OUR 2025 FELLOWS

We are so inspired by our fellows – they are go-getters, world-changers and big-picture-thinkers who are passionate about their ventures having a cultural, societal and economic impact in Africa.

Aflu Med Healthcare

Pretoria, South Africa

Aflu Med Healthcare is a provider of centralised healthcare information systems, the company offers innovative solutions that enhance healthcare accessibility, efficiency, and quality. Established to bridge the gap between healthcare providers and patients, it delivers cutting-edge Electronic Health Records (EHR) and practice management systems, telehealth services, and medical billing solutions. Aflu Med Healthcare empowers healthcare professionals with seamless digital tools that streamline bookings, clinical documentation, prescriptions, sick notes, and letters, reducing administrative workload and saving costs. Patients benefit from a FREE One Patient One Health Record, ensuring their medical information is always accessible at the point of care, improving treatment accuracy and continuity. Aflu Med Healthcare’s solutions reduce the therapy turnaround time, enable remote consultations, and enhance healthcare delivery, particularly in hard-to-reach communities, among women, children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.

Lubabalo Mnyaka

Founder & MD

Lubabalo Mnyaka is a South African award-winning health-tech entrepreneur and the founder and MD of Aflu Med Healthcare. He has an academic background in medical microbiology and business management, giving him a strong foundation for innovation in healthcare. Lubabalo’s diverse healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, and media careers give him broad industry experience. His technology-driven solutions have earned him international recognition, including Virgin Group UK and IT News Africa accolades. He is driven by a vision to transform healthcare delivery through cutting-edge digital health solutions that improve patient care and outcomes.

Bokamoso Education Trust

Stellenbosch, South Africa

Bokamoso Education Trust believes every child deserves the chance to shine through the gift of education. Through the collective donations of individuals and corporations, Bokamoso Education Trust is able to activate the financial muscle required to equip its beneficiary children for a hopeful future. Their mission goes beyond provision: it is about igniting dreams and illuminating the potential within every child through quality education and mentorship.

Cathrine du Toit

CEO

Cathrine has been the CEO of Bokamoso Education Trust since 2014, after being in the corporate space for 12 years. Since qualifying at Stellenbosch University with a Bachelor of Economic Science degree, she worked in London in the property industry for 4 years before returning “home” (to South Africa) to run her family’s corporate travel business in Johannesburg. Compelled by her calling for wanting to see a radical change in South Africa, Cathrine joined the Bokamoso Team, a journey that has been transformational for her both personally and vocationally. She is married to Johan, and they have 2 little girls together. Their motto is: “What you are is God’s gift to you; what you become is your gift to God.”

Megan Downie

Operations Manager

Megan is an enthusiastic and faith-driven individual passionate about making a lasting impact on South African youth through education. After four years at Primedia, she decided to pursue her true calling and completed another postgraduate degree in education. Growing up on a farm in Limpopo, Megan developed a deep love for the outdoors—whether running, hiking, exploring the bush, or embracing the sea. She is committed to growth and continuously strengthens her faith and skills to create meaningful change through education and empowerment.

BoldPearl

Johannesburg, South Africa

BoldPearl was established in 2013 as a furniture-hiring company. Today, it specialises in manufacturing, repairing, and furniture-hiring of carpentry and upholstery. BoldPearl operates in three locations: Midrand (specialising in hospitality and furniture hire), Centurion (focusing on manufacturing), and Giyani (focusing on manufacturing). BoldPearl has 13 employees (9 part-time) and has trained 23 protégés, who are now competitors, partners, and suppliers. BoldPearl has been recognised by companies like Bambelela Business Awards, Raizcorp, Leda, SAB Foundation, and Township Economy Awards. The goal is to supply big furniture franchises and become the most prominent furniture manufacturer in Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

Rhulani Hlungwani

Founder & CEO

Rhulani was born in a small township named Giyani, Limpopo. She holds a National Diploma in Food Service Management, a Bcom in Strategic Supply Chain Management, and an Honors Degree in Strategic Management. She worked in corporate for 12 years, where she obtained a management level in companies such as Mercedes Benz, Simba, G4S Security, Imperial, and PPC, to name a few. Growing up, Rhulani hated entrepreneurship due to a failed family business. She does not remember when the business passion ignited, but she does remember selling anything and everything while in corporate. Today, she is driven to preserve her dreams, and although Rhulani enjoys business, she loves being a mother of two boys, aged 5 and 7.

Lindiwe Nkosi

Department Manager

Lindiwe was born and raised in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, and moved to Johannesburg for job opportunities, where she started working at Boldpearl. Today, Lindiwe is the Department Manager at Boldpearl and has been Rhulani’s righthand “man” for the past 10 years. She loves her role at BoldPearl! She believes that the work they do, manufacturing furniture, ultimately creates memories and brings families together. Lindiwe is a single mom of 3 children, loves attending church and the outdoors.

