SAVCA is the industry body and public advocate for private equity and venture capital asset classes in Southern Africa. The association plays a meaningful role in the sector by:
SAVCA’s mission is to contribute towards a vibrant industry, characterised by:
Objectives
SAVCA aims to:
Promote
the venture capital and private equity industry and profession in Southern Africa
Represent
the profession at a national and international level
Contribute
to the management development of our members
Stimulate
the growth of venture capital and private equity asset classes throughout Southern Africa
Maintain
ethical and professional standards
Provide
the relevant authorities with proposals for improvement in the corporate, fiscal and legal environment for the venture capital and private equity asset classes in Southern Africa
Collect
information from members and markets
Circulate
information to members and other stakeholders
Support
professional and transactional venture capital and private equity investments throughout Southern Africa
SAVCA Team Members
Tanya van Lill
CEO
Tanya van Lill, CEO: SAVCA
Tanya joined SAVCA in March 2017, after a rewarding 10-year career at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) with her last role being Director of Academic Programmes where she also served on the board of the Executive MBA Council (EMBAC), an international academic association that represents the Executive MBA industry.
Tanya is passionate about human and organisational development. During her time as a learning and development specialist focusing on management and leadership development, Tanya gained valuable experience working with various companies across a wide range of sectors. She holds an MBA and Post-Graduate Diploma from GIBS where her MBA research focused on methods to develop a global mindset. Tanya also holds a BCom Informatics and Honours in Business Management from UNISA.
Tanya is the mother of a teenage son and a sports enthusiast.
Lebogang Kekana
Lebogang Kekana, Administrative Assistant
Lebogang Kekana
Lebogang Kekana currently serves as an Administrator for SAVCA, where she ensures that the administrative activities within SAVCA run efficiently. She provides executive and logistical support to each team member and works closely with the Admin coordinator.
In 2013 she challenged herself by entering Small Medium Enterprise Business Plan competition hosted by Business Partners, where she discovered her passion for leadership and entrepreneurship. She interned at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in 2014 as a coordinator for the BizSchool programme, which supports Grade 12 learners to shape their future after matric.
In 2016 Lebogang worked as a part-time book seller at Readers Warehouse. Lebogang became involved with many organizations where she became a volunteer wholeheartedly, driven by passion to serve.
Lebogang graduated in May 2017 with a BA Humanities in Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg. There she discovered AIESEC, a non-profit student run organization dedicated to nurturing young leaders into becoming global leaders who want to make a difference in society. She eventually became the Chairperson for AIESEC at the University of Johannesburg in 2015 and 2016 where she was in charge of nominating, facilitating conferences and sending AIESEC students abroad for voluntary programs.
She plans to pursue her Law degree in 2020 and move up the corporate ladder.
Shelley Lotz
Regulatory Affairs
Shelley Lotz, Head: Regulatory Affairs
Shelley joined SAVCA in 2016 as the Head of Regulatory Affairs focusing on leading SAVCA’s engagement and advocacy efforts with regulators including National Treasury, SARS, SARB and the FSB.
Shelley’s extensive experience in the financial services sector includes 6 years at Horizon Equity Partners, where she was responsible for all fund reporting, valuations and compliance.
Shelley also spent 7 years at the Royal Bank of Scotland in London where she worked in a technical accounting and regulatory advisory role for the Investment Bank. Shelley was the Finance lead in the launch of RBS’s GBP 1.1bn Private Equity fund in 2007, which paved the way for Shelley’s career in private equity.
Buhle Ndweni
Buhle Ndweni, Manager: Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Buhle currently manages communications, stakeholder relations, research and research publication production at SAVCA.
She has about a decade's experience in the media industry where her journalistic career spanned across various Media24 publications such as City Press newspaper, Finweek magazine, Real magazine (now discontinued) and the Sunday Sun newspaper. She was also Senior Business Writer & Mentorship Editor for Ndalo Media's DestinyConnect.com and DestinyMen.com platforms.
Prior to joining SAVCA Buhle was a financial journalist for financial weekly (now bi-weekly) magazine Finweek, where she contributed to both print and online platforms. She was also part of a team that managed the magazine's online and social media platforms, and produced Finweek's weekly Money Matters TV show, which aired on CNBC Africa. She also had a stint on radio, reporting and producing for The Science Inside show, a weekly science talkradio show on the University of the Witwatersrand's Voice of Wits radio station ( 88.1 FM).
Buhle recently completed her Postgraduate Diploma in Health Economics with the University of Cape Town. She also holds a BA (Journalism and Media Studies) Honours degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and a BSc (Microbial Biotechnology) degree from Stellenbosch University.
She is currently pursuing her CFA studies.
Bukiwe Kabi
Bukiwe Kabi, Stakeholder and Programmes Manager
Bukiwe Kabi is the Stakeholder Relations and Programmes Manager at SAVCA, she looks after the SAVCA membership, training and events.
