South Africa

Professor Nomafrench Mbombo hails from Mdantsane township in East London, Eastern Cape. Before entering into politics, she was an associate professor at the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western Cape. She holds a Ph.D. in the area of Gender and Human Rights (UWC), master’s in Maternal & Child Health (UKZN) and a… read more »

Dion George attended Wits University. After completing his undergraduate degree, he entered the financial services industry where he built his career. During this time he was also a community activist; this later prompted his political career. He further acquired a BA (Hons), MBA (Wits) and DBL (Economics) degrees and an advanced certificate in Municipal Governance. His… read more »

Natasha Mazzone was born in Pretoria. Her political career started in 1997 with the Democratic Party (DP) where she was elected as chairperson of the DP’s youth branch at the University of Pretoria, and progressed to become the DP’s federal youth leader in 1998. In 2000, she was elected as the federal youth leader of… read more »

Thomas Walters graduated from the University of Stellenbosch where he majored in Political Science. He was student leader of the Democratic Party (DP), and has served as DA Federal Youth Chair and DA Councillor in Johannesburg. He is currently a member of Parliament and the deputy shadow minister for Rural Development and Land Reform. Thomas… read more »

After matriculating, he was conscripted into the SANDF Anti-Aircraft Division, was commissioned to and eventually commanded a citizen force regiment, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In the mid 1980s, he left the army, which was being used increasingly internally to suppress political upheavals with which he sympathised. James started working in the PFP research department… read more »

Ivan Meyer holds a Ph.D in Public Administration from the University of Stellenbosch, as well as a number of international certificates and diplomas. His work in the fields of education, housing, local government and public administration has been published widely. Ivan Meyer currently serves as the MEC for Finance in the Western Cape.

Michael joined the Democratic Party in 1989 and held a number of positions in the youth structure of the party and was elected as the youth president in 1994. He was elected to Parliament in 1999 and was re-elected in 2004. Since his election to Parliament, Michael has served as a spokesperson for several portfolios, such… read more »

Refiloe has a degree in Politics and Philosophy from the University of Cape Town, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Marketing. During her years at UCT, she was a national executive member of SALSA (South African Liberal Students Association) in the 1990s and joined the DA in 2001. After qualifying at university she held a range of marketing positions… read more »

Born in 1964 in Bedford, Athol was the fifth generation born on the family farm, Mount Prospect. He attended school at Woodridge College in Port Elizabeth and matriculated in 1981. He held various leadership positions in the school and on the sports fields. He went on to study Agricultural Management at the University of Natal… read more »

Teboho Loate was born on 7 April 1956 in Alexander, Johannesburg. He obtained the Senior Certificate at Mariazell High School, Matatiele in 1976. In 1979 he obtained the Junior Secondary Teacher’s Diploma from Tshiya College of Education, QwaQwa. He acquired the Advanced Diploma: Public Administration (1999); Certificate: Public Policy Management (2000); the Bachelor: Management Leadership… read more »

Deputy General Secretary of COPE, Ms Deidre Carter, hails from the Free State, but moved to KwaZulu-Natal in 1990. Deidre has extensive administrative experience and is skilled in the areas of Quality Control, ISO Systems, Human Resources, Debtors & Creditors, Fleet control, Internal Auditing and the like. Deidre owned a few Restaurants and two Hotels…. read more »

Pakes has a long anti apartheid struggle history. He was a founding member of various formations of the Mass Democratic Movement including Youth, Civic and Trade Unions and the UDF. Since it’s unbanning in 1990 he served in various senior responsibilities for the ANC until January 2009. He has a distinguished career a MEC since… read more »

William Mothipa “Willie” Madisha grew up in Atteridgeville, Pretoria. He studied teaching at the Transvaal College of Education and served as the President of the South African Democratic Teachers Union for 12 years (1996-2008). He also served as President of the Congress of South African Trade Unions from 1999-2008. Mr Madisha continues to work for… read more »

Mosiuoa Lekota grew up in Kroonstad, Free State. He was expelled from the University of the North due to his political involvement with the Student Representative Council and the Black Consciousness Movement. While the elected Permanent Organiser for the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO), he was imprisoned on Robben Island in 1974. Following his release… read more »

Lindiwe Ndziba joined CSA on 1 March 2016 as the Executive and Compliance Manager. She is a chartered accountant by profession and a former Accounting and Financial Advisory Manager at Deloitte South Africa. On 1 July 2017, Lindi was promoted to Head of Compliance reporting to the Chief Executive, overseeing the legal, compliance and secretarial… read more »