The Future Leader Interviews Season 2

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Professor Phakeng, a B1 rated scientist, is a recognisable name in higher education in South Africa. 

She obtained her junior degree, majoring in pure mathematics, at the then University of Bophuthatswana (now North-West University) in Mmabatho in 1987, obtaining a solid 74% for her final-year pure mathematics module. 

She completed all her postgraduate studies, which ended with a PhD in 2002, at Wits University where she also served for five years as President of Convocation (2011-2016). Her first job was in 1988 as a mathematics lecturer at Hebron College of Education. 

Over the years she served as principal, teacher, and mathematics subject advisor before venturing into the nongovernmental sector for five years, running mathematics development programmes for teachers and learners in township and farm schools in West Rand. 

She also ran empowerment programmes for women in the rural villages of Matamanyane and Lenyenye in Limpopo. 

Professor Phakeng’s academic career started at Wits, where she first served as a research assistant in 1996 and later left in December 2007 as an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education as well as Founding Director of the award-winning Marang Centre for Mathematics and Science Education. In January 2008 she took up the position of Executive Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) at the University of South Africa. 

She had a very successful tenure as Dean of CSET at UNISA and was promoted to serve as Vice-Principal of the newly established portfolio of Research and Innovation on 1 July 2011. 

When her five-year term ended in June 2016, she joined UCT as DVC for Research and Internationalisation. As a highly regarded scholar, Professor Phakeng has been invited to deliver over 40 keynote lectures at international conferences and as visiting professor at universities around the world. 

Her commitment to academia and research extends beyond her own advancement. In 2016 she was appointed by the then Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as chairperson of the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa standing committee on Mathematics and Science. Professor Phakeng is a member of a number of boards, including the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls; the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation; and the South African Student Solidarity Foundation for Education. 

She is also a trustee of the FirstRand Foundation. She has chaired the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Research, Development and Innovation Committee (until September 2017), and served as National President of the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa from 2002 to 2006. 

Her other previous roles include chairperson of the Board of the South African Mathematics Foundation from 2005 to 2006; secretary and member of the executive committee of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education from 2003 to 2007 and the CSIR from 2015 to 2017. 

Professor Phakeng is also the founder of the Adopt-a-learner Foundation, a non-profit organisation that started in 2004 and provides financial and educational support to students from township and rural areas to acquire higher education qualifications. 

Listen to Prof Phakeng's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host.

He is best known for being the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central since September 2015.

Noah began his career as an actor, presenter, and comedian in his native South Africa. He held several television hosting roles with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), and was the runner-up in their fourth season of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008.

From 2010 to 2011, Noah was the creator and host of Tonight with Trevor Noah on M-Net and DStv. His stand-up comedy career attained international success, leading to appearances on American late-night talk shows and British panel shows.

In 2014, Noah became the Senior International Correspondent for The Daily Show, an American satirical news program. The following year, he was announced as the successor of long-time host Jon Stewart. 

Although ratings for the show declined following Stewart's departure, Noah's tenure has been generally favourably reviewed; he is contracted to host the show until 2022.

Noah's autobiographical comedy book Born a Crime was published in 2016 and garnered critical acclaim. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Barbara Creecy has been a member of the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC in Gauteng, since 1994. 

This mother of two is well respected by stakeholders as a capable leader, with a good track record in public policy formulation and implementation.

Ms Creecy is one of the longest serving Members of the Provincial Legislature. She joined the legislature in 1994, and until 2004, served in different portfolios including Deputy Chief Whip as well as Chairperson of the Social Development and Education Committees.

In 2004 she was appointed MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture. 

After the General Elections in 2009, Ms Creecy moved to the Education portfolio. 

It was under her leadership that the Gauteng Department of Education pioneered a turnaround strategy to improve matric performance in 400 underperforming township schools. 

In April 2014, the programme was recognized by the United Nations and awarded first prize in the category “Improving Delivery of Public Services”.

Ms Creecy currently serves as the Member of the Executive Council responsible for Finance in the Gauteng Provincial Government.

In her capacity as the MEC of Finance, she is responsible for Gauteng Provincial Treasury, Department of e-Government and an agency called Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency.

Under her leadership, the Provincial Treasury implemented the Open Tender system. This innovative reform includes the public adjudication of tenders as well as an independent probity audit to ensure that procurement processes are within the prescribed regulatory framework. 

She also led Treasury to comprehensively support departments in improving financial management, with the result that in 2016/17 two out of three departments achieved clean audits and all other departments had unqualified audit status.

These and other significant achievements have led Treasury to be recognised both provincially and nationally as one of the pioneers in financial management in the public sector, winning three awards at the 2016 Batho Pele Awards and another three at the Premier’s Service Excellence Awards in 2017.

Through Ms Creecy’s guidance, e-Gov is also making progress in modernising the public service. As a result, e-Gov’s Gauteng Broadband Network project was recently awarded 1st runner up at this year’s Public Service ICT Awards.

Ms Creecy grew up in Johannesburg. Her political career started when she joined the anti-apartheid movement and later the underground structures on the ANC whilst a student at Wits in the late 1970’s. 

She worked for the Civic Desk of the United Democratic Front and later joined an NGO that offered training and organisational development support to trade unions and community structures.

She holds an Honours Degree in Political Science from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of London. When she is free, Ms Creecy likes taking long walks, swimming, practising yoga or reading a good book. 

Listen to MEC Creecy's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo  

Zoaib Hoosen is the Microsoft South Africa Managing Director. Before joining Microsoft, Hoosen spent about 21 years at IBM, where he started as an IT graduate in 1989 and rose through the ranks to hold several leadership positions.

In his final assignment at IBM, he headed up the company’s Middle East and Africa Public Sector Business.

Hoosen joined Microsoft South Africa in 2010 as the Enterprise and Partner Group Director, before being promoted to the role of Chief Operations Officer in 2013.

Hoosen currently holds a BSc and an MBA Degree from the University of Durban-Westville and Open University in the United Kingdom.

 Listen to Zoaib's Interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo 

Ian Russell is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BCX, Africa’s premier end-to-end digital solutions partner. 

He joined BCX on 1 May 2017 from Telkom where he was accountable for the delivery of a wide range of Group Services to Telkom's business units including Procurement, Supply Chain, corporate real estate, security, Corporate Social responsibility activities and Human Resources.  

He has served as Head of Procurement for Johannesburg-based South African Breweries (SAB) Ltd and has held several senior back office roles across Barclays, including setting up and running the Smart sourcing team, which was entirely focused on transformational outsourcing. 

His previous career highlights include filling positions as Group Integration Director, Chief Administration Officer and Chief Procurement Officer for the Absa Group. 

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and has been internationally recognised for leading and developing procurement best practices.

TERTIARY ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS: 

BSc (Econ), MBA, FCIPS  

Listen to Ian's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo  

The role of Chief Operating Officer was a natural progression for Mehmood to assume the leadership of strategic operations that will continue to build the SAP brand as the top ICT provider across the African continent.

As the Chief Operating Officer Mehmood communicates a clear vision of the future, motivates through inspiration, mobilises teams and actively establishes relationships characterised by mutual respect and trust.

In his previous roles as Services Director SAP MENA and SAP Africa, Mehmood supported the successful deployment and operation of SAP customer’s systems solutions.  He ensured SAP Services delivered the best Business Consulting, Technical Consulting, Solution Implementation, Custom Development and Education Services.  

He was responsible for all aspects of leadership, positioning, sales, delivery, revenue growth and profitability of the SAP Services business.

As SAP Africa Value Engineer Lead, Mehmood helped customers develop practical implementation plans and business cases for IT transformation working with blue chip South African companies to structure multi-million rand investments in SAP.

In his role as IT Strategy Manager at PwC, Mehmood led engagements with South African companies to create IT strategies, specialising in M&A and restructuring initiatives.

Mehmood has a BSc Applied Mathematics from the University of Witwatersrand and an MBA INSEAD (France). 

 Listen to Mehmood's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo 

Dineo Molefe has been the Managing Director at T-Systems South Africa (Pty) Ltd since May 2018.

Dineo is a seasoned executive with experience spanning 20 years spent across a spectrum of ICT, Investment Management, Power and Development Funding entities. Her professional experience has shaped her in the areas of:

• Strategic Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions, Risk Management

• Financial Reporting and Auditing 

• Directorship, Chairman, Board and Senior management 

• Mentorship and advocacy for women’s professional development • 

In her career, Dineo has occupied a number of senior decision-making roles. In addition to having served as Group Financial Director at Thebe Investment Corporation and Finance Executive at Vodacom, Dineo serves on the Boards and Audit Committees of some listed and prominent South African companies. 

Dineo’s current role as Managing Director for T-Systems South Africa is a multi-faceted one that sees her drawing on her combined knowledge and experience to lead the award-winning local wing of this Multinational ICT provider – developing integrated, flexible solutions that enhance customers’ operations for the networked future.

Dineo is passionate about developing women leaders in Africa and has established development initiatives within the organisational environments of T-Systems and at previous organisations where she has worked. 

Dineo actively participates in this regard as a mentor and coach for aspirant young women, and most recently received the Positive Role Model accolade at the Gender Mainstreaming Awards 2018. 

Dineo holds a Master of Commerce in International Accounting, and has completed the Advanced Management Program from the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania.

Listen to Dineo's interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

Ms Luthuli is the Divisional Executive for Corporate Affairs at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). Prior to joining the IDC, she held the role of Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Shared Services at PetroSA. A passionate and experienced communicator, Ms Luthuli has had various roles in both private and public sector entities. She holds a BA in Communication and an MBA.

As Divisional Executive: Corporate Affairs, Zama holds a critical role. This is evident when she points to the files she has in front of her, of entrepreneurs the IDC has developed. She speaks animatedly about them. This job, clearly, is more than a job for her.

“I see it as a contribution to the continent,” she says, which makes the long hours and lengthy Exco meetings worthwhile. It’s something bigger than us, it’s about other people. We work long hours, we get so tired but we look at people’s businesses and see the impact in their lives, and then the long meetings no longer matter.”

The IDC is the national development finance institution in South Africa set up to promote economic growth and industrial development. Zama was only 37 when she assumed an executive role for the first time, in her previous job, at PetroSA. 

Born in KwaZulu-Natal, Zama worked very hard in order not to disappoint her mother, and graduated in communications.

Thereafter, she says she was always fortunate finding employment. That’s also because she was willing to take risks. “I always knew I wanted to be in a corporate environment.”