Bukiwe joined SAVCA as an Administrator in August 2015 and was responsible for finance and administration. Prior to joining SAVCA, Bukiwe was a Health and Safety Officer in the steel and engineering industry.
Bukiwe is currently in her last year of her Bachelor of Laws degree with UNISA.
Pule Boroko
Coordinator
Pule Boroko, Admin Coordinator
Pule manages all office related functions management, offering administrative support to the team and responsible for coordination of the SAVCA training and events.
Prior to joining SAVCA, Pule worked as a Programme Coordinator at GIBS for 4 years and holds a Certificate in Business Management.
Pule is currently doing his Bachelors of Administration with MANCOSA.
Directors
Co-CEO
Helical Capital Partners
Craig Beney, Convergence Partners
Craig Beney - Co-CEO
B Comm Dip Acc, CA (SA)
Craig is a founding shareholder and Co-CEO of Helical Capital Partners, a three-way joint venture with Convergence Partners and Partners Group.
Previously Craig, as Chief Operating Officer of Convergence Partners, was responsible for all operational aspects with a particular focus on governance, treasury and risk issues both within Convergence Partners, the Convergence Partners Communications Infrastructure Fund and investee companies. Prior to joining Convergence Partners, Craig spent two years as the Chief Operating Officer of Phatisa Group (a niche Private Equity manager on the African continent) responsible for all PE administration including financial and investor reporting and, was instrumental in the establishment and raising capital for the Pan-African Housing Fund.
Craig has considerable expertise in treasury, risk and capital management predominately in the banking and financial services sector having worked for regulatory and financial institutions, for over 20 years, both in the United Kingdom, with the Financial Services Authority, UBS and Barclays Capital; and South Africa at Investec Bank and then as a founding shareholder of Integer (a bank disintermediation start-up).
CEO
Firebird Fund Managers
Cathy Goddard, Firebird Fund Managers
Cathy is Chief Executive Officer of Firebird Fund Managers, a fund management and advisory business with a focus on distressed assets and turnarounds. Cathy is a registered Senior Business Rescue Practitioner. Prior to forming Firebird Fund Managers, Cathy was employed at BEE investment company and fund manager, Vuwa Investments, for 8 years where her role included originating, assessing, valuing, structuring, negotiating, funding and closing private equity transactions.
Cathy also has valuable debt finance experience as she worked at Investec Bank Ltd for 7 years in Investment Banking. Cathy focused primarily on funding Black Economic Empowerment transactions in the mid-market space as well as on other shareholder re-organizations, such as management buy-outs and buy-ins, leveraged buy-outs and share buy-backs. She was also involved in funding traditional acquisition or growth finance requirements for unlisted companies.
Cathy has further experience in Corporate Finance, M&A and transaction support from her tenure at EY, Deloitte and Bridge Capital where she was involved in, inter alia, due diligence, valuations and capital raising exercises.
CEO
Old Mutual Alternative Investments
Paul Boynton, Old Mutual Alternative Investments
Paul Boynton - CEO
Paul is the CEO of Old Mutual Alternative Investments (OMAI), Africa’s largest alternative investment manager investing R60bn across African infrastructure, private equity, impact funds and mezzanine debt.
Prior to setting up OMAI for Old Mutual Investment Group (Pty) Ltd, Paul was the Senior Portfolio Manager of the Old Mutual Life Funds (at the time a $50 billion portfolio) and was Head of Investment Views for three years, formulating the investment house view and model portfolio for OMIG.
Paul is married to Di and has three children: Matthew, Marion and Stuart.
Managing Director
Edge Growth
Daniel Hatfield, Edge Growth
Since co-founding Edge Growth, Daniel has been involved in Enterprise and Supplier Development across the entire value chain – from developing and implementing ED strategies for numerous corporates across multiple sectors, to being “hands on’” with grassroots SME incubation.
Daniel has structured, raised capital and set up 4 first-of-a-kind, ED Funds (managing collectively >R250m) for companies and associations across the industry spectrum.
In his role as Managing Director of Edge Growth, Daniel aspires to lead the business in achieving its vision of 5 x 500 in 5 (to create at least 5 jobs in 500 businesses in 5 years).
Head of Private Equity
Ashburton Fund Managers
Juan Coetzer, Ashburton Fund Managers
Juan Coetzer
Juan has over 15 years’ experience in investment management and financial services. Juan joined RMB in 2005 and has been with the FirstRand Group ever since. In 2011, he joined a team of three people working on a new asset management strategy for FirstRand, which became Ashburton Investments. Juan has been instrumental in establishing Ashburton’s alternative investments business in particular private equity and hedge funds. He heads up private equity, is a key investment principle and a member of the Investment Committee. Prior to Ashburton, Juan was part of the executive management team within the FirstRand Group Treasury division.
