People - Girls and Boys Town South Africa
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Girls & Boys Town South Africa

A team dedicated to empowering our youth to SHINE®

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

At Girls & Boys Town South Africa, our leadership team embodies dedication, expertise, and compassion that drive our mission forward. Each member of our team brings a wealth of experience and a shared commitment to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and families.

Board of Trustees

David Peter Daniels
Board Chairperson
Town Planner Chairperson: Municipal Planning Tribunal, City of Cape Town

David Peter Daniels is currently the chairperson of Girls & Boys Town SA Board, also a board member for more than 30 years. Having held several terms as a Chairperson, David Daniels formed an integral part of the growth, development and transformation journey of Girls & Boys Town SA. Some of his key functions include ensuring the overall success of GBTSA; extension of service offerings; commencement of admission of girls; establishment of new projects at Learner Support Centres in Macassar (Western Cape) and Kagiso (Gauteng) and introducing measures to promote financial sustainability. His qualifications include a Masters Degree in City Planning (University of Cape Town); Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA) and BA degree from the University of the Western Cape.

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Br Marko Sikoti Mhara
deputy chairperson
Educator & Salesians of Don Bosco

Brother Marco has worked in Swaziland and other parts of the African continent as a teacher in Religious Education and field researcher and data collection for children at risk and orphans, as well as co-ordinator for the Sport for Good Youth Programme Youth Care in collaboration with Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. He has also worked in monitoring and evaluation for food distribution programme in Catholic Rural Schools for USAID Southern Africa. He has worked as a Vice Director; working with youth on streets and vocational skills training for the orphans and children at risk. He serves a Salesian Brother of Don Bosco. He holds in Diploma in Philosophy, UNISA Certificate in HIV/AIDS Counselling, certificate in Mediation Skills, Diploma in Spirituality, Youth Ministry and Youth Education Studies, all from Tangaza University in Kenya. His educational background also includes studies in Social Welfare Science and Child Care, Sociology, Communication Science from UNISA and holds a BA Degree in Management and Leadership from DePaul University in Chicago.

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Shongani Anna–Victoria (Sr Jerome) Khuzwayo
honorary secretary
Deputy Principal - Our Lady of the Rosary Secondary

Ms Khuzwayo has been a lead educator for Maths and Maths Lit in the district for 12 years. She is a formator for Temporally Professed sisters and Postulants in her Congregation and has worked with youth in our parish.

Ms Khuzwayo attended the World Youth Conference with 8 girls from their school, in Australia in 2008. She is a mentor for the Justice and Peace group at the school and has served as a board member for Vianney Children home and Montebello Boarding House for girls.

Educational background (degrees and major diplomas:
Higher Diploma in Education – UKZN Edgewood
Advanced certificate ML – NMMU
BEd Hon – NMMU
Diploma in Leadership and Religious Formation (Online course) – Urbaniana
University Rome
Introduction to Theology – Hekima University

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Eugénie Smith
Honorary Treasurer, Board Member & Western Cape Regional Management Board Chairperson
Human Resources Consultant

During her initial career, she was involved in financial control of major works contracts at Public Works Department. She has served at Trust Building Society, and has set up record systems for investments and housing loan accounts. She has held several portfolios including Head of Records and Systems at Trust Building Society, Personnel Officer at the National Research Institute for Oceanology (part of the CSIR), Personnel Manager at Ninham Shand, Human Resource consultant on few contracts at BPSA, and Human Resource Manager at Cape Town Child Welfare Society. She has also served as Principal Officer at Child Welfare Pension and Provident Funds. She has served as Chairman of the MSP/Sizwe Medical Aid Regional Committee. She currently serves as a Trustee on the Boards of several NPOs, where she is mainly involved in human resource management and corporate governance sub-committees including Stellenbosch Hospice NPC, Heartlands Baby Sanctuary and GBTSA. She holds a BA (1968) and HONS B&A (1984) from Stellenbosch University.

