Iqbal Survé


Iqbal Survé is a South African physician, philanthropist and entrepreneur. He is the Chairman of the Sekunjalo Investments, and Executive Chairman of Independent Media, one of South Africa's largest media companies.

Early life

Survé was born in Cape Town in 1963 and graduated in medicine from the University of Cape Town.

Relationship with Nelson Mandela

Survé claims a close relationship with Nelson Mandela, and in 2014, a Leadership Platform article in Business Report stated that Survé had been Mandela's doctor "on and off Robben Island". These claims have been disputed.

Sekunjalo Investments

Survé left medicine in 1997 to found Sekunjalo Investments, with the aim of investing and assisting Black-owned businesses, and in 1999 listed it on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. In 2013, Sekunjalo purchased a 55% stake in Independent News & Media SA, South Africa's second biggest newspaper group, from its international parent company, Independent News & Media. The purchase was largely funded by a loan from the government-owned Public Investment Corporation which manages the Government Employees Pension Fund. By 2018 a large proportion of the Public Investment Corporation's investment in Sekunjalo was written off.