Abey is the Executive Director of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs at Mercedes-Benz SA, since April 2017. He has held numerous executive roles in varying industries, and his extensive experience spanning over 20 years includes strategic human resources management, labour relations, advanced negotiations, community investment, corporate communication and stakeholder relations.

Since joining Mercedes-Benz South Africa, Abey has steered several transformative initiatives, of which one is the development of a digital HR organisation.

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Career-driven, Determined, Successful and Passionate words best used to describe Pralene.

Armed with three degrees (Bachelor of Arts, Honours in Psychology, Honours in Industrial Relations) and a committed career with Mercedes Benz South Africa for 23 years, including time abroad, Pralene’s ambition and passion for her work in Learning and Development is discernible.

Not a person who would ever give up on anything - Pralene, actively encourages learning and development of self to every person that she imparts her wisdom to. Pralene is an active and critical observer of her environment and an agent of change. She influences adult learning and development through developing change processes that impact leadership and how adults learn and move forward.

Her passion for community service found herself in many outreach projects, namely, co-founding the HMS Trust, an NGO, which focuses on the providing underprivileged children with access to education, her selflessness support and fund-raising initiatives to support Canaan Centre and Guardians of Hope.

A winner of the Businesswomen’s Association Award in the Corporate Category, clearly, nothing seems to deter her goal for aiming higher, but most humbly, her quest to leave behind a fruitful legacy to younger generations, through her ability to impart knowledge, hope and trust in times of volatility.

Pralene has a passion for writing both academically and creatively: She has contributed to Industrial Relations Journals and is a published author of children’s books. More recently, Pralene embraced a newfound skill of poetry which can be enjoyed via pralenemahabir.co.za

People close to her can always count on her reliability, commitment, dedication, strength, and resilience.

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Adrian is the Executive Director of Project Last Mile which is a partnership between The Global Fund, USAID, PEPFAR, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Foundation.

Project Last Mile (PLM) is an innovative partnership that leverages learnings from Coca-Cola’s business model to improve the availability of life-saving medicines, as well as access to health services in Africa.

He has more than 20 years of experience in different roles within The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling system and has been leading Project Last Mile since its inception more than 10 years ago.

His passion is finding innovative ways for the private sector to contribute to solving community challenges and has developed and led a number of projects in this regard.

He is also a former Director of Public Affairs and Communications for Coca-Cola Sabco and has a Masters Degree in Commerce from Rhodes University and started his career as a Lecturer in the Department of Management.

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Peter Clayton holds a BSc and BSc(Hons) in Computer Science and Physics, and MSc and PhD degrees in Computer Science. He worked in the software industry for a number of years before taking up an academic career at Rhodes University.

He rose through the academic ranks to become Professor and Head of Computer Science, and head of the Telkom Distributed Multimedia Research Centre. In 2008, he was appointed as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research & Innovation at Rhodes University. He has served on a number of national policy and advisory forums for Higher Education, Science and Technology, the South African Qualifications Authority, and the Board of the National Research Foundation.

Peter received a South African National Science and Technology Forum Award for Outstanding Contributions to Science, Engineering and Technology in 2002. He is also the holder of the Rhodes Vice-Chancellor's Distinguished Research and Teaching Awards. He is a non-executive director of the GBS Mutual Bank, and of Africa Journals OnLine (AJOL).

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Prof David Andrew Sewry read for his degrees at Rhodes University in the Department of Information System. In 1994 he graduated with his Ph.D degree in this department.

Following academic studies, Prof Sewry spent time in industry, initially as a systems analyst/programmer and then researcher, before being appointed to the academic staff of Rhodes University in 1986. In 2007, he was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Distinguished Teaching Medal. His research interests include ICT for development; measuring the impact of ICT in developing areas; ICT in education.

