Business Clients SA/Supplier Development/Head of Supplier Development, Standard Bank
Founder & Director, Alphabet Social
Founder & CEO, The Sneaker Shack
Chief Procurement Senior Manager: Education, Advocacy and Awareness, B BBEE commissionfficer, Absa Group Limited
Ecosystem Enabler, 22 ON Sloane
Brand Director, SAB Corporate
Group Senior Executive, Strategic Trade, Aspen Pharmacare
Manager: Regional Partnerships Programmes, IDC
Founder, Scalo
Managing Director, OBC Group
Singer, TV Producer and Media Personality
CEO & Founder, Seven Sisters Wines
Chief Procurement Officer, Absa Group Limited
SAF Country Director, Nissan
Senior Manager, Copyright and IP Enforcement, CIPC, DTI
Entrepreneurship Director, SAB
Anchor, Morning Live
CEO and Founder, Atelier
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With over three decades in the media, Aki has endeared himself to generations of Joburgers by guiding them through the city’s gridlocked streets each morning as Radio 702’s former trafficologist. Aki’s other great passion is technology and digital transformation.
Aki hosts the weekly technology TecHub on eNCA and is the tech feature writer for the Gordon Institute of Business Science’s publication Acumen.
As one South Africa’s top technology influencers, facilitators and conference hosts, Aki thrives on innovation and digital transformation, and the incredible impact it is having on society and business.
Officially launched on the 15th of November, 2020 local fashion line Port of LNG was long an idea and goal of Zothile and Dineo Langa. Port of LNG started out by creating his and hers traditional wedding attire at a time when restrictions were imposed on gatherings during the covid-19 lockdown, which resulted in a flurry of wedding between November and mid December of the launch year. In February of 2021, Port of LNG launched their ready To wear offered on their online e-commerce store. Since then, the brand has added a bespoke line to their fast growing clients nationwide. With over 75 designs in a year, Port of LNG focuses on showcasing their many ideas and look to be very consistent in releasing new designs. Port Of LNG currently employs 8 hard working individuals and is looking to grow this team significantly by the end of 2022.
Graham Choice is a stalwart in the apparel manufacturing industry. His skills, knowledge and passion for the industry and its people has contributed to the growth of the sector. This can be traced back to his personal journey starting as a trainee in 1982 before working through the different manufacturing rankings to becoming the Pal’s Clothing Factory Manager in 1987 and then as CEO of Prestige Clothing CC, which he started as a micro business with 6 employees in 1989. In 1996 he was appointed as Provisional Councillor for the Western Cape; representing small business. Prestige grew through the economic recession of the following decade to become a small, then medium and eventually large apparel manufacturing company which TFG acquired in 2012. The purpose of the acquisition was to acquire its quick response IP and from it build a scalable and sustainable local design and quick response focused manufacturing supply chain. In July 2021 the Clothing National Bargaining Council recognised Prestige clothing as being the largest apparel manufacture (by employment size) in SA.
As the Managing Director of TFG Merchandise Supply Chain, he plays a pivotal role in the SA garment manufacturing industry. This is apparent by his active collaborations in his career in a number of roles as CEO and as Chairman of the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster (CCTC), South African Apparel Association (SAAA), co-managing Director of the Textile and Clothing Development Council (TCDC) and TFG’s representative to the National Clothing Retail Federation (NCRF).
In 2018 he formed part of a small working group from which the R-CTFL Masterplan was created. He currently represents both TFG and Manufacturing on its Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) and a number of its task teams which promotes skills development, industry best practice and industry employment growth.
Kholofelo Shaai – Executive Head of Supplier Development at Standard Bank Group Kholofelo is responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership in the implementation and execution of both Supplier Development and Preferential Procurement for The Standard Bank of South Africa. She has over 10yrs experience in leadership and management, in the SME, Enterprise, and Supplier Development field, and over 6 years in the current executive role in the Bank. Kholofelo is an ardent proponent for the development of SMEs, diversity, inclusion and belonging , sustainable growth and development of businesses and communities. She has gained valuable insights and experience in dealing with diverse cultures on issues of transformation and development. She is a social runner, a F1 sport supporter, has a passion for the arts, enjoy poetry and music, love travelling and reading, and currently learning how to play an acoustic guitar.”