Chem-Dry Excel

Paarl, South Africa

Chem-Dry specialises in carpet, upholstery and drapery cleaning using the innovative Hot Carbonated Extraction cleaning method. Globally, Chem-Dry has a footprint in more than 30 countries. Operating in Paarl, Wellington and Franschhoek, Chem-Dry Excel is one of 50 franchises in Southern Africa. Each franchise is independently owned and operated.
Under new ownership, the 22-year-old Excel franchise has experienced tremendous growth over the past 18 months, building on a solid foundation of loyal customers and word-of-mouth referrals. New thinking, a fresh approach to client relationships, schedule optimisation, and employee empowerment are the major drivers towards growth. The commitment to delivering outstanding results and personalised service has positioned it as a leader in the local cleaning industry.

Nicol Truscott

Managing Director

Nicol is a highly relational individual who is passionate about serving her community. Her professional journey began with a degree in Community Development, leading to a career as an NGO Programme Manager. Today, Nicol is the Managing Director of Chem-Dry Excel, a carpet and soft furnishing cleaning franchise operating in Paarl, Wellington, Franschhoek and Worcester. Nicol enjoys using technology to create systems that streamline operations and cultivate growth and service excellence. She firmly believes that people—whether employees or customers—are their business’s greatest assets. Faith and family are key ingredients to Nicol’s life as she and her husband, Vilje, raise their three children.

Vilje Truscott

Director

Vilje Truscott is a Director of Chem-Dry Excel and a practising dentist passionate about entrepreneurship. As a visionary leader with a servant’s heart, Vilje thrives on maximising the potential he sees in others. He is detail-oriented and effective at implementing systems. Vilje is a devoted family man, prioritising his role as husband to Nicol and father to their three children. His leadership, both in business and in life, reflects his deep values of service, faith, and family.

Common Good

Cape Town, South Africa

Common Good is an independent non-profit and public benefit organisation committed to supporting grassroots transformation in South Africa. Established in 2005, the organisation focuses on Early Life (First Thousand Days), Education, and Employment—key life stages that significantly impact an individual’s trajectory in life. They also equip churches to disciple and activate their people to live justly. Through partnerships with local organisations, leaders, and faith communities, Common Good equips change-makers with research-based, replicable and innovative interventions, tools, resources, and support to create lasting impact. The vision is a nationwide groundswell of mercy and justice, transforming lives at scale.

Polly Murphy

CEO

Polly is a passionate leader dedicated to driving meaningful change in South Africa through faith-driven leadership and strategic action. With a background in HR and project management, she has the ability to bring clarity, reduce complexity, and turn vision into reality. Polly has many years experience in church leadership positions, with a proven track record of leading teams to achieve impactful results. As CEO of the Common Good Foundation, she is deeply committed to harnessing the church’s unique role in addressing South Africa’s biggest challenges. She believes that God cares deeply about people and their flourishing, and that effective leadership, collaboration, and faith can create lasting change. You’ll find her running after her two young daughters and driving her husband mad in her spare time.

Comotion LowCode

Durbanville, South Africa

Comotion LowCode is part of the Comotion group of companies. As South Africa’s largest Mendix partner, Comotion LowCode is a software development services company that builds scalable, tailored software solutions for clients on the Mendix platform. The company serves clients throughout South Africa and Europe, with offices in Cape Town and a satellite sales office in the Netherlands.

Derek Gardiner

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

Derek Gardiner is a technology professional with over ten years of experience in the industry. Based in Cape Town, Derek achieved an MBA in 2024. He co-founded Comotion, which has created sustainable businesses, including Comotion LowCode, Comotion Dash, Seed Analytics, and HireBright. Derek runs Comotion LowCode, a software development services company specializing in the Mendix low-code platform. His expertise lies in low-code platforms and traditional development, and he has a strong software development and marketing background.

Werner Grobler

Senior Manager & Head of Software Development

Werner Grobler is the Senior Manager and Head of Software Development at Comotion Business Solutions. With a history of accounting and business development, he understands what it takes for business to prosper. Werner completed his B.Comm and a BSc. Business Informatics degree before moving into the financial software space, working with enterprise-level software as an IT consultant. Soon after, he was introduced to low-code platforms and realized the competitive advantage it could create. Today, Werner manages a team of developers, drives client value and focuses on increasing the team size. He is also responsible for the SDLC policy, ensuring they comply with international best practices and ISO 27001. Werner is an eager kayak fisherman, mountain biker and braai master.

