VK
Veran Kathan
Independent Non-Executive Chairman
CA(SA); B.Compt (Hons); Higher Diploma (Taxation)
Veran holds a B.Compt (Hons) from UNISA, and a Higher Diploma in Taxation from the University of Johannesburg. He has also completed the Senior Management Development Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is an established corporate executive and entrepreneur and is currently a shareholder and the managing director of The Specialists Franchise Group, which has been operating since 1978 and has more than 70 branches in Southern Africa who offer pest control, hygiene, and cleaning services. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the Vodacom Group Pension Fund and a member of its Investment Committee and as a member and the Chairman of the Vodacom Group Provident Fund. Previously, Veran held many senior ranking executive positions at Vodacom. During his 15 year tenure at Vodacom, he served as its Managing Executive: Commercial Operations, as the Acting CEO: Vodacom Business, as the CFO: Vodacom Business, and as the Managing Executive: Credit & Risk. While at Vodacom, he also held various Board and Committee roles.
VM
Vincent Mokholo
Non-Executive Director
BSc; Telecom MBA (UK)
Vincent has more than 19 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and served as the Chairman of Huge from January 2013 to March 2016. Vincent joined TelePassport in 1999 and served as Client Services Director at the time of merging with Centracell to form Huge Telecom. Prior to the merger, he played a role in the empowerment transaction which culminated in Mojaho Trading acquiring 30% of TelePassport. Vincent was instrumental in the development of Huge Telecom following the merger. During his time with Huge Telecom, Vincent held the position of Deputy Managing Director and was responsible for bedding down the operations and service deliverables for the combined entity. In addition, he was part of the team which listed Huge Group on Altx in 2007 and the Main Board of the JSE in 2016. Vincent was also Director of Ambient Mobile from March 2011 to March 2016, during a portion of which he served as its Chief Executive Officer. Vincent is presently the Operations Director of Mano Coal, a significant coal logistics and trading business.
DG
Dennis Gammie
Independent Non-Executive Director
CA(SA)
Dennis served as the CFO of the Aveng Group, the FD at Murray & Roberts Materials and a subsidiary of the Imperial Group. He also held an acting MD position over a large steel manufacturing and mining subsidiary of the Aveng Group and chaired various board committees. During his tenure, he was instrumental in many of the advancements of the company, including the listing of the Aveng Group on the JSE. In 2001, he successfully secured the first R1 billion US bond for a construction company, delineated in ZAR, with no currency risk. In addition, Dennis played a key role in implementing Aveng's active global investment strategy, including the acquisition and delisting of McConnell Dowell, which had previously been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. He also participated in the successful disposal of large listed and unlisted entities as part of this strategy. From the time of joining Aveng Group in 1998 until his retirement in 2010, Dennis oversaw the growth of its revenue base from approximately R5 billion to a cash generative and highly profitable entity with a market cap of R40 billion.
MB
Mary-Ann Boakye
Independent Non-Executive Director
CA(SA); BSc; MCom Development Finance
Mary-Ann Boakye is a registered Chartered Accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds a Bachelor of Business Science degree in Finance and Accounting, as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Cape Town (UCT). She also holds a Masters in Development Finance from the UCT Graduate School of Business, graduating summa cum laude. Mary-Ann has extensive experience in higher education, training program development and accreditation. Between 2013 and 2020, Mary-Ann served as a senior lecturer and Deputy Head of Department in academia. Since 2021, Mary-Ann has worked as a Chief Operating Officer in a mortgage finance institution. As COO, she has contributed towards the streamlining of processes and systems, credit, risk, compliance and people management, stakeholder engagement, and fundraising activities. Mary-Ann also works as an independent consultant to SMME's.
CW
Conway Williams
Independent Non-Executive Director
CA(SA); MPhil; B.Bus.Sci; CDFA
Conway has spent the last 14 years working as an Investment Specialist, covering both private/public debt and private equity transactions. During this time, he has been involved in the structuring, negotiation, pricing, and execution of numerous transactions, and the monitoring thereof post execution. Although his key focus has been debt transactions, he has also been able to consider and close private equity transactions. His various roles have allowed him to gain experience as a director on various portfolio assets and as a member of various company boards and sub-committees. Conway is currently the Head of Credit at Prescient Investment Management Proprietary Limited, a leading asset manager, based in Cape Town. Previously, he was the Head: Listed Credit and the Joint Head: Unlisted Credit at Futuregrowth Asset Management Proprietary Limited and a credit analyst at Old Mutual Investment Group Proprietary Limited. He has had regular contact with counterparty management, rating agencies, deal originators, legal advisors, and internal portfolio managers.
