MBA Faculty
Niraksha Sookraj
Strategic Financial Management 900
Niraksha Sookraj holds a CA (SA) qualification, together with her MBA from the University of Stellenbosch. She is actively involved with SAICA and AWCA with a passion to make a difference in the community as well
promote the leadership and organizational growth of individuals. Niraksha is a seasoned professional in creating strategic planning and change management within organizations, however her passion has always been finance which has led to her proudly being awarded SAICA’s Top 35 under 35 – Finalist, as well as the Standard Bank Top Women Young Achiever 2019 Finalist. She is currently the Financial Director for SACD-Bidvest; however, she is in collaboration with various corporate brands under her consultancy cap. She is a proud supporter of women empowerment and strives to ensure that women are valued for their significant contribution to the community and the economic sector.
Susan Mawer
Strategic Marketing Management 900
Susan Mawer has a proven track record as a Managing Director with over 25 years of experience across the value chain in retail, wholesale, manufacturing, distribution and direct selling. Her experience encompasses B2C, B2B, B2A and E-commerce. An effective strategic mind-set, with commercial and operational experience within corporate and multinational environments, as well as entrepreneurial franchise owner run businesses, she has worked in fashion retail, with international cosmetic brands, furniture and appliances, food and beverage, automotive parts and direct selling of cosmetics and personal care. Her fundamental strength and passion is the ability to connect with the customers, and an inherent understanding of the requirements to engage with the customer across varying channels ensuring strong go-to-market strategies that drive and achieve sustainable results. Added to this, a strong analytical mindset, financial acumen with full P & L accountability and the ability to execute. She enjoys influencing, leading and developing a high performance culture across an organization, optimizing relationships across all stakeholders and networks. Building teams based on trust, respect, clear communication and collaboration.
Ms Maggie Mojapelo
Innovative Talent Management 900
Ms Mojapelo is an MBA graduate and has also successfully completed executive leadership programmes with institutions such as Harvard Business School. She is an executive coach, facilitator, speaker and business motivational speaker both locally and globally. She has more than 20 years’ experience, having held specialist and executive leadership positions in companies such as IBM, Avon Justine, Nedbank and Coca-Cola prior to starting and running her own business 11 years ago. Ms Mojapelo is a chairperson of boards and board committees, and founder of The HR Touch, a business management consulting company that enables businesses to achieve their strategies. Her business management, corporate governance and leadership experience covers a variety of companies and industries including manufacturing, property, financial services, fund management, mining, retail, pharmaceuticals, FMCG, motor, public sector, gaming, hospitality and ICT, among others. Ms Mojapelo is involved in various professional organisations such as the Institute of People Management, IoDSA, the Sirdar Governance Group, focusing on building governance for small businesses, and the Young Women Forum.
Kiru Pillay, PhD
Strategic Information & Technology Management 900
Dr Pillay holds a PhD in Information Systems from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is a visiting academic attached to the LINK Centre at the University of Witwatersrand and Wits Business School, with a primary responsibility for postgraduate supervision with some lecturing responsibilities. He has over 30 years of experience in the ICT sector, with the first 23 years of that time spent as an ICT practitioner working locally and globally in various roles. He has eight years of experience in an academic and research environment and has been based at three South African universities both on a full-time and currently on a part-time basis. Dr Pillay is presently in the Public Sector Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS), where he is responsible for the national Cybersecurity mandate and the management of the national Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT). He is also involved in the operationalisation of the department’s Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) initiatives.