Lindiwe Madonsela: Senior Manager for Advocacy, Education and Awareness within the Compliance Division of the B-BBEE Commission. She joined the B-BBEE space in 2011 with the policy unit in the department of trade, industry and competition and later joined the regulator being the B-BBEE Commission in 2016.
Mahlatse is the Ecosystem Enabler at 22 On Sloane. My role requires me to help the organization grow, create awareness of the entrepreneurial community and the startups within the local ecosystem and beyond. The most important aspect of my role is bringing together like-minded startups who understand the value of collaboration and can positively contribute to each other’s development.
Im currently the Startup Huddle Johannesburg Organiser, a program designed to build and strengthen local entrepreneurship ecosystems — by helping one Entrepreneur at a time and to Educate, Engage and Connect Entrepreneurs And the Entrepreneurship World Cup South Africa Organiser, a program that helps entrepreneurs at all stages maximize their potential. It combines a broad-reaching pitch competition, aimed at ventures ranging from the idea stage to the growth stage, with a virtual accelerator program to help all participants launch, strengthen, and scale their enterprises.
PROFILE OF MEC PARKS TAU
Current Positions: Mr Mpho Parks Tau is the Member of the Executive Council [MEC] responsible for the Department of Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture & Rural Development in the Gauteng Provincial Government. Mr Tau is the Provincial Treasurer of the ANC in Gauteng.
Education Refection: Parks Tau is a seasoned local government practitioner with over 20 years as a councillor in the Metro. He has completed his studies in Public Management from Regenesys Business School, and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy & Management from the University of London. Historical Reflection: Positions and political career Having joined Local government as a Councillor in 2000, Parks Tau has continued to play a critical role in the discourse about socio-economic development, particularly the previously disadvantaged citizens of South Africa. In year 2000 Tau was appointed as MMC for Development Planning, Transportation, and Environment. From 2003 to 2011 Tau served as MMC of the Finance & Economic Development portfolio of the City of Joburg. In 2011 Parks Tau was elected as the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg until 2016. He was the second democratically elected Mayor after Amos Masondo. While as the Executive Mayor, Tau was elected into various leadership roles as he became the President of #SALGA. This election saw him becoming a strong contender and was elected to be the President of #UCLG. Tau has served in many organisations during his 20 years as a Councillor; He was appointed Co-Chairperson of the UN High-Level Independent Panel, established to oversee the effectiveness of the UN-Habitat programme. He is a member of the World Resource Institutes & Coalition for Urban Transition He is former Chairperson of SA Cities Network. He is former Deputy Chairperson of the UN Special Advisory Committee on Safer Cities. He is a member of the C40 Climate Change Network Steering Committee. Tau is former co-President of Metropolis – a network of metropolitans established to build resilient and sustainable cities. In 2009 Parks was appointed to the position of Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs by the state President Ramaphosa. He served in this position until he was appointed to the Gauteng cabinet in December 2020.
Political activist; Born in 1970 Orlando West, Soweto, Mpho Tau grew up during one of the most difficult times for a black child. He was exposed to the injustices of the apartheid regime and joined COSAS, and became involved in student activism at the age of 14. In the 1980s he was detained many times by the police during the various national states of emergency by apartheid government. In 1989 he was elected as president of the Soweto Youth Congress, and played an integral part of the ANC Youth League. Parks Tau has served as part of Joburg Regional Executive as Secretary and as Chairperson. He is currently the Provincial Treasurer in Gauteng as elected at the ANC Provincial Conference in 2018.