But she has a piece of advice for young people. “If you want a job, make one,” she says. “With challenges, you learn, you grow, you adjust. There will be a woman who has been there before, so rely on her skills. It’s important to have a mentor. You need to understand the lay of the land, understand the organization.

“And always look for a business opportunity in what you do while you are employed. There are so many creative ideas we encounter on a daily basis. Whilst you are working, work on your dream, work on an idea, have a back-up plan.”

Listen to Zama's interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

The FUTURE LEADER OUTLOOK Interview: Bonang was, until his new BLSA appointment, vice president upstream and the chairman of Shell downstream South Africa (Pty) Limited; Shell South Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd; Shell South Africa Refinery (Pty) Ltd and South African Petroleum Refinery (SAPREF). 

He had country responsibilities for the Oil, Chemical, Aviation, Marine and Lubricants global businesses and was operationally accountable for Retail; Fuels & Bitumen; Supply & Distribution classes of businesses as well as Finance; Legal; HR; Safety (HSSE) and Transformation.

Until 2008, he spent six years as the chief executive officer of Drake & Scull FM SA (PTY) Ltd, an integrated facilities management company owned by the Tsebo Outsourcing Group, where Bonang was also a member of the executive committee (Exco).

Until May 2003, he was chief executive: shared services and associated companies of Sanlam; a member of the exco; alternate director of the Sanlam Limited main board; chairman of the board of TASC; a director of Innofin; GensecProperty Services and Fundamo.

Until August 2001, he was the executive vice president at South African Airways (SAA) responsible for strategic alliances, network management and global sales.

From 1996, he was the managing director of OTIS (PTY) LTD, the world’s biggest and oldest elevator company, where he spent five years. In 1997, the company won the Black Management Forum’s (BMF) “Progressive Company of the Year” award.

Recognition

Awarded “The Momentum Friendship Blazer” in recognition of  being the first RSA Nation Building Champion in 2015. Winner of both the ‘Country’ (RSA) & ‘SADC Regional’ ”Titans – Building the Nation” in the 2014 CEO Magazine Awards. 

Bonang was conferred an honorary professorship in marketing management by the University of Pretoria, where he serves on their advisory council. 

He was named 2012 IPM CEO of the Year, SA Facilities Management Association 2007 ‘Personality of the Year’ and the BMF’s 1997 Manager of the Year. Received the Presidential Award for his “Servanthood in South African Industry & the Economic Empowerment of Previously Disadvantaged Individuals” in 2001.

Bonang has been a guest on numerous international TV, radio and magazine programmes. He travels regularly to the rest of Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Listen to Bonang's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo  

 Tash now works with a great team at YES to connect youth to jobs (btw there are 5,7 million unemployed youth in SA). With the equally brilliant team at Boundless, she develops models with companies to foster development and embed deeper societal value and meaning to brands in low income communities.

Tashmia hopes fervently to finish her PhD at UNU-MERIT in Maastricht and is not giving up. She is a part-time lecturer at the Gordon Institute of Business Science where she teaches innovation and strategies for low income markets.

Tashmia is interested in inclusive business models and how innovative and sustainable strategies can be shaped for firms in developing markets.

Currently, her research focus is directed at behaviorally based, digital, business skills training, entrepreneurship, collaborative network theory and employment creation.

Tashmia strives to be mindful, has a deep appreciation of trees and considers chocolate a food group. 

Listen to Tashmia's Interview on  Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Chose has firmly established himself as one of South Africa’s finest Corporate Affairs Directors with a dedicated and extensive career served in world-class corporations. 

The broad remit of his function has seen him lead highly skilled teams: Academic, Stakeholder Relations, Media Relations, Investor Relations, Government Relations, Public Affairs, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development, Community Affairs, Legal and Regulatory, Corporate Governance and Reputation Management. 

With a seat at the top table throughout his illustrious career, Chose has shaped thinking and articulated it. His successful practice in both the public and private, and his clear understanding of policy and politics have distinguished him as a practitioner par excellence, managing complex bilateral and multilateral roles among business, community, and government. 

Chose’s strategic ability, commercial insight, empathy for stakeholder perspectives, financial prowess, sensitivity to the workings of large organisations, and an understanding of the political dimensions are all the cornerstones of his success. 

Chose’s conception and nurturing of proactive and meaningful cross-functional formal and informal networks within the community, government, media, employees, and investors are second to none.

He is a Fulbright Scholar which is one of the most prestigious awards programmes in the world. In 1996 he won the prestigious British Council Chevening Leadership Award. The award is a highly sought-after programme aimed at extremely capable individuals, future leaders, high achievers, opinion formers, and decision-makers.

Chose is the quintessential director, duly certified by the Institute of Directors. He currently serves the South African public in various positions of influence and responsibility. His wealth of expertise and experience are in constant demand across important boardrooms and committee tables. 

Listen to Chose's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

The Director: Strategy and Planning, Mlungisi Cele, of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has been appointed the acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI).

NACI, an entity of the DST, is tasked with advising the Minister of Science and Technology and, through the Minister, the Cabinet, on the role and contribution of innovation (including science and technology) in promoting and achieving national objectives. 

These national objectives include the improvement of the quality of life of South Africans, the promotion of sustainable economic growth and international competitiveness.

NACI's mandate stems from the White Paper on Science and Technology 1996.Chapter 5 of the White Paper directs NACI to play an advisory rather than an operational role in respect of stimulating the National System of Innovation.

Dr Cele holds a PhD in Higher Education Studies from the University of the Western Cape and an MPhil in Science and Technology Studies from Stellenbosch University. He joined the DST in 2005 and has been involved in various assignments related to science, technology and innovationpolicy, human capital development and strategy and planning and reviews. 

Prior to joining the DST, he worked as a researcher at the former University of Durban-Westville and the University of the Western Cape, where he conducted research and published in areas of higher education policy, science and technology policy, youth and student politics. 

Listen to Mlungisi's Interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

Matimba is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Vodacom Group. Prior to this role, he was Managing Executive: HR for Vodacom South Africa until April 2014. 

Matimba has worked within the Vodacom/Vodafone Group since 2003 during which he worked in various roles within HR. He subsequently spent 3 years on secondment to Vodafone as Regional Head of Organisational Effectiveness & Change, and Regional Head of Talent within the Africa, Middle East & Asia Pacific “AMAP” region. 

Prior to his assignment to the Vodafone AMAP Region, Matimba was responsible for Talent Management at Vodacom for six years where he successfully delivered the integration of our talent strategy into the Vodafone global strategy. 

His previous experience includes key HR roles in blue chip companies such as BMW South Africa and Unilever. In October 2015 Matimba was appointed as a Non-Executive Director on the Vodacom Business Nigeria Board, in May 2017 as a Non-Executive Director on the YeboYethu Board and as Non-Executive Director of Vodacom Tanzania in August 2017.

Listen to Matimba's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and Soundcloud

Adam is the Chief Executive Officer at IQbusiness, the largest independent management consulting firm in South Africa.

Adam joined IQbusiness in September 2009 and was appointed CEO in November 2010.

He is an ardent lobbyist for government and business collaboration, though he places the emphasis on education as the key ingredient to drive an inclusive future for all South Africans.

Adam has forged strong partnerships between IQbusiness and various NGOs and social enterprises, such as SmartStart, Tomorrow Trust, Harambee and Partners for Possibility, to act as catalysts for positive trends in education. 

Some of his other major milestones in terms of encouraging shared prosperity for all include the creation of the GROWTH.co.za forum and an accompanying annual research report that identifies five key pillars for growth.

Under Adam’s leadership, IQbusiness is a founding partner of the CEO SleepOut. This, together with Adam’s “End the #NationalShutUp” campaign; his work with the Presidential CEO Initiative; and the certification of IQbusiness as a B Corporation, ensures that IQbusiness positively impacts many stakeholders, “using business as a force for good”™.

Previous companies and positions: Super Group (COO); Dimension Data (Group Executive); Merchants (Pty) Ltd (MD); Accenture (Associate Partner); British Gas (Market Analyst). 

Adam is a member of the Young President’s Organisation, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and the President of the IMD Alumni Club of South Africa.

Adam’s area of expertise puts him at the forefront of topical, thought-provoking and even controversial conversations around the following topics:

• Conscious Leadership
• Efficient, Effective and Agile Government
• Education
• Financial Inclusion
• Enterprise Development
• State-Owned Enterprises
• The Future of Consulting in South Africa and Africa
• Purpose-driven Organisation

More from Adam

State Capture a Golden Opportunity

Cyril’s New Deal May Be the Answer

Adam on Smile FM

Listen to Adam's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Nolulamo (Lulu) Nobambiswano Gwagwa completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Fort Hare. She proceeded to the University of Natal’s Planning School where she completed her Masters in Town and Regional Planning. 

From there Dr Lulu Gwagwa went to the London School of Economics and Political Science where she graduated cum laude with an M.Sc. She then obtained a PhD from University College London.

The early years of Dr Gwagwa’s career focused mainly on physical planning. In 1986 she started work at the Built Environment Support Group. The NGO based at the University of Natal, supported communities in townships and squatter settlements with their housing and related struggles.

After studying abroad, Dr Gwagwa took up a position in 1992 a senior lecturer at the University of Natal’s Department of Town and Regional Planning. While there she served on a 12 member Commission for the Delineation and Demarcation of Provincial Boundaries, which decided on the country’s current provincial boundaries. 

She was then appointed a Deputy Director General in the national Department of Public Works from 1995 until 1998. Dr Gwagwa was instrumental in the development of policy for the transformation of the construction industry and managed an infrastructure led job creation programme.

In 1995 Dr Gwagwa also served as the presidential appointee on the Commission on Provincial Government and as Deputy Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Local Government Transformation. 

As CEO of the Independent Development Trust (IDT), from 1998 until 2003, Dr Gwagwa transformed the Trust from a grant making to a development management agency. 

Under her leadership the IDT was appointed to assist government in the coordination of the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme. 

Policy research also forms part of Dr Gwagwa’s extensive resume. She was appointed by the World Bank, in 2004, to co-produce a research paper on the history and status of Community Driven Development in South Africa. 

Aside from authoring policy documents, Dr Gwagwa has also published in the fields of gender, housing and development management.

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of Lereko Investments, a black-owned investment company. Dr Gwagwa also serves as non-executive director of FirstRand, Massmart and Sun International. She is also the Chairperson of Aurecon Africa. She recently served as the Deputy Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Planning Commission. 

Dr Gwagwa’s passion for spatial equity has driven her philanthropic work. Two decades ago she founded the Mhakazi Trust to empower the young people of Umzimkulu, some of whom have even graduated from tertiary institutions. 