Gifted Workmanship

Johannesburg, South Africa

Gifted Workmanship (GW) was founded in 2015 and is a company that serves the Lord through property development (through project management and construction) and investment. They pride themselves in the hard work and wisdom the Lord gives and see GW as a tool to touch people’s lives in the country and the continent of Africa. GW always seeks to do God’s will as we reflect on His character and has grown to see God’s faithfulness as it continues to grow and serve God and his people.

Major Maseko

Co-Founder

Major Maseko is a passionate entrepreneur who sees life through the lens of the scripture. He believes that transformation in the world comes through gospel-driven education and business. He has a theology background and extensive experience in property, construction, business and skills development in the South African property market. Major is involved in raising growth capital and identifying and exploring social entrepreneurial development opportunities to inspire communities. He has trained several entrepreneurs, which led to the establishment of several small businesses.

Katlego Makopo

Co-Founder

Katlego is a follower of Christ, husband, father, and entrepreneur who wants to see this world come to know Jesus Christ. He studied Theology and was in full-time ministry before co-founding Gifted Workmanship. He is a multi-faced guy with many gifts and talents. He is a leader. He is married to a God-fearing wife, Pinky, and a father to his son, Thoriso.

Ground One Coffee

Johannesburg, South Africa

Ground One Coffee is a full-service coffee solutions company specialising in the roasting, packaging, and distribution of premium coffee and related beverages. With over eight years of industry experience, Ground One Coffee has established itself as a trusted partner in the coffee supply chain, serving corporate clients, cafés, hotels, and retailers with high-quality coffee products and comprehensive solutions.

Moeletsi Mailula

Founder & Operations Director

Moeletsi is the Operations Director at Ground One Coffee, a coffee roastery and trusted partner in the coffee supply chain. As a qualified database and systems administrator, Moeletsi combines sharp operational leadership with deep technical expertise. His career began in IT facilitation and technical consulting, where he honed his talent for bridging technology and business strategy. He thrives at the intersection of data-driven decision-making and entrepreneurial grit—transforming challenges into scalable solutions. Whether optimising supply chains, streamlining IT infrastructure, or negotiating deals, his approach is rooted in pragmatism, innovation, and a relentless focus on sustainable growth.

Let’s be friends

Durbanville, South Africa

Let’s Be Friends is a design and animation studio that excels in crafting high-quality brand communications and digital products. Specialising in digital brand development, UI/UX design, motion graphics, and 3D animation, LBF brings fresh inspiration and perspective to every creative challenge it takes on. With a foundation in working with sportswear brands, LBF has partnered with global giants like Nike, Asics, Puma, and Reebok, as well as shaping the brand identity of South Africa’s leading grocery delivery service, Checkers Sixty60. Their slogan, “Digital products made with analogue care,” reflects their commitment to excellence with every project.

Philip Erasmus

Founder & CEO

Philip Erasmus is a multidisciplinary creative professional and founder of Let’s Be Friends design and animation studio. While having roots in the music industry (as the drummer of local Afrikaans band Die Heuwels Fantasties), he has since focused his creative endeavours on the advertising industry, where he has successfully grown his consultancy to a vibrant creative team. As a Vega Brand Communications School graduate equipped with an additional marketing qualification, Philip produces creative work that is visually appealing and strategic from a business point of view. He has led creative campaigns and product launches for a variety of local and international brands including Nike, Checkers Sixty60, Asics and Ray-Ban.

Melsoft Academy

Johannesburg, South Africa

Melsoft Academy is a tech education and training platform that equips individuals with job-ready skills in AI, software development, and cybersecurity. Founded by the Jimu brothers, the academy bridges the gap between education and employment through hands-on learning, mentorship, and guaranteed internships. With a 100% graduate placement rate, Melsoft Academy has trained hundreds of students and partnered with leading organizations for certifications and corporate training.

Larreth Jimu

Co-Founder & CEO

Larreth is a tech entrepreneur and co-founder of Melsoft Academy, a fast-growing EdTech and software development company. He also leads Melsoft’s software development arm, serving clients in South Africa and the U.S. Larreth’s expertise in business growth, digital transformation, and tech education continues to drive Melsoft’s expansion into global markets.

Newberry House

Somerset West, South Africa

Newberry is an aspiring school group that provides high-quality, authentic Montessori education in a healthy environment through real-life learning experiences. Its mission is to showcase what is possible in education through its unique offering, which has resulted in Cambridge International examination results that consistently exceed international benchmarks. Beyond academics and sport, Newberry fosters critical thinking and entrepreneurship, encouraging learners to experiment with new ideas. Learner-run ventures include growing and selling organic produce to Lourensford restaurants, catering for events, building mountain bike trails (some used by the Cape Epic) and fundraising for a local crèche. The first campus, Newberry House, was founded in 2010 on Lourensford Estate. With growing recognition from government, businesses, and nonprofits, Newberry is now seeking to expand its innovative model to new campuses.

