DEFYING BARRIERS, a memoir

332pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, Montsi Investments, Cape Town, 2026

ISBN: 9781067218584

In his memoir industrialist and businessman Sam Montši reflects on overcoming apartheid-era challenges, Lesotho exile , entrepreneurship, business leadership, building resilient enterprises, and succession.

"Sam challenges young leaders to think beyond themselves. He calls on entrepreneurs to pursue excellence unapologetically, and to nurture talent intentionally. Defying Barriers is therefore more than a memoir. It is a blueprint. It urges every reader to carry a vision in their heart, shape it with discipline, and place it confidently into the hands of those who will carry it further." Maurice Rabede, Director of Wits Business School

"Sam Montši's story is what post-apartheid South Africa should be about: ambition, integrity, hard work, building new enterprises and making good on the promise of freedom. Read this magnificent account of a man, his family and his work." Naledi Pandor, Chair of the Nelson Mandela Foundation

Born in Soweto in 1945, Sam Montši moved with his family to Lesotho in 1956. A young economics and business graduate, he rose through the civil service to lead the Central Planning and Development Office, later becoming Managing Director of the Lesotho National Development Corporation, before a threat from the military regime in 1987 forced him to leave. Back in South Africa, he joined South African Breweries, becoming the first black General Manager in the group at the height of apartheid, and went on to build Montsi Investments over a period of more than three-decades, with successful entry and exit in an array of businesses across fishing, property, shipbuilding and mining, amongst others.