Dr Lulu Gwagwa is a multifaceted woman: an accomplished development planner; business leader; and philanthropist. She is a keen writer and photographer who is currently studying philosophy. 

 Listen to Dr Gwagwa's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo 

 A dip into Ryan Stramrood’s swimming CV is impressive, and cold: he has already completed 76 Robben Island-to-mainland crossings and swam solo across the notorious English Channel. 

With a team of South Africans, he swam the first official “Ice Mile” in -1°C water in Antarctica, completed the world’s first swim around the southernmost tip of South America – Cape Horn – and, again with some extreme friends, was the first, South African male to swim from Europe to Africa across the Gibraltar Strait.

But beyond Ryan’s physical prowess, this born-and-bred Capetonian is a gifted speaker whose telling of a personal journey of challenge and discovery is deeply inspiring.

It’s hard to believe that not very long ago, fitness was not much of a priority for Ryan.

Couch potato was where I was heading, and eventually I decided I needed to do something. I’d always enjoyed swimming, so I nervously signed up with a small swimming squad. I think I managed about 20 lengths before I was exhausted, but I stuck with it, and after a while I started meeting guys who were doing big things in swimming.

It wasn’t long before one of those guys suggested that Ryan attempt to swim from Robben Island to Blouberg.

At first, I thought it was an insane idea; something reserved for elite athletes and nowhere near my aspirations nor abilities. But I trained for it anyway, and in 2003 I gave it a go, and succeeded.

It was that first Robben Island swim – 7.3km in very cold water – that started Ryan’s journey and got him thinking about what more was possible. Since then, Ryan has been quietly crossing channels and setting records without much fuss or publicity, and still describes his swimming as a hobby – one he undertakes “for deeply personal reasons”.

I’m not a professional athlete by any stretch of the imagination. Nor am I superhuman. My body doesn’t have any special abilities. My story isn’t about winning or losing or success or failure. It’s a story about pushing beyond my own perceived limitations, about learning. You can do it too, if you really want to.

It was a moment in the middle of the English Channel in 2008 that really brought the “why” home for Ryan.

I reached a point in the swim where it was physically impossible for me to carry on. I’d hit the wall. I still had four hours to go to get to France and every part of me was screaming, ‘get out’ and ‘impossible’. Thanks to a strong support team, a bit of grit and for the first time, switching gear entirely from body to mind, I eventually found myself on a French beach many hours later in complete darkness. The experience taught me how the mind is designed to keep you safely inside your comfort zone; to make you believe your limitations. If you believe them, you 

Listen to Ryan's  on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Pride Maunatlala is a South African marketing executive and businesswoman who currently leads the marketing strategy at TFG for the Foschini Division -

A team that houses brands championing female inclusivity and inspiring women to find their space in the economy. 

She is a one of a kind brand architect with almost 20 years of experience in multiple industries including Retail, FMCG, Financial services, Advertising and Public Sector. 

Her work is centered on the strength of brands though purpose and employee advocacy. 

Through her MBA degree from Gordon Institute of Business, she published a research paper in the Journal of Brand Management focusing on organisations’ ability to achieve competitiveness through employee endorsement. 

Pride advocates for the development of female professionals and entrepreneurs as a mentor, advisor and contributor to Future Females and SheSays Cape Town. 

She is an alumni at the Zanele Mbeki Fellowship for Female Leadership in Africa. With the future of marketing and advertising constantly evolving and expanding, 

Pride’s contribution to industry is as advisory member for Vega School CPT and CMO Council Africa Region. She is also a jury member for the Financial Mail AdFocus awards, geared for driving excellence in advertising. 

Listen to Pride's interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Taki is an experienced executive director with a demonstrated history of working in the Information Communication and Technology space. She is skilled in government, diplomacy, cyber security, management, national security, policy and legal research analysis and advisory services and law writing. 

Taki obtained an LLB degree and a Higher Diploma in Company Law from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), BJuris from the University of Venda, Master's Degree in Security Studies from the University of Pretoria, Post Graduate Certificates (Wits) in Cybersecurity (cum laude) and in Protection of Information; and Executive Education Certificates from Wits and Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Taki was appointed as Chief Officer: Corporate Affairs for Vodacom Group with effect from September 2016. She was later appointed as executive director in Vodacom South Africa and Chairperson of the Vodacom Foundation. 

Taki has had a stint as a part-time lecturer in Administrative Law at the University of Venda. She then spent 20 years in government mainly as a lawyer and policy advisor in the security cluster whilst employed in the Minister for Intelligence Services. 

She developed well-honed legal writing skills as a law writer, and in public policy development, and stakeholder and relationship management. These competencies were augmented during her 4 year stint as Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa in Hungary and Croatia. 

Before taking up the diplomatic post, she operated as CEO of Electronic Communications Security (Pty) (Ltd), a state owned entity that was established under the then National Intelligence Agency. 

She received several merit awards which include the Hungarian Eotvos (ELTE) University commemorative medal and certificate for relentless efforts to promote academic and cultural collaboration between South Africa and Hungary, and deepening bilateral relations between the two countries. 

She was also awarded the Intelligence Services Woman of the Year award for meritorious contribution to the South African intelligence policy and legal dispensation. She was admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa in 1996. 

Taki is currently the Read to Lead Ambassador for the Department of Basic Education encouraging children in an Early Childhood Development Centre in Kaalfontein, Midrand to read in mother tongue (African ethnic languages).

Listen to Taki's interview on Vimeo, Youtube and Soundcloud

Sajeed Sacranie is a seasoned venture capitalist and business developer. His experience spans financial services, telecommunications, media, technology, sports, real estate and professional services. 

His diverse background uniquely positions him to “connect the dots differently”. Sajeed has a track record of launching and growing businesses in diverse sectors. He has created significant value for some of the leading brands in the world through accelerating value-creation by: 

• Challenging the Status Quo;
• Identifying areas of High Potential Growth; and
• Leading Startups and Launching Growth Strategies by designing and implementing high potential, win/win partnership strategies.  

Sajeed is currently involved in venture capital advisory and investment activities which include: 

• Partnering with large corporates in launching new ventures through a proprietary corporate venturing methodology designed to help corporates create ecosystems and launch sustainable ventures that meet ROI hurdles. Central to this is addressing the South African imperative of Enterprise Development so that it can fulfil its role as an engine for entrepreneurial growth.

• Leveraging Legaltech deployed in professional services firms and corporates to improve their service effectiveness by using AI and machine learning. This service is being used by a number of leading South African law firms and will lead to the creation of managed services businesses in the knowledge management space. 

• Establishing ecosystems of partners in the IOT space and leveraging these to provide smart services in the Real Estate, Mining and Health sectors.

• Advising on dispute resolution. Sajeed’s experience in aligning strategic and commercial interests has meant that he has been the lead advisor in the resolution of disputes where claims have exceeded R1 billion.  The majority of these have been in the telecommunications, media and technology sectors.  He has successfully navigated the parties to out of court settlements in 80% of these.

Key Milestones:

Over the last 3 years Sajeed has been the lead innovation advisor for Deloitte (South Africa) BPO service line.  In this capacity,  he conceptualised and launched Smart Real Estate as a Service and oversaw the collaboration between Deloitte and Vodacom in the IOT space. 

This innovative managed services IoT offering was a global first for both Deloitte and Vodacom in the real estate sector.  This culminated in March 2018 when he advised the BPO service line in its carve-out from Deloitte which subsequently led to the launch of Solugrowth,.

Since 2007 Sajeed has advised Kaizer Chiefs , the football club , in the corporate venturing, commercial and investment strategy. During his tenure the value of the Kaizer Chiefs brand has risen from R100m to almost  R1 billion, his strategic and commercial advice has been integral to this brand growth. More specifically he founded Kaizer Chiefs Ventures the investment vehicle mandated to take the Kaizer Chiefs brand  “beyond the 90 minutes”.  

Through this vehicle he has strategically repositioned  Kaizer Chiefs Insurance, a joint venture with Hollard and in 2013 founded Kaizer Chiefs Mobile, a fan-connectivity offering in partnership with Vodacom.  Kaizer Chiefs has today become one of the most valuable brands in South Africa, and a premier African sports brand on the back of one of the most successful commercial sports rights platforms in Africa.  (Note Sajeed is not responsible for the Clubs current form on the field  :-)

In 2003, after 22 years in England, Sajeed could no longer resist the call back to Africa. He moved to South Africa, representing the emerging interests of the Virgin Group there.  In this capacity he led the launch and became the founding CEO of Virgin Mobile South Africa (VMSA), the first and largest MVNO in Africa.

Between 1998 and 2006, he advised the Virgin Group in a number of strategic areas and was the New Ventures Advisor to Virgin Management and Richard Branson, advising on startups, key divestments and strategic business development. 

Prior to this, Sajeed was Barings, the premier merchant bank of its time. In 1995, he played a key role in the rescue of Barings which led to the 300 year old merchant bank being acquired by ING the Dutch Bank He then led the strategy for the Equity Sales and Trading division helping to create one of the most successful emerging markets equity sales franchises.  Sajeed trained as a CA with KPMG in London.

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BONUS: The Future Leader Outlook - What Sajeed has to say about Future Leader Development: Listen on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

“Welcome to my world. I work at the edge of business, design and the futures. By bringing together my long track record in business and engineering with design thinking and futures studies I am able to help you navigate through complexity and disruption.”

Abbas is currently the Director for Innovation and Transformation at Aurecon Group, a global engineering and infrastructure advisory company.  He is responsible for driving Aurecon’s Innovation Programme in Africa as well as crafting Aurecon’s transformation strategy in South Africa.

He has spent his career across government and private sector as well as establishing a number of start-up businesses. He has been involved in numerous mergers and acquisitions as well as project initiation teams for major infrastructure projects in South Africa, including the Gautrain project in Gauteng and the N2 Gateway housing project in Cape Town.

Being a trained systems thinker and futurist allows him to bring a new perspective to Aurecon’s innovation and transformation portfolio.

He is a registered professional engineer and holds qualifications across the engineering, business and futures fields. His specialist areas include Business Strategy, Afrikan Innovation, Design Thinking, Transformation of corporate South Africa and Futures Thinking. 

He has conceptualized and launched the Afrikan Design Innovation dialogue with the World Design Organisation and has presented at numerous local and international conferences across Africa on this topic. Through this initiative he was nominated to the position of Community liaison Africa for the World Design Organisation.  

Prior to joining Aurecon he spent a number of years as the Portfolio Manager of Strategic Investments at Optimus Investments in Johannesburg.

