izimbizo for the Minister throughout the country and the planning of district meetings. But she eventually hungered for a new challenge and a friend serendipitously informed her about a PR post at AVBOB. She took a risk – and left a government job many would kill for – to follow her heart.

MABORE SEFARA

AVBOB’s Young Trailblazer

ENTERING AVBOB

“For me, I didn’t look at it as a risk. I took it as me spreading my wings. I was feeling rather underutilised in some instances and, being a go-getter, I needed to fly,” says Sefara. Yet she insists that she doesn’t take unnecessary chances. “I’m not really a risk-taker – I’m rather strategic in how I move and ensure that I have a base to work on… then I fly.”

Sefara has been with AVBOB for over half a decade, since 2016, and says one of the things that surprised her about the organisation was how tight-knit they are as a working unit. “The exco and corporate affairs teams welcomed me with open arms. Another significant surprise was that I thought I would have to communicate about the funeral industry all the time, but AVBOB is a living brand – whether it’s through insurance, our CSI initiatives or even assisting in matters that affect our communities such as the July unrest and the recent floods in KZN,” she says. The corporate world can be a challenging space, especially as a black female. But Sefara has a palpable boldness that makes it difficult to scare her. “It’s like any other corporate but, like I said, I am very strategic in my thinking. I’m someone who bulldozes with a smile. What one person sees as a challenge, I see as an opportunity to grow and learn. But I can say that AVBOB has taught me that we live in a world of diversity and we’re all trying to make a world a better place.”

THE IMPACT OF COVID

The Covid-19 pandemic pushed the funeral industry to the limit, to a point where several operators couldn’t keep up with the rate at which people were dying. “The Covid-19 pandemic was very difficult for us in the funeral industry – more especially for those working in our funeral branches. Some of the challenges we faced as an organisation was moving most of the employees to work remotely, but our funeral agents were working full time at branches to assist the families of those who lost their loved ones,” says Sefara.

“What was impactful during these times was the group hired more personnel for branches, we strengthened our communication on employees taking up the free counselling provided to all staff, and the AVBOB agents who could go out to write up policies were paid over the duration of the hard lockdown. Our exco team was also readily available to handle staff needs.”

COMMUNITY MATTERS

Last year, Sefara was appointed as part of the AVBOB Foundation’s CSI Committee for a period of 12 months. The committee is responsible for facilitating the goodwill of the group through sponsoring different organisations, including education departments, NGOs and businesses that assist in community upliftment.

“The CSI Committee is primarily responsible for assessing ad hoc projects that require less than R100 000. These are smaller than the flagship projects that have a set budget, but are rather impactful to communities that require assistance. As a committee, we have funded electric fencing at an old age home,” she says. The group assisted 17 beneficiaries in Gauteng and KZN following the July unrest in the respective provinces, including Shape Café in Sebokeng, food vendors in KZN and Nguni Brand.

Sefara says she’s always seen herself as leader who would one day like to be a manager, if not a general manager of corporate affairs. “But in the next few years, I would like to explore the world of digital marketing and become a digital marketing manager – which is a post that’s not available at AVBOB as yet,” says the trailblazer.