Buyani Zwane
Strategic Leadership 900
Buyani Zwane is an inspirational communicator, network builder, business and leadership development facilitator and practitioner. He was co-owner and served as executive chairperson and director of FranklinCovey Southern Africa, a leadership, training and development company with a presence in 14 Southern African countries and Indian Ocean Islands, for over 7 years and 5 years, respectively. He serves as independent director and Chairperson of Board of directors at GreenMatter Partnership (RF) NPC, a Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy implementing body. Since 2012 he has been a fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) and the Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN)”
Dr Stephen Akandwanaho, PhD
Business Research 900
Dr Akandwanaho holds a BSc in Information Technology, a Master of Information Technology and a Doctorate in Computer Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and has more than 15 years of experience in teaching and research. He has worked in various institutions of learning and in various roles in academia. He served as a research director for Richfield until he was appointed its Chief Academic Officer. His research interests include artificial intelligence, machine learning (neural networks), global optimisation for combinatorial problems (evolutionary algorithms), hyper-heuristics, cybersecurity, big data analytics and e-learning. He serves as an editor for six international journals and as a reviewer for many reputable journals. Dr Akandwanaho has strong competencies and extensive experience in curriculum review and programme development and is widely published in academic journals.
Author of the book, Research Methodology; Proposal and Dissertation Mastermind.
Prof. Lyal White, PhD
International Business Strategy 900
Prof. Lyal White is the founder of research and advisory practice Contextual Intelligence, Director of the Academy of Business Futures at Cadena Growth Partners, and Research Associate at the Brenthurst Foundation. Prior to this, he was the Founding Director of the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) at the The University of Johannesburg in South Africa, where he retains a Senior Research and Visiting Faculty role. He is a strategic advisor on leadership, strategy and contextual intelligence in Africa and new markets, where he focuses on nuanced approaches to learning for development. Prof White is also an active board member of the Association of African Business Schools (AABS), to which he was elected in June 2019, and a member of the Growth-Ten Academic Advisory Board.
Dr Phumlani Nkontwana
Entrepreneurship and Innovation 900
Dr Nkontwana has a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics and Statistics from the University of Cape Town, BCom Honours in Economics from University of South Africa, Master of Commerce in Development Economics and Econometrics from the University of Johannesburg, and a PhD in Economics of Entrepreneurship from Stellenbosch University. Dr Nkontwana has been teaching at universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch for several years and has extensive experience in both academia and industry.
Ms. Sarita Martin
Business Ethics & Corporate Governance
Sarita Martin is an admitted attorney who holds various qualifications including but not limited to a B.Proc, LLB, MBA (GIBS), Diploma in Advanced Banking and Certificate in Compliance Management. She has attended the Banking Board Leadership Programme at GIBS and is an IoDSA Certified Director since 2013, as well as a Fellow of the Institute of Directors. She is an executive coach, a non-executive coach and an accredited Conflict Dynamics Accredited Mediator for South Africa. Furthermore, Ms Martin is an accredited UK Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution commercial mediator. She has also completed a programme on emotions centred coaching and conducting disciplinary enquiries remotely.
Sarita is currently on the core facilitator faculty of the Institute of Directors South Africa (IoDSA) since 2013 and is an IoDSA Governance Specialist conducting training for directors, board evaluations, mentoring, coaching, facilitation and governance consulting.
She has a strong passion and interest in corporate governance and enhancing individual director and board performance. Having practiced as an attorney, she has also held various executive positions in the fields of company secretariat for large JSE Listed companies and compliance especially within the financial services sector since 1999 as well as Corporate Affairs and Human Resources. She has extensive experience and exposure in dealing with Boards of Directors. Currently Sarita is an independent corporate governance consultant and serves as an independent non-executive director of various listed and non-listed entities. She serves on various Audit Committees, Remuneration Committees and Social & Ethics Committees. She is also a local and international speaker on Corporate Governance.
Dr. Sonny Ako-Nai
Strategic Operations Management 900
Dr Ako-Nai holds a Doctorate in Business Administration and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business and Leadership at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has over 20 years’ industry experience in the strategic use of IT in organisations, including over six years within Unilever across various African countries. Dr Ako-Nai is an academic and business management consultant with a focus on IT consultancy and advisory services who assists boards and senior management to effectively deploy and govern technology use in an ethical and profitable manner. As an advocate of good corporate governance, Dr Ako-Nai is a member of the IoDSA and a board member of an NPC where he champions good governance by enabling the board to better understand corporate governance principles and structures.