He was also Managing Director of Arcus Gibb where he led a successful management buyout from Jacobs Engineering, a NYSE listed company, in 2002 and was responsible for crafting the company’s transformation programme at the time.

Abbas is passionate about youth development and is a mentor for the Alan Grey Orbis Foundation as well as an Aurecon mentor.  He also serves on the boards of Open Design Afrika and Consulting Engineers South Africa.

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 Passionate South African, wife, daughter, sister, mother of 2 sons (aged 19 and 23), voracious reader, collaborator, lover of challenge & change, fiercely loyal to the notion of the power of single actions enabling quantum changes, reluctant gym-goer, erstwhile boxer, speaker of some Greek, learner, teacher, mentor, mentee and deep believer in the power of brands and humans.

Heidi was previously Executive Manager, Group Marketing, Loyalty & Strategic Partnerships at Comair taking care of kulula.com, British Airways, SLOW lounges, Daddy’s Deals, kulula credit card, jetsetters and Executive Club. 

Before that she was Deputy CEO & Marketing Director at research house Ipsos Markinor, after some time in the pharmaceutical industry following a BSc degree in nursing at Wits.

Heidi is a Member of Vega Brand School National Advisory Council and Advisor and friend to Umuzi Photo Club (youth activism & upliftment). She served for 7 years as a Board member and Deputy Chairman of the Marketing Association of South Africa and as Board member of ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations). She has judged the Association for Communication & Advertising’s APEX awards, the FM AdFocus awards and the AMASA Roger Garlick Innovation in Media award. She is a partner at Halo – The Brand Led Communications Agency.

Heidi joined Hollard in May 2013 and her role at Hollard includes all group brand activities including marketing and communications, internal comms and culture, digital marketing and e-commerce and sponsorship as well as being Exco champion for the group’s Customer Centricity and Loyalty initiatives.

She believes in sprinkles and chocolate cake, and that it takes a village to raise a brand.

Listen to Heidi's interview on audio

or watch the slides as you listen here

Having held management positions at international leaders such as Unisys, CSC and HP, Gerald launched Logikal Consulting in 2005. 

His leadership has allowed the company to grow into a leading multinational corporation with presence in Africa and South East Asia. Originally having wanted to study genetics and biochemistry, Gerald moved into IT early in his career, becoming an IT industry veteran. 

Gaining experience in the software market, he increased sales and revenue in every role he held, achieving executive positions at a number of international organisations. With over a decade’s worth of experience in delivering solutions across Africa, Gerald’s expertise spans management, architecture and project delivery, as well as sales. 

Experienced at managing high level relationships in the public and private sectors, he has leveraged his skillset to establish Logikal Consulting’s leadership position in Africa and India. 

A creative leader with an established record of managing extended sales and delivery teams, Gerald holds a number of qualifications, including an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education. 

A proficient pianist, Gerald marries art and science to create the technology solutions that Logikal Consulting has become known for. Gerald has a compelling track record of delivering strategies and projects spanning IT consulting, architecture design, program management, systems integration, independent testing, managed services, production support and network operations. 

As CEO of Logikal Consulting, he enables the delivery of dynamic consulting, integration and outsourcing services in the company’s operations in 15 countries. 

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Celiwe was born and raised in Soweto and started school at St Theresa’s Convent School in Coronationville, western Johannesburg. She and her identical twin sister, Siphosethu, have been academic achievers from a very young age.

“My father was a human resources manager and my mother was a nurse. My dad only had girls and believed in the education and empowerment of women,” she says.

As a talented learner, Ross’ earliest career ambition was to be a neurosurgeon but, after a visit to the operating table with her mother, she was put off that idea for good. 

She enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand and opted for mining engineering, only to learn a lesson in her first year of study.

“I just thought it was fascinating to do and we both got scholarships. I was initially sponsored by Sasol but ended up with BHP Billiton because I failed for the first time in my life."

After graduating, BHP Billiton recruited her and posted her as a trainee mine planner to their chrome operations in the town of Steelpoort in Limpopo.

After a year at the mine, she was moved to the Ingwe coal mine in Witbank. “We were selling to industrial consumers. It was a great learning experience and I got to understand difference aspects of the commercial side of mining,"

She then decided to take time off and headed to the University of Cape Town to pursue her Master of Business Administration (MBA).

“After getting my MBA, I joined Standard Bank as a manager in the project team,” she said. In 2011, when the bank was expanding in the rest of Africa, she accepted a position to head mining and infrastructure finance in the west Africa region and was based in Accra, Ghana.

Subsequently, Celiwe was promoted to be the head of Standard Bank’s mining, energy and infrastructure finance in the east and west Africa regions, making her one of the most senior black executives in the company.

She then joined Egon Zehnder, the world’s largest privately owned executive search firm, as financial services consultant for the continent.

Within two years, she was approached by Old Mutual to take up a leadership advisory role at a time when the company was preparing for its listing.

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Born and raised in Soweto, Thulani Sibeko, a Chartered Marketer, is an enthusiastic, collaborative, highly motivated and assertive business leader.

Since January 2018 Thulani has been the Chief Marketing Officer of the Standard Bank Group, leading the marketing and communication functions across 20 countries. 

He is a member of the Standard Bank Group Exco. With more than 25 years experience in different industries, he has held senior leadership roles at Gillette, Polaroid, Procter & Gamble, Vodacom, Hollard and at Nedbank, where he served as the group executive for marketing, communication and corporate affairs. 

His formal qualifications include: MBA (Henley), BSc Bus Admin (California State University, USA), Graduate Certificate (Harvard), CM(SA)

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Steven attended Greenside High School in Johannesburg and wanted to study medicine but didn’t achieve the required results. Instead, following the advice of his parents, he enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand and became a chartered accountant.

“We didn’t have bucks, so I did it part-time over many years,” says Steven. “I loved university; I’m a bit of an academic at heart.”

In 1990, the young Cohen met Osrin and Epstein, who would later become his brother in-law. The two had started a software company and Cohen joined them as a “nerd accountant”.

“Ivan was strictly a deal maker in those days and Alan handled sales. I was the accountant who knew the ins-and-outs of accounting, which proved important. We were making accounting software, after all,”.

Steven also found himself filling the role of financial director, something that became increasingly tricky as the company grew. “In those days it was called Brilliant Software. We aggregated about 20 000 businesses with our software.”

In the mid-1990s, the IT group Persetel, which eventually became Business Connexion through a complex series of deals, acquired a 70% stake in Softline. 

But in 1997, Softline bought back the stake, paying double for it. Softline then listed on the JSE. “It was the time of the listings boom and as the financial director I became more of a corporate,” says Steven.

“I was meeting with Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch. Hell, I even rang the bell on the Nasdaq. It’s easy to start thinking you’re a big shot, but really you just lose touch with your people. When you list, you stop working on the business. You’re selling your share rather than your product. I think that’s screwed up.”

By 2003, Softline realised it wanted to delist. “The dot-com boom was bust, we were spending big listing fees, and our share price was going nowhere, so we tried to buy [the company]back. When you do this you kind of put a ‘for sale’ sign on your business.”

So, not entirely unexpectedly, a hostile bid came in for the company, and UK-based software giant Sage eventually bought Softline. “Sage was very powerful in the US and Europe. We now handle the southern hemisphere for them.”

In 2016, Steven joined IronTree Internet Services where he is leading partnership growth, business development and sales enablement. 

When Steven isn’t working, he spends his time building and flying radio-controlled aircraft and collecting and playing guitars 

Steven says he collects guitars and mounts them on the walls of his home. “Keeping a guitar in a box is a travesty.”

His other obsession is motorcycles. “I only ride a bike these days, even when the weather doesn’t hold.” 

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Sydney is a chartered marketer with a proven track record in building brands and markets. His experience stretches from FMCG, to Telecoms and Financial Services (Banking). 

Prior to joining Liberty as Group CMO, he worked on major brands with organisations like Brandhouse (Diageo SA), Simba, Cell C, Unilever (local & Global roles in London) and SAB Miller.

His former role as Executive Head: Group Marketing at Nedbank involved him overseeing the Brand Strategy, Advertising, Media, Cause Marketing, Digital Marketing and Integrated Marketing for the Group. 

Sydney holds an MBA from GIBS, and has completed several executive management programs including the following:

• Advanced Management Program MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Boston, US]: May – July 2016
• Executive Old Mutual Global Leadership Program London/Johannesburg/Cape Town: March – Sept 2015
• Strategic Marketing Management UNIVERSITY OF STANFORD (San Francisco) – August 2013
• MBA (Masters of Business Administration) GIBS (Univ. of Pretoria) - 2006
• Postgraduate Diploma in Strategic Marketing Management UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA - 2004
• Management Advancement Programme WITS BUSINESS SCHOOL - 2003
• B. Soc. Science UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN - 1996

He is a board member of MASA (Marketing Association of South Africa) and ASASA (Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa). He is also a trustee of The Sports Trust and is  the Co-founder and chairman of the advisory board for Mentor-a-boy-child (public benefit organisation)

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Saray is an award-winning mountaineer, a Mandela libraries ambassador, a social entrepreneur, mother of two boys and also an executive in one of the distinguished financial institutions in South Africa. 

She has over time demonstrated her commitment to making a difference in her environment through mountaineering. Through her climbing with a purpose initiative Saray has organised and been part of the following initiatives:

• Climbing Kilimanjaro with a purpose (Self-funded climb)
  
• Built an outdoor gym for Kids Haven worth R200,000 and converted a room into a library http://www.kidshaven.org.za

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• Ubuntu Everest 2014 (Partially funded by Discovery Holdings)

• Raised funds for The Lunch Box Fund to feed over 60,000 http://thelunchboxfund.org

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•  Ubuntu Everest 2015 (Self-funded climb)
  
• Raised funds for The Mandela Library Projects and built a library for Isiziba Primary School  in Thembisa, Johannesburg

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• Ubuntu Everest 2017​ (Self-funded climb)
  
• Raised funds over R800,000 for The Mandela Library Projects and built four libraries around South Africa. She continues to campaign for more libraries as she takes steps towards the 7 highest peaks on the 7 continents around the world.

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One of her goals with Climbing for a purpose is to be an example to the next generation of leaders; to inspire them to pursue their dreams and summit their everyday peaks in education and other spheres of life, knowing that nothing is impossible if we dare to dream!

