Alumni in the spotlight February 2021
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Catch up on a roundup of Witsie appointments and awards.
Appointments
SA Corporate Real Estate Limited appointed Seapei Mafoyane (MBA 2012) as independent non-executive director from 11 February. She is currently the MD of Espy Advisory Services – a consultancy firm. She has served as Chief Executive Officer of Black Umbrellas.
Rob Scott (BA 1985, LLB 1987) appointed by Smart WFM as global lead HCM and behavioral technologist. Scott joined Smart WFM from Deloitte, where he was a principal in the consulting human capital practice. His 30-plus years of HCM, HR and technology experience, includes more than a decade in senior roles at Presence of IT before it was acquired by Deloitte, an earlier stint at Deloitte in South Africa, and nearly 10 years as group HR manager of National Chemical Products (now Dow Chemicals).
Access to Finance Rwanda appointed Jean Bosco Iyacu (MCom 2007) as new Country Director. He served as the Director of Programs and has been instrumental in the design and implementation of financial inclusion and development plans in Rwanda. He was Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Business Development Centre – an entrepreneurship and business incubation facility. 
Paul Cook (BSc 2002, BSc 2003), co-founder and managing director of Silvertree Holdings, was appointed as non-executive director at Standard Bank. He is also CEO of Faithful to Nature Proprietary Limited – a natural online retailer.
Rhulani Mahange (BA 2019) joined Cox Yeats as Candidate Legal Practitioner as part of the Insolvency and Business Rescue Team.
Dr Spo Kgalamono (DOH 2001, MSc Med 2010, DPH 2013) was appointed as the executive director of the National Institute for Occupational Health – a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, and the chair of Occupational Health in the School of Public Health at Wits.
Muhammad Cajee (BA 2003, BA Hons 2004, MA 2005) was appointed as Chief Digital Officer at Primedia.
Awards
Educator Mandy Gruzd (BA 1993, BA Hons 1994, PDip Ed 1994), deputy head at King David Junior School, was awarded the World ORT Beatrice Wand-Polak Educators Award. The ORT is a global education network driven by Jewish values. The prize is awarded to educators who have gone above and beyond what is expected of them.
Michael Moys (BSc Eng 1968) was named among the world’s top 2% scientists who featured in Mining and Metallurgy rankings. The recently published data base from Stanford University list the top 2% of researchers in the world. The research team lead by Dr John Ioannidis, created a database that includes the best scientists in the world, using standard citation indicators. The database categorised 160 000 scientists in 22 scientific fields and 176 subfields according to The Southern African Institute of Mining & Metallurgy.
Hashim Tarmahomed (BArch 2018, BArch Hons 2020) winner of the 34th Annual Corobrik Regional Architecture Award. He says the project, titled Re-imagining Avalon Cemetery as Space for Social Integration, was born out of personal reflection on navigating a post-apartheid urban space. The project emphasizes the significance of earth for the dispossessed communities of Avalon Cemetery. There are five regional winners and each will go through to the national round, where the top title is awarded a R70 000 cash prize.
Marian de Pontes (BA film and television 2017) won the seventh annual Horizon Award – which is given to emerging female and non-binary filmmakers by a mentorship team. The seventh annual Horizon Award mentorship team included producers Cassian Elwes, Lynette Howell Taylor and Christine Vachon, and awarded prizes to the directors of “Etana” and “Sol De La Sol.”