Partner
Bopa Moruo
Yvonne Maitin, Bopa Moruo
Yvonne is a partner at Bopa Moruo and has broad experience gained over 15+ years in Financial Services across various disciplines including Private Equity, Debt, Derivatives and Economics.
She began her Private Equity career at Actis as a member of the investment team. She later joined Liberty where she was a Director & Head of Distribution of on-balance sheet private equity and debt investments. She also served as a Private Equity specialist fundraiser at STANLIB, the Asset Management business within the group.
Prior to the above, Yvonne was a derivatives trader at Standard Bank and an Economic analyst at Credit Suisse.
(Chairman), CFO
ETHOS
Craig Dreyer, Ethos Private Equity
Craig joined Ethos in 1998 as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. He has served as a committee member of South African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association since 1998. Craig holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting and a post graduate Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Witwatersrand.
He is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. Craig represented South Africa at the Fireball World Sailing Championships in San Francisco in 1984. Craig is a keen photographer and tries to ride a mountain bike. Craig is married to Linda and has two daughters.
(Treasurer), Principal, Director
Metier
Lungile Mdluli, Metier
Lungile Mdluli
BAcc, BCom (Hons), CA (SA)
Lungile Mdluli completed her degrees in accounting and commerce at the Universities of Natal and Johannesburg. She served articles at KPMG, where after she joined WipCapital, as a manager in the debt products team. She joined De Beers in 2002 as a project accountant before moving to the corporate finance department.
Lungile joined Metier in 2005, has been integrally involved in preparing investments for the funds and fund raising. She had day-to-day responsibility for our investment in Libstar and its expansion projects and acquisitions. Lungile is a principal in the private equity team and is a director of Metier.
CEO
Sanari Capital
Samantha Pokroy, Sanari Capital
Samantha is the founder and CEO of Sanari Capital, a private equity firm specialising in founder-run businesses and fund manager for Section 12J fund, Sanari Growth Partners.
Samantha has over eleven years of private equity and venture capital experience in the SA and US markets. She played a leading role in investments at Ethos Private Equity, which she joined in 2006.
Previously, Samantha worked at a Chicago-based private equity firm and in investment banking and consulting in New York. Samantha holds an MBA (Hons) (Chicago Booth), BCom (Wits), BA Honours (Industrial Psychology)(Wits) and a CFA. She serves on several industry bodies to promote entrepreneurship.
CEO
Ata Capital
Lelo Rantloane, Ata Capital
Lelo is the founding CEO of Ata Capital. Prior to this he was Head of Debt Capital Markets and structured debt at Deutsche Bank AG.
He began his career with RMB as a Transactor in Debt Capital Markets and later became a Transactor in Acquisition and Leveraged Finance where he focused on Private Equity firms.
While at RMB, he was Executive Assistant to the CEOs of FirstRand and FirstRand Bank. Lelo also worked for Morgan Stanley’s Securitised Product Group in London and as a Transactor (on secondment) at the Makalani Management Company.
CEO
MyGrowthFund
Vusi Thembekwayo, MyGrowthFund
Vusi is a global business speaker and an Iconoclasts merchant. Vusi has masterminded and led a R400 million division in a R17 billion multinational. Today he is one of the youngest directors of a listed company and serves on several boards. He was short-listed in the “Entrepreneur of the Year” competition and has won several international awards for public speaking. His areas of expertise are sales, strategy and leadership. In addition, Vusi launched a Top40 mentorship programme and currently mentors 40 entrepreneurs.
CEO
SAVCA
Tanya van Lill, SAVCA
Tanya joined SAVCA in March 2017, after a rewarding 10-year career at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) with her last role being Director of Academic Programmes where she also served on the board of the Executive MBA Council (EMBAC), an international academic association that represents the Executive MBA industry.
Tanya is passionate about human and organisational development. During her time as a learning and development specialist focusing on management and leadership development, Tanya gained valuable experience working with various companies across a wide range of sectors. She holds an MBA and Post-Graduate Diploma from GIBS where her MBA research focused on methods to develop a global mindset. Tanya also holds a BCom Informatics and Honours in Business Management from UNISA.
Tanya is the mother of a teenage son and a sports enthusiast.
Founding Partner
Knife Capital
Keet van Zyl, Knife Capital
Keet is the Founding Partner of Knife Capital, a leading venture capital firm with offices in Cape Town and London. Keet is a venture capitalist with extensive growth equity investment experience. Knife Capital’s latest fund: KNF Ventures is a SARS S12J VC company that leverages knowledge, networks and funding to enhance investee growth and investor returns. Prior to this, Keet structured various private equity funds in Southern Africa for a US fund-of-funds investor and worked at industry-leading companies such as Procter & Gamble, Investec Bank and ‘Here Be Dragons’ (HBD) Venture Capital.