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• Accolades: 

• Winner of the Klipdrift Golden Endurance Award 2014

• ​Record holder for the highest altitude climber for a black African female​ 2017 and 2018

• MMI Lesedi awards 2017

• Ministerial Recognition of Excellence Award 2018

Mountaineering experience: 6 years

• Mount Kilimanjaro (5896) – summit 2012;

• Mera Peak (6476) – summit 2014;

• Lobuche East (6119) – summit 2014;

• Elbrus traverse (5642) – summit 2014;

• Aconcagua traverse (6980) – summit 2015;

Everest expedition attempts:

• 2014 Reached Everest Base camp  - Mountain closed after an avalanche that claimed 16 Sherpa lives

• 2015 Reached Everest Camp 2  - Expedition abandoned after an earthquake in Nepal

• 2017 Reached the South Summit (8749) - This is 99 meters from the Everest Summit making her the record holder of the black African women for 2017 and 2018.

• 2019 Summited Everest on the 16th of May - Saray is the first black African women to summit Everest 
• 
  

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Watch the Success Secrets from Saray Khumalo

Admitted as Attorney of the High Court and practiced as an attorney in the law firm Rapeport Fanaroff & Partners 18 May 1976. Admitted as an Attorney in the Supreme Court Of South Africa with right of appearance 16 November 1996. 

Practicing as an attorney at

Rapeport Incorporated,

specializing in Sports Law

including anti-doping as well as

specializing in the administration

of Deceased Estates

PREVIOUS ORGANISATIONAL INVOLVEMENT IN SPORT

• Chairman of the University of University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) Soccer

Amateur League, 1968-1974

• Chairman of WITS Professional Football League, 1975 – 2006

• Elected Executive Member of National Professional Soccer League, 1978 – 1983

• Elected Vice-Chair of National Professional Soccer League, 1983-1985

• Executive Member of the National Soccer League, 1985 – 1996

• Director of SA 2006 FIFA World Cup Bid Committee

• Executive Member of SAFA 1998-2001

• Member of WADA Independent Observers Programme

• Chairperson of WADA independent Observer Programme Commonwealth Games

Manchester 2004

• Chairperson of FIFA Disciplinary Committee Beijing Olympics, 2008

• Chairperson of FIFA World Cup Under 17 Disciplinary Committee Nigeria, 2009

• Member of WADA Special Projects- Athletes’ Passports

• Chairperson of SAFA Anti- Doping Committee

• Chairperson of South African Football Association (SAFA) Legal Committee

• Member of SASCOC Medical and Anti-Doping Committee

• Director of the FIFA 2010 World Cup SA Local Organizing Committee

• Member of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for FIFA 2010 World Cup SA

• Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Committee Angola, 2010

• Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Committee South Africa, 2010

• Member of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee (Women’s U20) Germany 2010

• Former Chief Executive Officer of the South African Football Association

• President of the CAF Disciplinary Committee -Africa Cup of Nations Tournament

Angola 2010 to current date

• Reappointed to serve on the SASCOC Medical and Anti-Doping Committee 2011

• Appointed Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the FIFA World Beach 2011

Football Ravena Italy

• Chairperson of FIFA Disciplinary Committee Beach Soccer Italy, 2011

• Member of FIFA Disciplinary Committee (Women’s) Azerbaijan, 2012

• Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Gabon / Equatorial Guinea, 2012

• Chairperson of FIFA Disciplinary Committee Thailand, 2012

• Legal advisor to SA 2012 London Olympics

• Legal Advisor to Rio Olympics

• Member of Athletics South Africa (ASA) Appeal board

• Founder Member of the Board of the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport

• Legal advisor to SASCOC

CURRENT APPOINTMENTS

• Current CAS Arbitrator

• Current Member of the Appeals Committee for the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport Appeal Committee

• Co-Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Premier Soccer League,

• Member of the FINA Ethics Committee

• Member of the South African National Horseracing Appeal Committee

• President of the CAF Disciplinary Committee

• Chairman of the FIFA Players Status Committee

NON- SPORTING APPOINTMENTS AND POSITIONS CURRENTLY HELD

• Director of George Elkin Charity and Residuary Trusts (2003 to date)

• Trustee of Aaron Jumima Family Trust (1997 to date)

• Trustee Miller Foundation Charity Trust (Wits University) (2004 to date)

• Trustee of the Frajenron Charity Trust (2014 to date)

AWARDS

• 1998 Received the State President’s Award for Football Contribution

• 2002 Football Presidential Award for Contribution to Sport

• 2007 SAFA Presidential Award for Contribution to Sport

• 2009 SAFA Presidential Award for Contribution to Football

• 2010 FIFA 2010 World Cup Contribution award

• 2010 Honorary Life Member of Maccabi

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Dave Stewart is the Managing Director of First Consulting Alliance based in Edenvale, Johannesburg. FCA is a Computer Services company servicing the SME and Mining Sectors in and around Southern Africa and into selected African countries where our solutions fit the needs of the customers. 

Dave has a financial background and ventured out into the entrepreneurial field about 30 years ago seeking to make a difference in the market place and positively influence people. 

He is committed to growing people through employment opportunities and believes that everyone deserves a chance or two to find their place and standing in our communities

He believes that we need to treat customers, clients and suppliers as partners and make every effort to grow their business and people which would in turn, grow our business and people.

Dave is an eMail junky and love the challenge of responding to all business related eMail within one day of receiving them and ensuring continuous communication flow. 

Service, Honesty, Integrity and Determination to deliver on customer requirements based on our defined strategy drives him to grow the business and employ more people and change lives positively

Dave enjoys working with the local community and people to grow leaders and develop a culture of pay it forward in all areas of life.

A personal passion is to create an awareness of employment opportunities and to work with people and organisations to create a culture of meaningful employers of the youth of our country and to grow them into future leaders.

 Listen to Dave's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

And Dave's Lessons from Covid-19 Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

A visionary technology leader and astute businessman with over 20 years of senior management experience in the Information Technology and Services industry. 

Keith is the consummate ICT Executive with diverse experience in both Enterprise IT and Telco, Private and Public sectors, Tech start-up, Systems Integrator and more recently a Multinational OEM. 

Whilst relentlessly pursuing results, he functions as a people alchemist, gifted in bringing the perfect combinations of talent and helping them release the best contributions from others by knowing the special formulae to release unexpected synergies between people, teams and ideas.  

Keith excels at leadership, communication and organisational skills and “thinks on his feet” during times of crisis management and conflict mediation. 

He is also adept at analytical thinking and problem solving and is recognised for talent in Strategy Development, Management, Sales, Pre-sales, Business Development, Partner Management, Organisational Development, and Service Delivery.  

For Keith, integrity is an essential ingredient in his authentic leadership approach, and within an environment high in trust, he sets the scene for everyone to freely contribute and deliver superlative business outcomes. 

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South Africans have come to know Saskia Falken as a radio personality, television presenter and public relations specialist. She brings all of this and more to her new role as Marketing Intelligence and Strategy Manager at the UCT GSB. 

Not many people know that this versatile media expert – who now goes by her married name of Hickey – also has a keen business brain coupled with a deep social conscience. “The GSB is such an exciting brand to work with,” says Falken-Hickey, explaining that she will be reviewing the brand and helping to take it forward in line with the vision of the school. “We will be reviewing where we are as a brand and then begin to formulate a strategy that is in keeping with our passion for values-based leadership and social innovation.” 

The GSB is recognised as Africa’s top business school and has recently risen to a prestigious 59th place on the Financial Times global ranking for full-time MBAs. But Falken-Hickey says there’s still lots of work ahead. “I think we need to tell more of our stories. While we’ve done incredibly well in the rankings; that is just one story to tell about the GSB. 

Another would be that the GSB offers not only the best business education on the continent, but also the space where the leaders of tomorrow’s emerging market environments are shaped.” 

Falken-Hickey recently completed her MBA at the school and says doing the degree changed her life. With her background in media (she worked at the SABC, Heart 104.9 FM and ENCA), she brings a wealth of experience and contacts in the PR and marketing world. 

She credits her years of experience in the industry with knowing how to build good relationships and really listening to people, as well as understanding markets and how to communicate important messages. 

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Or watch the slides as you listen here

Lee Miles has been Red Hat’s general manager for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) region since May 2015. 

Under his leadership, the Red Hat business has seen an extended period of significant growth in this region. 

Before joining Red Hat he worked at Infor where he served as regional director for the Middle East and India. His key achievements at Infor included orchestrating the integration of the two regions, growing the company's staff and partner ecosystem, and establishing Infor's office in Saudi Arabia. 

Prior to his time at Infor, he held several leadership and sales positions at SAP and Computer Associates where he gained invaluable experience in developing businesses in emerging markets.

Listen to Lee's Interview on audio

Or watch the slides as you listen here

Mncedisi Mayekiso recently took on an expanded role at Internet Solutions (IS), in a new capacity as executive for business development.

In his new role, which became effective on 1 February 2018, Mayekiso will be responsible for revenue growth in its enterprise business.

Mayekiso will continue to lead public sector strategy, maintaining executive sponsorship of key accounts across the private and public sectors throughout the country. He will also rebuild the VCP and enterprise development channel.

Mayekiso joined the Dimension Data unit as public sector executive in 2016.

In 2010, he was appointed as SAP Africa's marketing director. 

He previously held positions as partner sales manager at Microsoft SA, and product marketing manager at IBM SA. He also served as executive director for marketing at Faritec Holdings and was executive director for business development at Enterprise Connection.

Mayekiso holds a bachelor's degree in social science and humanities, industrial sociology and political science from the University of Cape Town, as well as an MBA in marketing from Cass Business School in the UK.

He completed the global executive development programme, a leadership and general management programme, at the Gordon Institute of Business Science.

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Adré Schreuder is considered to be the subject matter specialist in the field of customer experience measurement and management. He has over 25 years of experience and advises companies across multiple industries both locally and internationally. 

He realised a career dream when he founded (& chairs) the South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi), an independent national benchmark of Customer Satisfaction, in 2012.

Adré Schreuder finalised his Bachelors, Honours & Masters degree in Marketing Cum Laude at the University of Pretoria (UP). He completed his doctoral studies at University of Johannesburg. Adré held various academic positions up to Professor & Head of Department before he he became full time practitioner in leading Consulta for the last 20 years. 

Currently Adré holds the position as Founder and CVO of Consulta – a Customer Experience Advisory Consultancy.

His specialties include: Customer Experience Measurement & Management, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Engagement, Customer Loyalty, Customer Service, Service Quality, CVP Design & Testing, Conjoint Analysis, Brand Fitness Analysis, Market Research Leadership 

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Kumeshnee West is the Director of Executive Education at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) where she leads a passionate team to deliver excellence to clients attending short courses and customised courses. 