In July 2011, Prof Sewry was elected Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, a position he currently holds following re-election. Prof Sewry serves on several University Committees, including Senate Executive, Senate, various Faculty Boards, and the Institutional Planning Committee. Since 2008, he has also served as an elected Senate representative on the Rhodes University Council. He is Chair of the Board of Management of the Rhodes Business School and Vice-Chair of the Board of Management of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Rhodes University. In 2007, on invitation from the Minister of Education, he jointly chaired a National Colloquium on ICT Education and Training and the Production of Graduates. He was also a member of the Organising Committee of the Workshop on ICT Grand Challenges held in October 2008, the results of which set ICT research directions for the country. From 2009-2012, he was a member of the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). Since assuming the position of Dean, he has become an enthusiastic member of the South African Commerce Deans’ Association (SACDA).

Prof Sewry is a Trustee of the Graeme College Development Trust, Trustee and Chair of the Rhodes University Pension Fund, and Trustee and Chair of the Rhodes University Medical Aid.

He is married to Joyce (nee Minnaar, also a Rhodes graduate – 1983, and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry) and has a son and daughter, both graduates of Rhodes, of course.

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Brian Wafawarowa is the Chief Content and Product Officer at Juta. He started his career as a trainee publisher at Juta in 1996 and rose to become its publishing director. Brian founded New Africa Books in 2000 with New Africa investment Limited and served as its MD till he joined the Publishers Association of South Africa as its executive director in 2010.

Before rejoining Juta, Brian was the executive director for content and learning services at Pearson. He is the current chairman of the Publishers Association of South Africa and serves on the Board of the international publishers’ association based in Geneva, where he chairs the inclusive publishing and literacy committee. In the past, Brian has also served as the executive chairman of the Cape Town Book Fair and the chairman of the African Publishers' Network (APNET).

Brian has been working in publishing and learning services for more than 25 years in different sectors, including education, academic, trade and professional. He started his career at Juta and Wits Press, as a trainee publisher. He is the founder and former MD of New Africa Books, executive director of the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA) and executive chairperson of the South African Book Fair. Brian was also executive director for learning services at Pearson South Africa, where he also served on the company’s board. He has extensive experience as a senior publishing executive and has been involved in leading digital transformation for many years.

Brian has a keen interest in development and training in the book sector. He has been the chair of the Publishers’ Association of South Africa (PASA) and the African Publishers Network (APNET). He served on the board of the International Publishers Association (IPA), where he chaired the Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee (IPLC) for many years. Brian is the author of many articles and manuals on publishing and literacy.

He has a keen interest in education and training and has served on the board of the Fibre, Processing and Manufacturing (FP&M) seta. He is also a trustee and board member on the Exclusive Books Trust, the Nick Perren Publishing Foundation (NPF) and Dubai Cares’, African Publishing Innovation Fund (AIPF). These organisations are involved in education and training, providing scholarships and funding innovative initiatives in the book sector across the continent.

Brian became a fellow of Frankfurt Bookfair in 2000. In 2002 he received the Noma Award for Best Publishing in Africa and in 2020 he received the first honorary life membership award from the Publishers Association of South Africa for his contribution to the development of the book sector. He holds an Honours Degree in Literature and Film from the University of Zimbabwe, a Master’s degree in Literature from Wits University and an Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) from UCT. Brian assumed the role of Chief Content and Product Officer of Juta and Company in 2019.

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Andreas Brand is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Manufacturing at Mercedes-Benz South Africa Ltd (MBSA) and serves on the company’s Board of Directors. Prior to being appointed as the CEO of MBSA on 1 May 2022, Andreas was the Head of Production and Capacity Planning based in Stuttgart, Germany, a position he held since 2020.

Andreas Brand joined the Mercedes-Benz in 1997 as production engineer in the body shop in Rastatt. He gained significant international management experience, for example through planning functions for the SUVs in Tuscaloosa/USA, and at the plant in East London. Andreas has also held various management functions in planning, production and factory launches. As of 2010 he led the press and body shop in Kecskemét/Hungary. In 2016, he worked in the area of strategic alignment and, in 2018, he was Chief Engineer Production for the Compact Car-Platform.

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