The top South African CEO who went back to university at 61 years old

·27 Sep 2026

Ocean Basket CEO Grace Harding went from fashion to food, starting her career as a shop assistant in Johannesburg and later becoming the CEO of a major seafood restaurant brand.

Harding has worked for the Ocean Basket brand since 2012 and has served as CEO since joining the company.

Born and raised in Johannesburg, she grew up with her father, mother and sister on the outskirts of Hillbrow.

She attributes much of her leadership and strong work ethic to skills she developed during her childhood, which had its share of turbulence, including a period of homelessness.

When Harding was a child, her mother was hospitalised for a mental health illness, which left her and her sister spending seven months in a Jewish children’s home in Johannesburg.

“I visited her often and got to know that mental health issues are real and also that they are often misunderstood,” she told The Citizen.

Despite a challenging childhood, she still credits her creativity to her Egyptian-born mother and her entrepreneurial skills to her Lithuanian father.

“He was an amazing salesman – a real smous, if you like – but he also flew a bit close to the wind, which meant we were often visited by the sheriff of the court, wanting to repossess our stuff. That’s where I learned to negotiate,” she said.

As a teenager, Harding worked in her father’s general dealer on Troye Street in Johannesburg.

“That’s where I learned that I have the skill of getting people to accomplish things well,” she told the Jewish Report.

After matriculating in 1982, Harding started working in fashion retail, which ultimately led to a role at Edgars in 1991, where she did marketing for the Sales House brand until 1998.

“I was lucky enough to work with both the Sales House and Edgars brands and worked in all areas of marketing, from managing promotions for the Sales House Club to working on the internal TV channel and finally heading up the advertising team for Edgars,” she said.

Harding then started her own business in 1998, focusing on employee engagement, leadership development, and change management, and operated it for nearly 15 years.

She first encountered Ocean Basket founder Fats Lazarides in 1998 on an early project, and they reconnected again in 2012 when she was brought in as a consultant.

By 2014, Harding had transitioned to full operational control of Ocean Basket and subsequently took on the role of CEO.

As CEO, she stabilised the brand globally, overseeing operations across multiple countries and managing supply chains.

After 45 years in business and a decade as Ocean Basket’s CEO, Harding enrolled in the Global Executive MBA program at Henley Africa Business School at the age of 61.

Ocean Basket’s next move

Ocean Basket recently told BusinessTech that it is extending beyond its traditional sit-down casual dining into other formats.

Ocean Basket CEO Grace Harding recently told BusinessTech that the group is developing something new, which will launch in Cyprus first, then in South Africa.

“We’re opening the most amazing concept in February. We’re building something exciting, but we’re going to launch it in Cyprus first,” Harding told BusinessTech.

She explained that the group has identified that seafood can be delivered in many formats and plans to extend its format beyond the casual dining space.

“More people need to enjoy great seafood at an incredible price. The current format is not the only one,” said Harding.

Ocean Basket was founded in Pretoria in 1995 by brothers Peter “Fats” and George Lazarides, who looked to bring their mother’s Greek cuisine to a wider audience.

The restaurant chain launched its first international expansion in 2008, opening its first location in Cyprus.

It has now expanded to 16 countries, including the UK, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Malta and several other African countries.

Harding explained that casual dining traditionally requires large footprints, but changing consumer habits demand convenience and lower price barriers.

“The current Ocean Basket model flexes to its environment, and we are working on other distribution channels that will deliver in different environments to different needs.”

Harding mentioned that aggregators like Uber Eats and Mr D are acting as digital malls, in addition to Ocean Basket’s own direct app, which has more than 200,000 users.