She works closely with clients, alumni, faculty, and the Business Development team, to develop relevant management and leadership courses that respond to the emerging needs of today's leaders, both locally and internationally. 

Her excellent relationship management skills have helped the school to secure 75% of return business year-on-year for the past six years.

Kumeshnee holds an MBA from the UCT GSB and is passionate about playing a role in ensuring that the school continues to deliver excellence to all its stakeholders. 

She is involved in several projects at the school and is a key spokesperson in the media on issues around women in leadership, leadership development and the future of work. She also plays a mentorship role to the student-led Women in Business Committee.

It is under her leadership that, in 2019, the UCT GSB was awarded a Gold Award by the European Foundation for Management Development, for a customised programme that was developed in partnership with Standard Bank. This is a first for an African Business School. 

 Also on her watch, the UCT GSB continues to be ranked in the Top FT100 Executive Education Custom Rankings (#1 in South Africa in 2020).

Prior to joining the UCT GSB, Kumeshnee worked in the Healthcare industry in a clinical and management capacity. 

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Lee is the CEO of TransUnion Africa where he leads a portfolio of businesses that help organisations make more informed decisions and consumers manage their personal information to lead to a higher quality of life.

He is recognised as one of South Africa’s leading digital and technology transformation experts and was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology.

Prior to his current role, Lee was the Managing Director of Accenture Digital in Africa.

Listen to Lee's Interview on Vimeo, Youtube and SoundCloud 

With more than 25 years in the tourism and visitor attractions management industry in South Africa, I have gained insight into the changing nature of tourism and visitor attractions and their role in the driver of job creation and GDP in South Africa. 

I have leveraged my strategic foresight skills on numerous boards and senior executive roles.  My strength is guiding management teams, boards and stakeholders to find agile and innovative solutions for complex problems. 

I have led and implemented a wide range of interventions at visitor attractions over the past 25 years always ensuring that outcomes are on time, in budget, sustainable and future proof. 

I am a leader in the art and science of all aspects related to the management of visitor attractions.

Leader in the art and science of visitor attractions management

Current: Founder and CEO. CURIOSITAS. A specialist attractions and tourism futures consulting company. The company merges the art and science of visitor attraction management with futures thinking. It’s focus is on the tourism and attractions industry.

Projects to date have included:

• Executive talks and research on industry relevant megatrends.
• Facilitating executive futures thinking workshops for local municipalities and tourism bodies.
• V&A Waterfront visitor attraction audit. Researching the quality, quantity and range of visitor attractions ( including museums) at the Waterfront, and assessing the gaps from a visitor experience viewpoint. 
• Research on megatrends in the visitor attraction industry.
• Review visitor attraction admissions and pricing policy with a view to understanding how to increase future spend at admissions and on site for a local Cape Town client.

Board Positions

Attractions Africa Founder and Chair  2014 – Present

IAAPA EMEA Sub-Committee Member Appointed May 2018

Groot Constantia Trust    Vice-Chair and Board Member 2011 - Present

Cape Wheel Director 2016- March 2018

Future Cape Town Advisory Board   2015 - 2017

Cape Town Tourism Chairperson  2012 – 2014

  Board Member 2008 – 2014

Marketing Manager

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway

1998 - 2003

Additional Information

· Member of the Association of Professional Futurists

· Editorial Board: Journal of Tourism Futures (appointed May 2018)

· Advisory Board: Happy Snappy Photo Company

· Committee Member: International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA): Europe, Middle East and Africa. (appointed May 2018)

· Global Scanning Network Researcher in ‘Consumer and Retail Unit’ for Copenhagen Futures Institute (2018)

· Research Associate: Institute of Futures Research, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa (2015- present)

· Served on the World Design Capital board selection committee (2012) 

· Contributing Author: Managing Tourism in SA, Chapter: Managing Visitor Attractions (2006 -2015)

· CEO Magazine’s Most Influential Woman in Business & Government (Tourism) (2010)

· Institute of Marketing Managers (IMM) Award in recognition of Marketing Excellence (2001)

· Speaker: International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (Gothenburg, 2015); “Attractions in Emerging Markets: Africa”

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ACG Group CEO and Co-Founder, Mimi Kalinda, is a visionary and leader in the field of PR and communications – both in Africa and globally. 

A New York University graduate, Mimi has accumulated a wealth of strategic media experience across different industries, specialties and continents. 

This includes her work in film (working alongside greats such as acclaimed director Spike Lee), television (notably being the first African woman to host a show on MTV Europe), traditional and digital media. 

Her resume includes: being a FleishmanHillard’s Africa Lead, being part of the team that won a PRISM Award (for the Barclays Africa “Prosper” campaign), part of the African Unions campaign against Ebola, work for Weber Shandwick on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Innovation Prize for Africa. 

Mimi has worked on numerous brands, some being MTN, Barloworld, Accenture, the World Bank/IFC, the Rockefeller Foundation, AFIG Funds. Nesta, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Dalberg Group, to name a few. 

Mimi has been nominated for numerous awards (such as International African Woman of the Year at the Women4Africa Awards 2016 and the Standard Bank Top Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019), and is the recipient of Rebranding Africa Champion for Africa 2.0 accolade and the One World Media Award for television programme Rien Que La Verite (which advocates the prevention of HIV/AIDS and an end to violence against women in the DRC). 

Additionally, Mimi is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Programme Fellow. It’s no wonder that she was featured as one of Forbes Africa’s Top 40 Under 40 Leaders in the communication industry. 

Mimi a well-recognised public speaker and facilitator (both in terms of her own workshops as well as part of projects such as Obama Foundation Leaders Africa programme, the UCT Graduate School of Business Conference and the African Trade and Investment Global Summit 2018 held in Washington, DC), as well as a valuable contributor to a number of organisations. 

These include being on the boards of Catalyst for Growth or C4G (a solution launched by JP Morgan and Dalberg to support entrepreneurs across Africa) and the African Brand Counsel (where she advises policy makers and private sector leaders about Africa’s reputation and how the continent’s brand equity can be leveraged for its economic development). 

Changing the Africa narrative and promoting women in African leadership roles are causes close to her heart. She avidly supports these issues through her work as part of ACG, as well as by being a reputable thought leader championing pan-Africanism and female empowerment. 

Keen to share her insight and knowledge with the African continent and broader global community, Mimi published  her first book, titled: Talking To Africa: Considering Culture in Communication for a Complex Continent in 2017. 

Less known facts about Mimi is that, in addition to English, she is fluent in French, Swahili, Lingala and Kinyarwanda.  

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The PERSONAL BRANDING FEATURE: Certified Financial Planner and Director at Kainos Financial Services, obtained his Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning at the University of Free State and his MDP & AEP from UNISA.

He currently is Chairperson’s of the FIA RDR Intermediary Workgroup, Liberty Ethics Committee and Vice-Chairperson of the FPI Client Engagement Committee. 

He also serves on the FPI Annual Convention Committee and Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Income Replacement Task Force.  

Kobus additionally hold membership to SAIT (Tax Practitioner), the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioner (STEP- with a TEP Designation), Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA), The Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) and The Institute of Ethics South Africa and Unashamedly Ethical. 

Kobus was the inaugural winner in 2015 of the FPI “It starts with Me” award and also received the award in 2016 and is a FPI and MDRT Pro-Bono Volunteer. Kobus was awarded the MDRT Leadership Award.

Kobus has a Passion for the Financial Services Profession and works purposefully with other like-minded stakeholders to help transform the financial industry into a fully fledge profession through the power of social- and print media and other means like presentations, workshops talks and other. Kobus has already published over 200 articles in and on various media platforms.

Kobus is a thought leader on the Financial Services Profession, RDR/Twin Peaks/TCF and similar regulations, Digital Media Power, Personal Branding, Futuristic Leadership, Crypto Technology, as well as other disruptive Fintech subjects.

Kobus has authored the books “Passion for the profession- Mastering the 9 P’s to Professionalism” and “RDR-Mastering Key Elements to RDR”. 

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Hloniphizwe J. Mtolo is the chairman of the boards of the Shell Companies in South Africa. These include Shell South Africa Holdings, Shell Downstream South Africa and Shell South Africa Energy. 

He is a board member and alternate chairman of SAPREF, South Africa’s largest refiner of oil products. 

Hloniphizwe  serves on the Board of Governors for the petroleum products industry body SAPIA and is also a board member of the Netherlands and South Africa Chamber of Commerce and a council member of Business Leadership South Africa, amongst other roles.
 

He is a Retail Executive with almost 30 years of leadership experience with a diverse background that spans industries such as premium fashion retailing, branded fashion wholesaling, convenience retailing and petroleum products retailing. He still serves as Retail General Manager for Shell.
 

Hloniphizwe has highly developed skills in Business Unit Leadership, Business Development, Retail Operations Management, Key Account Management, Business Planning, Business strategy Development and Management and Relationship Management.

He has been very successful in the development of high performing teams, developing and leading retail business unit strategies and has worked with startup organizations as well as expanding businesses into new markets. 

He has further developed his leadership skills through a number of programs including, amongst others, Management Advancement Program and Executive Leadership Program with The Mendoza College of Business through the University Of Notre Dame, University of Stellenbosch and GIBS. He has also completed the Board Leadership Program with GIBS.

He originally trained and qualified in the Medical Laboratory Technology Field before branching into retail leadership.

He is passionate about people development, enterprise development, as well as Ethical Leadership at Executive and Board level.

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Bashni, an experienced Chief Strategy Officer, Executive Market Analyst and Commercial Director, has over two decades of sector-specific expertise gathered at senior leadership level, both locally and abroad. 

Proudly South African and a National Travel / Tourism Industry expert, Bashni has crafted a celebrated career in strategic research and advanced analytics. 

Over the course of her 16 years in long service with South African Tourism (SAT), across South Africa and the European Region, Bashni has delivered multiple profitable Marketing Strategies. In her current role as Executive Committee Member, she spearheads key strategy formulation for Tourism promotion.

Prior to this, Bashni led SAT’s Strategic Research Unit for over 14 years, as well as being Regional Director for Europe Tourism. In 2016, Bashni was seconded by the organisation to France, where she set up its Southern Europe hub, established a viable operating model, and successfully served the French, Spanish and Italian markets.

Bashni holds a BCom (Hons) degree in Marketing from the University of Pretoria, specializing in Tourism Management.

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Simon Carpenter has 36 years of wide-ranging experience in the IT sector. The last 24 years have been with market-leader SAP’s African business where he has held several leadership positions. 

