Alumni in the spotlight June 2022
- Wits Alumni Relations
Catch up on a wrap of Witsie awards, appointments and newsmakers from the past month.
Awards
Co-founder of organ donation group ShareLife, Brian Myerson (BSc TRP 1975, MBA 1978) and social entrepreneur Dr Andrew Kuper (BA 1996, BA Hons 1997) were acknowledged as officers in the general division of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. 
Myerson was praised for his role in founding and building LeapFrog Investments, a global impact investment corporation.
Witsie team, “Dancing in the Dark” won the monthly prize in the University category of the JSE Investment Challenge. Members of this team are Roberto Coelho (BAccSci 2021) and students Gabriella Paddock and Ricardo Coelho.
Professor Benjamin Rosman (BSc 2007, BSc Hons 2008) has been selected as one of 18 early-career researchers in the world to be named a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar for 2022-2024. The CIFAR is a Canada-based global research organisation that will provide about R1,6 million in unrestricted research support. He is professor in machine learning and robotics at the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics.
Nokuthula Mkwanazi (BA DA 2019) and Sibongakonke Mama (BA Hons 2020) were selected as two of five finalists in the Distell National Playwright Competition 2022. They will be mentored by well-established playwrights and the winner will be announced in October. The winning work will debut at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda (Grahamstown) in July 2023.
Himkaar Singh (BSc Eng 2014, GDE 2017) and Sikander Kalla (BHons 2016) were on the coveted Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list for 2022. Singh was acknowledged for his product iCompost, which converts organic waste back into the soil through a low-noise machine with a two-litre capacity, turning all types of food waste into a dry, natural and nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be used in pot plants and gardens. Kalla, a clinical psychologist and founder of Cohesive Collaboration, was praised for his work and advocacy around mental health.
The following Wits alumni made the long list of The Sunday Times Literary Awards:
Fiction: Dr Mandla Langa (DLitt honoris causa 2019, MA 2020) Lost Language of the Soul (Picador Africa, 2021); Joanne Joseph (BA 2000, BA Hons 2001, MA 2008) Children of Sugarcane (Jonathan Ball, 2021); Basil Lawrence (BA 1992, BA Hons 1993) At the Edge of the Desert (Penguin, 2021); Naledi Mashishi (BA Hons 2019) Invisible Strings (Blackbird Books, 2021)
Non fiction: Johnny Clegg (BA 1976, BA Hons 1977, DMus honoris causa 2007) Scatterling of Africa: My Early Years (Pan Macmillan 2021); Phakamisa Ndzamela (BA 2007, BA Hons 2008) Native Merchants: The Building of the Black Business Class in South Africa (Tafelberg, 2021); Cathy Park Kelly (BAEd 1990, BA Hons 1996) Boiling a Frog Slowly: Memoir of Love Gone Wrong (Karavan Press, 2021); Dr Mark Shaw (BA 1991, BA Hons 1992, PhD 1997) Give Us More Guns: How South Africa’s Gangs were Armed (Jonathan Ball, 2021); Jonathan Ancer (BA 1993) Joining the Dots: An Unauthorised Biography of Pravin Gordhan (Jonathan Ball, 2021); Athol Williams (BSc Eng 1992) Deep Collusion: Bain and the Capture of South Africa (Tafelberg 2021)
Appointments
Former CEO of the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg, David Jonathan Kramer (BCom 1991), was appointed as chief executive of the Jewish National Fund Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre in Mamelodi.
Musa Kalenga (BCom 2009) has been appointed the new group CEO for The Brave Group.
Deborah Vorhies (MBA 1992) has been appointed as CEO of FairWild Foundation, based in Oxford, UK. She has previously worked for the United Nations and the World Bank group, and worked at C-level in multiple organisations, including International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, African Wildlife Economy Institute.
Celiwe Ross (BSc Eng 2002), the first black woman mining engineer to graduate from Wits was appointed as chief of staff to the CEO, as its new Human Capital Director at Old Mutual. She has held senior investment banking roles within the Standard Bank Group in South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, covering the mining, energy, real estate and infrastructure sectors. Ross joined Old Mutual in May 2017.
Isuzu Motors South Africa has appointed Chule Qalase (BSc 2008, MSc Eng 2021) as senior manager for corporate social responsibility and sustainability. He is highly regarded within the profession and has a wealth of expertise straddling both the public and private sectors.
South Africa’s leading digital systems aggregator and solutions provider, Nexio, a subsidiary of the Vodacom Group, has appointed Ed Gassner (BSc Eng 1984) as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) on an interim basis with immediate effect and until a permanent replacement is appointed. His most recent permanent role was as CEO of Britehouse, a Dimension Data subsidiary that deploys enterprise business applications.
Dr Gary Aaron (MBBCh 1989) has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of the California-based Active Health Foods and joined the board of directors. He is a director and the chief medical officer for the Bioidentical Hormones Inc. He is the founder of the Australian Menopause Centre that has been operational for 20 years. He is a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine since 2008.
Ismail Momoniat (BSc 1978, BSc Hons 1979, MSc 1989) was appointed as acting director general of Treasury by the Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana.
Professor Yunus Ballim (BSc Eng 1981, MSc 1983, PhD 1994) was appointed council chairperson of education quality assessor, Umalusi, by Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga.
Newsmakers
Dr Farzana Cassim (MBBCh 2004) made headlines as the country’s first female robotic urologist, watch this YouTube profile insert after she performed a robotic-assisted hysterectomy - a first in South Africa.
Professor Penny Moore (BSc 1996, BSc Hons 1997, MSc 2000) discussed the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the immune system.
Orion Minerals CEO Errol Smart (BSc Hons 1999) told the Resources Rising Stars 2022 Gold Coast Conference in Australia that an historic mine in Prieska, which produced some of South Africa's best copper and zinc concentrates, will be brought back into production.
Joni Brenner’s (BAFA 1991, MA 199, PGDipHScEd 2021) solo exhibition “Between you and me: four models in the studio” at the SMAC Gallery was reviewed in Wanted magazine as “a beautifully considered” and “a rare level of quality and insight in the local art scene.”
Professor Kurt Sartorius (MCom 1989) and his colleague from the School of Accountancy, Wayne van Zijl (BAccSc 2011, BAccScHons 2012, MCom 2013), will set out on an expedition to the Amazon.