MEC Tau continues to demonstrate his commitment to turn our country into an equitable, non-racial, non-sexist, a prosperous, and just society for all – particularly its youth and women – through the ongoing implementation of all developmental programs. MEC Tau can be reached on social media via; Twitter – @TauParks
Entrepreneur, keynote speaker, author, celebrity chef, cook show tv host and philanthropist
Having once been employed by a leading multinational Microsoft. Miles Kubheka went out on a limb and ingeniously created a restaurant with the same name and branding as a fictional restaurant portrayed in a famous “beeg beeg dreamer’ TV ad campaign. In doing so, he catapulted into media stardom, and soon translated his innovative thinking into entrepreneurial success. Miles is also a firm believer that entrepreneurial mind-sets can be fostered within an organisation. He encourages organisations to build a culture that supports employees to become Intrapreneurs: people who behaves like an entrepreneur whilst being employed.
Nthonyana is a resource mobilisation and partnership development professional with immense knowledge in strategy development, partnership development, CSR, as well as and public engagement. She has worked on programmes that required fostering partnerships, locally, Pan African and globally. In her career, she has gained extensive experience in international relations with regards to partnership development and donor agency fund management. She has also shown strength in managing international stakeholders as well as private sector and civil society organisations.
She is self-motivated and is driven by her passion for building social enterprises that seek to develop and foster creative and innovative solutions towards social good. She is an advocate for sustainable economic development through championing inclusive community empowerment initiatives.
In her role as Regional Manager Gauteng for the Black Umbrellas, she is responsible for 2 incubators and a business lounge, where SME’s across many sectors are provided co-spacing as they are onboarded onto the Black Umbrellas Business Foundation Programme or the Business Readiness Programme.
Sphelele Vundla is SAB’s Corporate Brand Director- and is in charge of enhancing and protecting SAB’s reputation through an integrated marketing communication strategy.
His journey of success has not been accidental, but has been of deliberate actions that have landed him here including studying Marketing and Media at Wits University where he was lectured by respected media academics such as the Current Vice Chancellor of Pretoria University, Professor Tawana Kupe.
He has a full circle experience when it comes to Marketing Communications, having started as a Communications Specialist and evolved to Group Digital Marketing Manager at Nedbank amongst some of the key roles he has occupied.
Amongst some of the impactful campaigns that Sphe has managed are: Lion Lager’s iLobola Ngebhubesi digital series, 2019’s Carling Black Label Cup, pioneering Castle Free’s Becoming Imbokodo women’s’ rugby reality series, as well as the iconic Castle Lions Series for the British and Irish Lions tournament, which all received accolades.
With just six months in role and only 35, his impact has been widely felt on the SAB corporate brand as he has recently been awarded with Gold at the ABInBev Africa Creative X awards for the SAB Corporate Brand work on the “Lift the Ban” campaign and a Bronze Effie Award for Corporate Reputation in the “Responsibility: More Than Just a Footnote” campaign.
A constant source of inspiration in his leadership approach is a quote by Aristotle “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” It is the relentless pursuit of excellence in every role he occupies (something he colloquially terms Nyisism).
Stavros Nicolaou is the Aspen Pharmacare Group’s Senior Executive responsible for Strategic Trade Development. Previously he was CEO of Aspen’s Export Business. Aspen is Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer and a now world leader in Anaesthetics and injectable anti-coagulants. Aspen is one of South Africa’s most globalised multinational companies with a presence in over 50 geographies globally, with 26 manufacturing facilities across 6 continents. He was instrumental in introducing the first generic ARV’s on the African Continent developed by Aspen, which has gone on to save hundreds of thousands of lives in South Africa and on the African Continent. Nicolaou has over 30 years’ experience in the South African and International Pharmaceutical Industry and is a previous winner of the SA Institute of Marketing Management (IMM) Health Care Marketer of the year Award. He was a previous recipient Monte Rubenstein Award for proficiency in Pharmaceutics from the Wits University Pharmacy Faculty. He was awarded, the Order of the Lion of St Mark by the Greek Orthodox Pope and Patriarch, Theodoros II. He has been inducted as a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa (PSSA), one of the highest honours bestowed by the PSSA, and was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science in Medicine from Wits University
Currently (2000 – present) employed at the IDC. I was first employed as Regional Manager responsible for the Eastern Cape and later as Head of Agency Development and Support Department which served as a catalyst for integrated sustainable local and regional development.