During his career with SAP Simon is proud to have worked with many of Africa's best organisations helping them to understand how SAP solutions can contribute to their growth and ongoing success. He is a passionate advocate for leveraging information to create a better Africa for all and conscious of the fact that Africa poses some unique challenges that require a nuanced approach to technology adoption.

For over 2 decades Simon has contributed to SAP’s positive impact on Africa’s economies and the company’s growth across Africa to over 1,800 customers by, inter alia:

• Leading SAP Africa’s Presales and Industry specialist teams and their essential role in showcasing to customers how SAP solutions create value.

• Leading SAP Africa’s Marketing team (including at that time Customer Care, Partner Management and the Africa SAP User Group)

• Launching new SAP solutions into the African Market (SAP BW, SAP CRM, SAP APO, SAP SCM, NetWeaver and SAP Financial Services Network)

• Founding and incubating services and concepts such as Customer Engagement Lifecycle, Value Engineering, Business Transformation Services and the SAP Reseller Channel.

• Leading the Business Analytics Sales team where revenues grew by >25 % over 2 years.

• Leading the SAP Premier Customer Network where revenues grew by 298% over 2 years

Simon is currently Chief Technology Advisor SAP Africa, responsible for:

• Leading SAP Africa’s Digital Transformation initiatives with a focus on Business Innovation and Thought leadership; providing direction to SAP’s customers and partners on emerging business and technology issues such as OT/IT Convergence, Big Data, Business Network Transformation, Mobility, Cloud Computing, Business Process Management and how these are encompassed in SAP’s Intelligent Enterprise Framework

• Africa-wide evangelism of SAP’s strategy for helping the World to Run Simpler by Digitally Transforming.

Prior to SAP, Simon worked predominantly in operations and logistics solutions ranging from on-board computing in transport to large-scale enterprise systems. He has broad experience having worked in sales, marketing, support management, project management, and consulting and systems development. He thus has good insight into the soft issues (such as change management) that must be addressed for any technological initiative to be successful. 

Simon speaks at a numerous local and international conferences and Universities / Business Schools on a wide range of topics and is a previous award winner at the SAPICS conference.

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Herman commenced his Career in the early 80’s in the manufacturing sector in Johannesburg and moved to Consulting and Advisory work in 1994 at Monitor Consulting before taking a senior leadership role as Managing Director in the Siemens Company in 1996 to lead a large scale turn-around of the Industry Division responsible for Sub-Saharan Africa (13 countries) between 1996 and 2000. 

During this time he was pivotal in restructuring divisions of over 1000 technical staff involved in product sales and distribution, large project execution and after sales services and thereby delivering double digit growth in revenues and profits and rescuing the business from closure. The business continues to operate successfully over 15 years after his departure.

He then pivoted to the emerging world of e-commerce and joined Standard Bank in 2000 as the Director of Online Services and e-commerce. He lead the banks foray into Internet Banking deploying one of the first platforms in the world, one of the world’s first national rollouts of smart cards and continued to pioneer Fintech innovations with mobile banking JV’s in 2003 (one of the first globally) and operated one of the first African Fintech business incubators for the Group for 5 years from 2007 until 2012. 

This entity developed a number of very successful businesses in the space of money transfer, value added mobile services and digitalisation of legacy processes. One business went on to record business volumes of 2 Billion Dollars in transactional flow and is the number two player in its field in Africa. He also joined the board of Eccentric Switch, a payments processor that he was instrumental in investing in for the bank. 

In 2012 Herman moved into the telecommunications space in a more dedicated manner firstly with a role at Vodafone as Managing Executive of mobile Commerce at the sub Saharan subsidiary where he successfully launched and managed both a short term insurance business and a life assurance business reaching a Billion Rands in revenue within 4 years of start-up. 

He also set up a subsidiary to launch the largest mobile vouchering app in the region which resulted in two million downloads in a year and was the fastest growing app for that year. He then moved to MTN in 2015 where he served in the role of Group Chief Digital Officer. This role carried a Profit and Loss responsibility of over a Billion Dollars and thanks to new innovation and change programmes is growing at close to 2X per annum in Local Currency. 

The role includes four pillars in e-commerce / mobile advertising, mobile financial services, media and digital lifestyle products and services. He currently serves as the Group Executive for Innovation Strategy leading the Groups Digital approach into new business areas by focusing on Ideation, Incubation, acceleration and M and A. 

This broad portfolio of adjacent businesses has necessitated extensive travel and serving on 7 boards as well as serving in advisory capacities in multiple industry level initiatives. 

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Caroline is the author of Master Your Finances – the art of building wealth, a chartered accountant and a member of SAICA. 

Caroline is the Head of Leadership and Learning at Absa Retail and Business Bank and has managed operations for a number of large retail financial services businesses and is a published financial education thought leader. 

Expertise within people and operations management, process management, vendor management, asset management, LISPs, administration, regulatory change and impact, client servicing, asset management & banking. §Caroline has spoken at events as the keynote speaker as well as host at business conferences, workshops, church events, fundraisers,  and other events. 

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BACK FROM THE FUTURE: John Sanei is a best-selling author, global speaker and trend specialist with a holistic approach to achieving future-readiness. By combining aspects of human psychology, business strategy and future studies, John elicits the courage, clarity and focus that enables uncomfortable decision-making.

With over 20 years of experience in a diverse array of industries, John has developed a toolkit of methodologies that facilitate trend contextualisation and business innovation. Whether it comes down to corporate decision making, workshop facilitation, writing books, vlogging or lecturing, he encourages individuals to ask bigger, bolder questions about themselves and how they fit into the future.

John is also a Faculty Member of Duke Corporate Education and the prestigious Singularity University in San Francisco. 

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Enver started out his career working in the Information Technology departments of companies like IBM, Eskom and Nedbank and has worked as the Head of Operations at Integer Financial Services. 

In January 2010, a passion-driven career change saw Duminy join Cape Town Tourism as the Executive Manager of Tourism Services whereafter he was appointed as CEO in August 2013.

To date Duminy has been involved in various ground-breaking tourism projects which include: Leading the Tourism Services team to provide successful visitor and industry services for the 2010 FIFA World Cup; 

Pioneering the first ever Responsible Pricing policy for the tourism industry in Cape Town, ensuring that the industry remains competitive and offers value for money; 

Initiating Cape Town Tourism’s partnership of the global movement The Code - in order to address child exploitation in the tourism industry; Implementing the first ever integrated management system in a tourism organisation; 

Participating in Safety Forums to pro-actively collaborate with industry role-players to address and find solutions to security challenges in Cape Town; 

Conceptualising the first Mobile Visitor Information Vehicle in Africa, where visitors can make bookings, buy tickets and get information, powered by solar panels.

He was appointed to the Board of Tourism Grading Council of South Africa and to the Board of South African Tourism. Duminy’s current focus as CEO of Cape Town Tourism is to work alongside his team and the stakeholders of Cape Town Tourism (including more than a thousand signed-up members), to find ways to address seasonality in Cape Town by combining innovation and agility. 

He is passionate about Cape Town, not only because it is his home town, but because of its blend of natural beauty, interesting history and diverse cultures. His vision is to peel back the layers that make Cape Town what it is today - a thriving metropolis at the tipping point of the African continent , recognised as a global challenger through tourism. 

Enver Duminy acquired his B.Sc. Degree in Computer Science and Mathematical Statistics from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and is a qualified Microsoft Certified Professional and IBM Solutions Provider. 

Duminy continues to study and is currently busy with his MBA through the Management College of South Africa.

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Valli Moosa was born in Johannesburg in 1957. He completed a B.Sc. degree in 1979 with majors in Mathematics and Physics. Valli was an active participant in the South African freedom struggle and was detained without trial on numerous occasions for his opposition to Apartheid. 

He served as a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress and also on President Mandela’s team which negotiated the peaceful transition from Apartheid to democracy in 1994. Valli played a central role in drafting the new South African Constitution.

He served the first democratically elected government as Minister for Constitutional Development in President Mandela’s cabinet from 1994 to 1999, and, as Minister for the Environment from 1999 to 2004. 

He hosted the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 and served as Chairman of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in 2003.

In 2004, Valli retired from government to join the private sector. He is a principal of the Lereko Metier Capital Growth Fund Lereko Metier Sustainable Capital. He serves on the boards of Lereko Investments, Sun International, Anglo Platinum, Sanlam and Imperial Holdings. He previously served as Chairman of Eskom. 

Valli served as the President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from 2004 to 2008. He was a member of the Global Leadership for Climate Action under the Chairmanship of President Ricardo Lagos of Chile until 2009. 

He is currently a member of the CCICED (China Council of International Cooperation on Environment and Development) and Chairman of WWF (South Africa).

Dirk Van Der Walt (BComm) is Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Webuycars.co.za, with brother Faan Van Der Walt (CEO), Dirk takes on the role as Chief Strategy Officer.

The brothers built the business over the last 20 years from virtually nothing to a household name that buys more than 4500 vehicles monthly all across South Africa.

Dirk contributes to innovation, out-of-the-box thinking, and builds on strong philosophical underpinnings that contribute to a vibrant spirit, a strong ethos, and a unique company culture. 

Quoting Mark Shaefer, he strongly believes that the most human company will win in today's world, he supports a Servant Leadership approach and subscribes to a management philosophy that nurtures family values and sustainability.

Dirk and Faan were nominees to the 2018 EY World Entrepreneur Award, and Webuycars is currently the target of a Naspers Aquisition.

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Dr.Judy Dlamini, has had a rich career starting with medicine, followed by owning and running businesses in various sectors from health operations, surgical equipment, luxury fashion retail, commercial property, facilities management, to name but a few. 

She received her medical degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, her MBA from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and her diploma in occupational health from the University of the Free State. 

She obtained her Doctorate in Business Leadership from UNISA. Her thesis investigated the intersection of race, gender and social class and its impact on women leaders’ career progression. 

She used life stories to come up with strategies for gender transformation at leadership. She has since turned her thesis into a book, titled Équal but Different: Women Leaders’ life journeys. She was selected to the 2017 Exclusive Books’ Homebru list in the business category, after the launch of the book in March 2017.

Judy worked as a medical doctor for thirteen years and as an occupational health practitioner for four years before deciding to build her business career. 

After spending two years at HSBC, specialising in transport and energy corporate finance, she began to develop her entrepreneurial interests. In 1996, she founded Mbekani Group, a company which houses operational and investment companies, including the luxury multi-brand chain of stores, Luminance and Jimmy Choo.

