Betting on a Darkie: SA’s Top IT CEO, Mteto Nyati’s new book debut on New York Times Square Billboard

One of South Africa’s widely celebrated IT professional, leadership and turnaround expert, Mteto Nyati has released a timely and deeply personal book titled ‘Betting on a Darkie’.

The book which got featured on the popular New-York’s Times Square Billboard and is largely tipped to be the next best-selling literary nonfiction, reflects on his life as a shopkeeper’s son, family man and business leader at local and multinational corporates.

Quoting one of the strong messages in the book, Nyati rightly said: ‘If you want to take the system down, provide a better alternative at least. At heart I’m an engineer. I want to encourage people to fix things, not to raise false hopes.’

Mteto Nyati knew years ago as a schoolboy in Mthatha, working behind the counter at his mother’s trading store, that he wanted to fix and build things. After completing his studies in Mechanical Engineering at Natal University, he turned down a Rhodes scholarship and headed for Johannesburg to take up a position at Afrox. He was the only black engineer and the sole advice he received from his superiors was ‘don’t mess up’. He didn’t.

Today, Nyati is one of South Africa’s top CEOs, having steered Microsoft South Africa and MTN South Africa out of troubled times. He is currently guiding the transition of Altron from a family business, started at the height of apartheid, into a high performing international IT company with a social conscience.

“This book fundamentally connects us to one another as it probes one of the most universal of human experiences,” said Akeju, a director at Prime Music Partners, who alongside his team, are poised on distributing the new book across major digital platforms.

The book which is currently available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble is fast gaining popularity amongst literary work lovers and Nyati will be hoping his story inspires even wider audiences and also take him to the league of best-sellers around the world.