In 2015, the mandate of the Department was broadened to include supporting the IDC to achieve greater impact within specific development outcomes including : Black industrialist Programme; B-BBEE; youth and women empowerment; regional equity; the township economy; social economy; localisation; worker ownership; community empowerment and environmental impact, and renamed the Development Impact Support Department.
I am currently Manager for the Regional Partnerships Unit focusing on developing partnerships between public, private, civil society and community sectors with a mandate “to bring the poor and and marginalised into the centre of the economy” and where various programmes related to the social and solidarity economy are consolidated
After leaving University in 1989 and up to my current position, I have been employed in various positions, largely in the field of local and community development including informal housing and informal business and rural development.
Post-1994 elections, I was employed in political office of the MEC of the Eastern Cape responsible for Economic, Affairs, Environment and Tourism and later Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs.
In 1998, before joining the IDC, I was employed by the ANC in the Presidency and dealing with Information and Publicity.
I have a Bachelors degree in Social Sciences (1987) and an Honours degree in Anthropology (1989) fromNMMU, and have completed various other courses and programmes including an Executive Development Programme (2006) and a Global Executive Development Programme (2009) at GIBS.
SCALO is a South African fashion brand that represents quality and style since 2009. Founded in Johannesburg by Soweto born Sello Medupe, Scalo works on the basis of passion and creativity, fused with the dynamism of a Johannesburg attitude. It is a modern, sophisticated and futuristic brand.
Tony started his working life with a local advertising agency, rising to Manging Director within a few short years. He was instrumental in negotiating a merger with global communication giant DDB. This brought with it access to global brands and before long, Tony managed to steer DDB SA into the coveted Top 20 bracket of South African agencies. In 2008, Tony was offered the role of Managing Director by one of the agency’s clients, OBC Chicken. The lure of making his mark in the complex emerging mass market, while revitalising a somewhat tired brand, proved irresistible. After assuming his new position in 2008, Tony negotiated the sale of the company to a financially strong shareholder, with great synergies. He then set about revamping the company from the bottom up. Free of financial constraints, Tony built the OBC Group into one of the fastest growing players in its sector, with over 80 stores trading profitably. Most of the OBC Butchery stores are franchised and the store count is set to increase to 100+ stores by the end of this year. Tony is passionate about franchising and keen to give back to the industry. He joined FASA’s Board of Directors in 2012, served as its chairman for two terms during 2018 and 2019. Under Tony’s leadership, an independent panel of judges named the OBC Group FASA Franchisor of the year in 2015 and 2016. Moreover, the South African Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (SAPCC) named OBC Large Business of the Year in 2016 and 2017, and Best Franchise in 2018. His busy schedule notwithstanding, Tony also serves as a director of the Consumer Goods Council of SA.
Tshegofatso Dludla holds a b-tech in electrical engineering with a speciality in digital technology. With 10 years in the electronics development and manufacturing industry she ventured into the edutech space as an entrepreneur with RoboSTEAM Train, going on to found NPO Tshala Foundation, teaching young children coding and robotics. Tshego is currently in the process of developing an edutech product for the African market. Tshego was was also one of the top 25 Mrs South Africa finalists for 2021.
Vizolet started off his career in auditing and accounting at Deloitte in Johannesburg gaining exposure to a number of different industries predominantly the aviation and aerospace industry. Vizolet has now joined the College of Accounting at Monash University as an Adjunct lecturer and is passionate and motivated by power of cross-cultural collaboration among youth in an attempt to solve some of the most pressing economic and social issues that we face on the African continent. In his downtime, Vizolet enjoys cooking up and watching Arsenal dangle with his feelings. Vizolet holds a Chartered Accounting degree from the University of Cape Town (UCT.
Thami Klassen is the Acting Chief Director of Industrial Parks (IPs) and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) at the dtic – responsible for SEZ designations, investment projects facilitation and development of state owned industrial parks. Prior to joining the dtic, he studied Extractive Metallurgy and Business Management and worked for Anglo American Corporation and Rand Gold Refineries Mines. He established and ran his own companies, Umzantsi Creative Solutions and Welela Africa for 10 years, offering various services in ICT, call centres, mobile telecommunication products and tourism consulting services. He also founded Soweto Tourism Development Association (Sotoda) and Joburg Big 5 Company which was a family of 5-Joburg based tourism institutions. He has worked extensively with various NGO formations to advance involvement of marginalised communities into the mainstream of the local economies.