She has extensive experience in serving on numerous boards; she is currently the Chairman of Mbekani Investment Holdings Ltd, previously Chairman of the Board of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited, Independent Non Executive Director of Northam Platinum Ltd, Imithi Investments (Pty) Ltd, GijimaAst Ltd, Anglo American plc, Woolworths Holdings Ltd, Discovery Holdings Ltd. 

She is a recipient of various awards, including Woman The Brand (2009), The African Economy Builder Lifetime Achiever Award for 2016 from African Economy Builder Forum; The Global CEO’s 2016 Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government SADC South award for the Business and Professional Services sector at regional and national level, and Fabulous Woman Award 2016.

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Thokozile is a People and Business Performance leader with business turnaround, performance transformation, leadership development, talent management and large-scale capability building expertise who works with individuals, teams and organisations to achieve and sustain growth and high performance.

 She currently heads up Talent, Leadership and Learning for Absa Group Limited

Specialties: Business Strategy; Operational Turnaround; Performance Transformation; Leadership Development; Large-scale Capability building; Organisational Development; Talent Management  

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 “In life, everybody must have dreams. Mine is to go to the Ironman championships in Hawaii. It’s an increasingly difficult dream as you need to do at least 12 Ironman challenges before you can pre-qualify. So far, I’ve completed 10, and for the past three years, I’ve done half Ironman competitions overseas to get some exposure to different environments.” 

Willie  originally trained as an electronics engineer and started work for Altron on engineering projects that covered both software and hardware.

“In 1995, I joined Absa, and during my time there, I eventually became part of the IT leadership team.

“Back then, IT was seen as a black box. Nobody really understood what we were doing. We were trusted implicitly, and business was very hands-off. The relationship was very transactional as there wasn’t really any form of partnership with business.” 

 In 2000, Absa undertook a significant desktop outsourcing project with Gijima AST, as it was then, and the two companies formed a joint venture, AST Distributed Technology Services. Stegmann was appointed its CEO 

After holding the position for five years, Stegmann returned to the world of financial services when he joined Standard Bank, where h e w ould s pend 13 years i n d fferent roles. 

One of the most significant was heading up the SAP core banking transformation programme, moving from a 40-year-old legacy platform onto a more modern, agile platform. 

In 2014, he was appointed CIO of Standard Bank’s personal and business bank. “That was my first formal role as a CIO and everything I’d learnt to that stage helped me in that role,” he says.

Then, in 2017, Stegmann received an unexpected call, asking him to consider the opportunity of becoming Vodacom’s CIO. “I was initially a little sceptical about moving from a financial services background to a telco. However, after discussions with the Vodacom team, it was clear that my experience, not only from a digital transformation point of view, but also in Agile was what Vodacom was looking for.”

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Colin Singarum (born 08 February 1970) in Durban always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father and become teacher. He studied Fine Art and passed with distinctions in sculpture, drawing and painting without using a drop of paint, stone or pencil.  This pushing of boundaries and passion for innovative solutions set the tone for his career growth.

He never got to teach but is now a Business Development & Marketing Executive with 20 years of experience in the Aerospace & Defence industry, focusing on corporate strategy, marketing, branding, innovation and communications

He is best known for being a creative thinker who can create  campaigns with innovative avenues to market and drive business. 

Colin began his career at South African Airways as a Flight attendant Trainer, to Marketing & Communications Manager in 1995. He won the CEO Innovation prize three times and received to bursaries including one to attend the Disney University in Orlando. He held several positions at SAA until moving to Denel Aviation as Marketing Manager in 2007. 

He eventually moved up to the Denel Group as Senior Executive Business Development in 2012. Being involved with the Airbus A400M programme to the marketing campaign of the Rooivalk Attack helicopter give Colin massive exposure to global brands and high profile leaders. Denel also awarded Colin with a bursary to study an MBA at Cumbria University in the UK.

From 2012 to 2016, Colin launched numerous innovative campaigns from getting Denel in a Hollywood blockbuster for marketing exposure to creating the first STEM park using real Defence equipment from helicopters, fighter jets and tanks. This was to create awareness amongst the youth towards careers in the aerospace and defence sector. 

In 2017, Colin moved to the Paramount Group as Business Development Executive focusing on Airborne Systems effectively reinforcing brand, developing networks and capturing the market. 

Colin considers Business development a growing challenge especially in the defence sector and therefore he always echoes that innovative thinking, extreme networking and collaborative partnerships are going to be the differentiating factors to success. 

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Mapule Mzimba is a scientist, management consultant, and now a banking executive. She has recently been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Discovery Bank. 

Prior to joining Discovery, Mapule held various strategic roles at Absa, including Director in Corporate & Investment Banking for Transactional Products, a business serving Corporate and Business Banking clients. 

She was a COO of Transactional Banking prior to running the business. She joined Absa in 2010 as the General Manager: Services Cluster Integration Programme and led the implementation of “Simple, Streamlined Group Processes” to sustainably take costs out of the business and improve customer experience. 

In less than a year she was promoted to lead a Business Unit of about 120 professionals that drive the "change the Bank" agenda (Group Projects). 

Prior to joining Absa, Mapule was a Senior Manager in Accenture responsible for business development and account management as well as delivery of large scale complex programmes. 

While at Accenture, Mapule conceptualized and implemented a Future Leaders Programme which today is a flagship programme at the heart of their attraction and retention strategy. 

She was also selected from 48 countries to serve on the Accenture Global Executive Development of Women Leaders Faculty. 

Prior to joining Accenture, Mapule was a researcher and Project Manager at CSIR.

Mapule has a Masters and Honours degree in Science and a Post Graduate qualification in Business Management, all attained in Cum Laude. 

In 2009, Mapule was a recipient of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu African Leadership Award and underwent leadership training at the Oxford University Said Business School. In 2016, PASA awarded her the top student of the year across Africa, for a Foundational Payments qualification.

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Pepe Marais is the founding partner and Group Chief Creative Officer of brand and communication group Joe Public United. He lives to bring out the best in those around him.

His definition of success is to create an environment of harmony and joy, where the focus is on the well-being of people – growing them to achieve the highest levels of selfworth, honesty and excellence by nurturing ideas, dreams and trust.

\Moved by the obvious gap in our system and a driving need to give back as well as actively grow our country, Pepe established Joe Public’s CSR programme, One School at a Time in 2004, of which he currently is the chairperson. OSAAT  is an organisation with the single-minded vision of creating an educational system that is a shining example to the world.

Pepe also sits on the board of SA Day, an initiative that exists to inspire South Africans towards greatness in unity.

Although Pepe has been the recipient of numerous local and international industry awards, he believes that accolades are merely the building blocks toward a vision of creating an environment that inspires greatness.

Joe Public United is currently ranked as one of the top independent and fastest growing South African advertising groups, which includes a digitally integrated above-the-line agency (Joe Public) a strategic brand design agency (Joe Public Shift), a digital agency (Joe Public Connect), a beyond-the-line agency (Joe Public Ignite) and a PR agency (Joe Public Engage) in Johannesburg.

The Joe Public brand is also represented in Amsterdam through its revolutionary Joe Public Take-Away advertising model.

In 2014 The Annual AdFocus Awards ranked the agency as Agency of the Year and in 2015, for the second consecutive year, awarded Joe Public Agencies’ Agency of the Year, as voted for by industry peers. 

In 2016 and 2017 Joe Public was the most awarded agency at the Apex Awards, which focuses on campaigns that are effective and drive business results for their clients, in line with the agency’s purpose of Growth. In 2018 Joe Public was a runner-up in the Conscious Company Awards and also ranked number one creative agency in Africa and the Middle East at the Loeries Awards.

Pepe is a published author, and recipient of the 2018 Sanlam Entrepreneur of the Year Award for medium businesses, together with his business partner Gareth Leck.
 

He believes that Joe Public is at the beginning of what they set out to do in terms of the calibre of work they aspire to create. He also knows that it’s all about nurturing the creativity within people and that all of Joe Public’s past and future successes were and will continue to be because of its people. 

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After receiving his BProc degree from the University of the Western Cape and completing a Post Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice from the University of Cape Town, Rurik was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

Rurik’s passion and expertise in the legal field lies predominantly in business – and commercial law with a specialisation in local and international corporate and company law as well as being a thought leader in the area of Organisational GRC. In this regard he has graduated cum laude in Legal Masters in Transnational Commercial Practice (LL.M.) through the Lazarski University (ranked the best private University in Poland) in conjunction with the Eötvös Loránd University (one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in Hungary), the Boston University (a top Law School in the United States of America), and the Centre for International Legal Studies (based in Austria).

Rurik is internationally certified as a Korn Ferry International – Lominger Choices™ feedback expert, which allows him to offer in-depth developmental feedback and guidance to business leaders as well as

boards of directors.

Rurik had the pleasure of serving on the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors’ (IRBA) Investigating Committee (INVESCO) Board from 2015 to 2018

In addition to this, Rurik has been internationally certified as a Co-Leader of The ManKind Project®, through which he has travelled all over the world offering talks, trainings, and mentorships in personal and leadership development

Being a certified Alt-X Director of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) allows Rurik to take on Directorships at companies, where his main goal is always to facilitate greater organisational alignment and growth. View Rurik's full profile here

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Consistent and Brave approach to Leadership. Resilient go-getter; Reflective & Critical thinker, Focused on driving solutions with a natural infectious energy.

20 + years Liquor Industry experience, I have a deep knowledge and understanding of entire value chain - Marketing Strategy and Development, procurement, production planning, distribution; Export Logistics, demand planning and project management principles and disciplines.

I’m passionate about problem solving, especially when it comes to the finer detail; I thrive and actively drive improvement and view change as the gatekeeper of opportunities for future growth.

10 years Marketing Management experience: Brand Strategy and Communication development with thorough advertising competencies in TTL development, production and media planning. Responsible for New product development (intrinsic and packaging) launch communication development and implementation to trade. Solid understanding of Consumer segmentation and importance of Consumer needs. Accountable for full brand P&L management.

Brand portfolio included a range of globally and locally recognized Cider & Wine Brands: Bernini Sparkling Grape, RE-launch of Esprit, Hunter's Cider, Savanna Premium Cider, Hunters Edge, Durbanville Hills wines, Sedgwick’s Old Brown (Sherry), Autumn Harvest Crackling, Paarl Perle, Obikwa single varietal, Basic Wine portfolio and Export Buyers Own Brands range.

Global destinations travelled during Career for consumer/geographical insights: South Korea Seoul, Canada All, Germany Frankfurt, UK London, Sweden Stockholm, Nigeria, South Africa all. 

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