For Khensani Nobanda, Nedbank’s Group Executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was more than a physical challenge – it became a journey of resilience, purpose, and inner transformation.
A Mountain and a Mission
When Khensani Nobanda, Group Executive: Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank Group, decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, it wasn’t just another item on her ever-ambitious “50 before 50” list. It became a spiritual odyssey — a physical and emotional ascent that tested her resolve, deepened her purpose, and reshaped her understanding of strength.
For Khensani, goal setting has always been part of her DNA. “I’ve always been someone who likes putting goals in place and wanting to achieve them,” she says. Having already climbed Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains, she’d heard some people say that “Kili is a little bit easier.” That idea lingered in her mind until she met mountaineer Saray Khumalo, the first Black African woman to summit Everest. A conversation between the two women reignited her curiosity and soon she was training for Africa’s highest peak under Saray’s guidance.
But as often happens with life’s great challenges, Kilimanjaro became about far more than a summit. Three years earlier, Khensani had lost her sister to suicide. “As I was preparing for Kili, my other sister and I started talking about her,” she recalls. “We cremated her, and we just started speaking about taking her ashes to the top of the continent.”
Khensani carried her late sister’s ashes in her backpack and, when she finally reached Uhuru Peak on Women’s Day, she read a letter from her surviving sister before scattering them. “It became a recommitment to each other, the three of us,” she says. “It was no longer just about achievement. It was deeply personal.”
A Climb of Healing and Loss
The mountain tested her in every possible way. There were days when her body simply refused to move, particularly after scaling the intimidating Barranco Wall, a section known among climbers as the “Wall of Death.”
“It’s such a metaphor,” reflects Khensani. “We build these walls in our minds, and when we finally face them, they’re hard but doable.”
Little did she know that later the same day, she would hit her lowest point. “My body just couldn’t go anymore. I couldn’t even stop to rest because I knew I wouldn’t get up again. When I eventually got back to camp, I fell into my tent, boots still on, and cried like a baby. I couldn’t believe I’d paid to suffer like that.”
Yet, even in that moment of despair, she found connection: “The universe gave me a bit of network on my phone. I called my husband and cried, and he said, ‘Go to bed. See how you feel tomorrow.’ And when I woke up, I thought, I can do this.”
Summit night brought its own trials. After just a few hours of restless sleep, climbers began their final ascent at midnight. “Your body is exhausted, and your mind is fragile,” says Khensani. When she reached Stella Point, just shy of the summit, she burst into tears, doubting herself once again — until a stranger appeared.
“He said, ‘When you arrived, you danced. That means you still have strength, both physical and mental. You only have an hour to go.’ That reminder shifted everything. I needed that goal. One foot in front of the other — and I made it.”
Standing on the roof of Africa was transcendent. “It’s this sense of wonder, you’re at the highest point on our beautiful continent,” she says. Alone for a moment, she read her sister’s letter, spread her ashes, and let the magnitude of it all wash over her. Then, in true Khensani fashion, she popped a half-bottle of champagne and danced again — celebrating both grief and triumph. “It was deeply spiritual, but also full of joy.”
Lessons from the Peak
That realisation — that she could trust her mind, her body and even strangers — surprised her most. “I’ve been a director since I was 25. I’m used to leading. But on that mountain, I had to surrender and follow. I just did what the guides told me, and it was liberating. I realised I don’t always have to lead — it’s okay to let others guide you.”
Physically, the experience redefined her confidence. “I’ve always known I’m mentally strong,” she says. “But I didn’t realise how strong my body was. I learned to trust it.” Her training regimen — long hikes, strength sessions and relentless discipline — taught her that making time for goals is a choice. “If you really want to do something, you make time for it,” she insists. “I’d train in hotel rooms while travelling for work. Once I put on my gym clothes, I knew I’d do something.”
Beyond the personal and physical victory, Khensani’s climb was a powerful extension of her purpose, what she calls the art of the possible. “I was born in a mud house with no electricity or running water,” she says. “My parents were the first in their families to get degrees. My father left South Africa at 17 to fight for democracy. So, when I sit on the executive of a JSE-listed bank, I always say my story wasn’t meant to be — but it is. And that’s why my purpose is to show young women that it doesn’t matter where you start. It’s where you finish — that’s what matters.”
Summiting Kilimanjaro became another chapter in that story. “It’s not about the mountain,” she reflects. “It’s about the boundaries we place on ourselves — and the courage to cross them.”
Her advice to others? Start, even if you’re afraid. “Every step forward is better than where you began,” she says. “Yes, it’s vulnerable to speak your dreams aloud, but that’s how you make them real. And winning? It’s just being better than yesterday.”
Now, as Khensani plans her next adventure — possibly Antarctica, the only continent she hasn’t visited — she carries Kilimanjaro’s lessons with her: resilience, surrender and relentless possibility.
“I went up that mountain thinking it was about reaching the top,” she says. “But it was really about everything I discovered along the way.”
And she reminds everyone with a laugh, “I’m not just a marketer, I’m a mountaineer now!”