Alistair Green

Principal & Executive Board Member

Alistair relocated to Somerset West in 2017 to lead Newberry House. He has played a key role in growing Newberry from its conceptual stage to readiness for expansion, while shaping the organisational culture and strategy by refining, clarifying, and communicating its unique offerings and values. During his 12 years in the UK, Alistair was part of a leadership team that led a dramatic school turnaround, consulted on school improvement and helped found a preschool. He holds a BSc from Stellenbosch University, an MA in Education with a focus on Organisational Leadership, and completed the WITS Business School Leadership Development Programme. Alistair values authentic leadership and thrives on connecting with people across various industries to create meaningful change. He recharges by running in the mountains and adventuring with his wife, Marieke, and their four boys.

Reherd Africa

George, South Africa

REHerd Africa, previously Herding 4 Hope, was launched in March 2023 as a for-profit company positioned to partner with entities to develop and implement regenerative livestock management strategies and associated enterprises in communal farming landscapes. The REHerd Model upskill and professionalize herders in partnership with local implementation partners and the farmers they serve to facilitate the systematic development of a farming system that overcomes challenges and unlocks new opportunities. REHerd Africa brings scalable technology and innovation and integrates it with traditional herding and kraaling practices to unlock investment in trade and agri-enterprises. Risk is addressed holistically, and the farming system becomes investable as opposed to being fit for aid only. REHerd Africa strives to redeem pastoral communities from merely surviving to become thriving communities. REHerd Africa supports pastoral communities in more than eleven landscapes in seven southern African countries. It has an extensive network of government, non-government, funding, conservation, training, and agri-industry partners.

Jacques van Rooyen

founder & Director

Jacques grew up on a cattle farm in South Africa, and during mission work at an early age, he had a God-encounter that left him with a deep love and compassion for pastoral communities in rural Africa. He subsequently dedicated his career development to finding solutions to their challenges. God led him along a unique 18-year journey of practice and specialization in animal science, wildlife management, rangeland ecology, rural development and veterinary science. It culminated in the development of the Herding 4 Health Model, which was introduced in more than eight countries over the past ten years. Jacques was the senior director of the Herding 4 Health Program and the African Rangelands Program of the Peace Parks Foundation and Conservation International before he co-founded REHerd Africa to raise and mentor professional herders and leaders in farming communities as agents of change and transformation.

Wonga Technologies

Cape Town, South Africa

Wonga Technologies is an Internet Solutions Company incorporating Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and networks. Its ISP provides fibre, LTE (Telkom, MTN and Vodacom), and VoIP solutions to residential and commercial clients nationwide. Its networks focus on on-site support, Wi-Fi extensions, Wi-Fi management, and access point maintenance and installation.

Wonga Vakala

Founder & CEO

Wongalethu Vakala was raised in a busy township by parents who infused culture and strong values in him, such as love and respect, that are still vigilant today. In 2014, at the age of 20, Wonga started his first business, Comp-Unity. The goal was to open a computer center to accommodate 50 learners from different schools and equip them with end-user computing skills. He recognised the lack of computer labs in nearby schools and aimed to serve this market and prepare students for university and beyond. In 2018, Wonga moved to Cape Town for a job opportunity at an internet service provider (ISP), where he identified gaps in the market and subsequently founded Wonga Technologies.

Yazi

Cape Town, South Africa

Yazi is revolutionising customer research through its AI-powered WhatsApp platform, enabling companies to collect deep, authentic insights at an unprecedented scale. Founded by Timothy Treagus and Mzwandile Sotsaka, Yazi leverages WhatsApp’s universal accessibility to achieve response rates 6.7x higher than traditional methods. The platform offers AI-moderated interviews, surveys, and diary studies, with a focus on event-triggered customer feedback for financial services, retail, and telecommunications clients. Already serving major brands like Ipsos, Avon, and Old Mutual, Yazi is transforming how businesses understand their customers, particularly in emerging markets where traditional research methods fall short.

Tim Treagus

co-founder & CEO

Tim Treagus is the co-founder and CEO of Yazi, a WhatsApp-based research platform revolutionising customer insights in emerging markets. A Cape Town native and UCT graduate with a BBus Sci in Finance, Tim began his entrepreneurial journey at university, starting a business with a close friend, Emma, who later became his wife. His first venture, Billo, an e-commerce brand, ignited his passion for building companies and solving problems through technology. Driven by his desire to work in the tech startup space, Tim joined The Delta, a venture builder, where he gained valuable experience in scaling early-stage companies. In May 2022, Tim co-founded Yazi, combining his research expertise and technology background to make qualitative insights more accessible and representative across global markets.