Denise van Huyssteen was appointed as the CEO for the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber on 01 June 2021. In this role she is responsible for positioning the Chamber as the leading catalyst for the retention and attraction of investment and employment in Nelson Mandela Bay.
She has played an instrumental role in reinventing the role of organised business and has positioned the Chamber as a collaborative and action orientated organisation. She has done this through the mobilisation of the local business community into 11 geographic clusters and various task teams, all focused on developing solutions to enabling environment challenges. Alongside this she is leading the Chamber’s charge as an active participant in the Nelson Mandela Bay Civil Society Coalition, where the various constituencies have signed a social compact and are working together to serve the greater good of the Bay.
An area where Denise has been playing a critical role is advocating and lobbying for the automotive industry and for actions to be taken nationally and locally to prevent further de-industrialisation from taking place. This is vital for a metro which has its economy anchored around the manufacturing sector. She is driving investment promotion through the positioning of the metro as The Bay of Opportunity and is bringing this to life through dedicated Trade and Investment, Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Desks. This is complemented by a Local Economy Reinvention Think Tank led by out-of-the box thinkers and engineers, focused on unlocking opportunities to diversify the local economy and position the Bay as a diverse manufacturing hub on the African continent.
Denise has also spearheaded the establishment of partnerships for the Chamber with various national organisations, which are geared at further strengthening technical capabilities and lobbying reach. Prior to joining the Chamber, Denise was in the automotive sector for over 20 years, most recently as the Corporate Affairs, Business Strategy and Legal Executive for Isuzu Motors South Africa. For more than a decade she served as a member of the Executive Committee of General Motors South Africa and Isuzu Motors South Africa. She has also worked with various markets during her tenure as General Manager of Communications for General Motors Middle East and Africa operations.
She was a The Herald Nelson Mandela University Citizens of the Year Business Category Winner in July 2022, was awarded runner-up title for Daily Maverick’s Business Person of the Year Award for 2025 and was the recipient of a 2026 Achiever Award from the Nelson Mandela University. Denise writes regular features for Daily Maverick and Moneyweb; has given addresses at a number of events; participated in panel discussions and later this year will be a speaker at the Daily Maverick’s The Gathering.