He is responsible for oversight of the roll out of new SEZs and IPs that are located across the nine (9) provinces. His work also entails facilitating collaboration amongst the different government and private stakeholders through the implementation of the Regional Industrial Development Strategy, to ensure sustainable economic development and growth in the SEZs and IPs host regions.
Prior to taking up the role as Chief Procurement Officer at Absa Group Limited, Vusi held executive and senior management positions with responsibilities for procurement at AngloGold Ashanti, Danone SA, Tiger Brands, South African Airways, Sasol and Ports Authority of South Africa. Vusi is an accomplished and multifaceted professional with more than 20 years of rich experience in delivering optimal results and business value in environments that demand cross functional leadership, influencing and managing in diverse cultures and
nationalities, exceptional strategic and operational planning in global and regional executive roles from diverse industrial sectors including aviation, financial services, utilities, transportation, FMCG, mining, manufacturing and services. He specializes in supply chain (logistics, strategic sourcing, supplier and enterprise development, supplier transformation and localisation strategies; responsible sourcing (human rights compliance in the supply chain and Third-Party risk management). Vusi chaired the procurement sub-committee of the Chamber of Mines in South Africa and led the development of an industry framework for Responsible Sourcing and common guiding principles for the mining industry
Managing Director at Nissan Group of Africa With over 27 years in Automotive, Kabelo Rabotho is a pragmatic, values driven leader with a penchant for principle and good governance. His career in automotive began at Toyota South Africa, holding various positions in their Sales and Marketing organisation including a Senior Manager role for Marketing Planning as well as Corporate and Government Sales. Before moving on to Nissan, Kabelo was the General Manager at BMW South Africa responsible for Sales and Brand Management for the MINI brand. Here he oversaw the MINI’s brand positioning in the market as well as marketing and sales plans. Kabelo has also served as the National Sales Manager at Absa Vehicle Management Solutions and as a Dealer Principal with Imperial Toyota. Before his current role Kabelo was he Marketing Director at Nissan Group of Africa, leading the marketing division. In this role, he oversaw the development and implementation of product and brand strategies, marketing plans and material, campaigns, and digital marketing. Today, Kabelo is the Managing Director of Nissan South Africa, responsible for revenue generation functions as well as being the market lead for Nissan in South Africa.
Ms. Amanda Lotheringen joined the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in 1993 and is currently Senior Manager, Copyright and IP Enforcement, at the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). In 1999 she took responsibility for the implementation of the Counterfeit Goods Act, No. 37 of 1997, and oversaw the declaration of the first counterfeit goods depot. She was also involved in the training of law enforcement officials across government departments to implement that Act. Ms. Lotheringen was nominated as Vice-Chair at the first meeting of WIPO’s Advisory Committee on Enforcement (ACE) held in Geneva in 2003 and also chaired the ACE in 2015 and 2016. She holds a degree from the Rand Afrikaans University in Development Economics and an Honors degree in Economics.
Barbara Copelovici is the Entrepreneurship Director for SAB. She joined SAB in 2017, initially to shape and amplify the supplier development programme.
Prior to joining SAB, Barbara was a management consultant, and then senior manager in the consulting arm of SizweNtsalubaGobodo. In this role, she led the delivery of strategic projects around supply chain transformation, defining strategy and supporting the strategic planning process of large organisations across diverse sectors including energy, education, mining and the public sector.
Prior to management consulting, Barbara was involved in social enterprises, first by founding and running one which empowered homeless individuals to start a business, then in supporting another social enterprise to deliver.
Barbara was awarded Brightest Young Mind in 2014 and was part of the World Economic Forum Global Shaper – Soweto Hub from 2016 to 2019.
Barbara holds a Master Degree in Business Sciences (Kedge BS, France), and a BCom Management (NeomaBS)
