Some leaders build successful businesses. Others build enduring cultures. Throughout a career that helped transform Woolworths Food into one of South Africa's most admired, trusted and loved retail brands, UWC alumna Zyda Rylands has done both.

Zyda Rylands, UWC alumna and former Woolworths Food CEO, is recognised for a career defined not only by business success, but by her role in building an enduring culture of excellence, purpose and people-centred leadership. Image: Supplied

Some careers are shaped by opportunity. Others begin with someone who sees potential before we see it ourselves.

For University of the Western Cape (UWC) alumna Zyda Rylands, that moment came towards the end of her BCom Honours studies. Her lecturer point-blank refused to release her results until she agreed to pursue her accountancy articles instead of following the corporate route. Looking back, Zyda believes that somehow he knew what she had to do to become what she needed to be.

That pivotal encounter changed the course of her life.

After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1993 and beginning her career as a financial analyst at Caltex Oil SA (now Astron Energy), Zyda joined Woolworths in the mid-1990s. During a career spanning almost three decades, she helped build the company's food business into the template for premium food retailing in South Africa – a contribution recognised on the world stage in 2017, when she was named Woman of the Year at the World Retail Awards. Yet, ask Zyda what has mattered most during her remarkable journey, specifically since 2013, and her answer is strikingly simple: purpose.

“You must be clear on your passion,” she says. "From passion comes purpose and purpose is everything.”
It is a philosophy that shaped not only her own career but also the culture she helped build as Woolworths South Africa’s CEO. Under her leadership, the business challenged itself to define what it stood for beyond products and profits, distilling its purpose into a simple promise: “The difference that inspires and cares about our customers, our people, our products and our communities.”

For Zyda, purpose was never a slogan. It became the foundation for every decision, from investing in healthier food choices and sustainable farming to empowering teams to live the company's values every day.

“You have to live and breathe your values and your purpose," she says. “They sustained us through the COVID crisis.”

Her leadership philosophy remains equally grounded and she practises high challenge with high support. Success, she believes, is never achieved alone. “Always surround yourself with great people,” she says. “People who will challenge you as well as support you.”

Looking back, Zyda sees a direct link between the direction she received at UWC and the leader she became. A lecturer’s belief in her potential helped shape one of South Africa’s most respected business leaders.

Today, she continues to pay that forward through coaching and through non-executive roles on the boards of various businesses, where she helps shape governance and transformation at the highest level.

For UWC alumni, her story is a powerful reminder that the University does more than award qualifications. It is able to change the direction of a life.