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Jacqueline Cecelia Michael
Board Member & Gauteng Regional Management Board Chairperson
Social Worker

Jacqueline is a senior supervisor at Jewish community services, as well as a social work consultant for the Johannesburg parent and child-counselling centre. She is also a mentor to on-boarding directors, social workers and assists with managing funds for the organisation from Trusts and the KFC Add Hope campaign. She previously worked at GBTSA as a Youth Development manager, having started as a social worker in various Children’s homes. She has been involved in different projects within the sector including: setting up an adoption and child protection agency under the auspices of Jhb Parent and Child Counselling Centre, which she later became the chairperson for the organisation for 15 years. She has also worked as a professional consultant for the Coalition of Anglican Children’s Homes (COACH) in social work as well as Child and Youth care programmes. She was a co-founder of the Section 21 organisation together with the Minister of Social Development in 2001, for community projects in the Free State and Eastern Cape, which targeted communities affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS with intentions to find solutions to care for their children. She holds a BSc degree from University of Pretoria, majoring in Social Work, Sociology and Psychology, Honours in Social work, Advanced Diploma in Business Administration and Masters in Child and Youth Care.

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Karen Farred
Board Member
Social WorkerCEO of GBTSA

Karen Farred is the CEO at Girls and Boys Town. Previously the Head of Family Services, she has 29 years of experience as a social worker. She specialises in therapeutic work with emotionally and behaviourally challenged children and youth in different settings, including clinical settings; shelters for street children and children’s homes. Karen assisted the Director of Youth Services in policy development which was done in consultation with senior residential care staff. Prior to joining Girls and Boys Town, she worked at the Child and Family Unit at Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital where she served as the Unit Manager, and was the Manager of Claremont Children’s Shelter, a project of Child Welfare. She conducted research in the treatment of Conduct Disorder and the findings of her research were presented at the National Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Conference. Karen has a Degree in BA Social Work from the University of the Western Cape.

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Edward Francis George
Board Member
Educationist/Administrator

Edward is a member of the Marist Brothers, with extensive experience in education and community service. Former Maintenance Manager at Sacred Heart College, Johannesburg, and currently responsible for the care of aged Brothers in the Marist Community.

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Shimi Donald Kau
Board member
Head: PR & Communications

Shimi Donald Kau has a long history of serving young children lacking home support. A scholarship from the Gifted Child Programme instilled in him the values of mentorship and stewardship of young children lacking basic home-care. Donald previously worked as a Communications Officer in Transnet’s Corporate Social Investment division and was an Executive Director at Meropa Communications. He holds a national diploma in Public Relations Management from the University of Johannesburg.

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Jabulile Prudence Sibanyoni
Board Member
Human Resources Director: Africa, Europe and Middle East

Jabulile currently works as a Human Resources Director at Hatch and Goba, having also served as a senior HR adviser at the same company. She was previously a project manager and training consultant for youth development at First National Bank’s Technology Division. Her educational background includes a Masters in Human Resources: Industrial Psychology (Rand Afrikaans University); and BAdmin and BAdmin (Hons) in Industrial Psychology (University of the Western Cape).

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David Jule Bergman
Board Member
Chartered Accountant

David Jule Bergman was Senior Manager Investments for General Mining Union Corporation and Managing Director of Genbel Investments Limited, its JSE listed investment arm and Group Financial Director for the Alexander Financial Services Group, and have held numerous board appointments of listed and non-listed companies of which currently he is a non-executive director of HDI Global, Land Bank Insurance and Land Bank Life insurance companies, of which companies he chairs the Audit and Risk Committees and is a Member of the Actuarial and Investment Committee. He is a Chartered Accountant (Witwatersrand University) as well as a Chartered Management Accountant and holds a Higher Diploma in Tax Law (Witwatersrand University).

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Senior Management

Kathleen Hawthorn
Head of Residential Services

Kathleen Hawthorn s the Head of Residential Services at Girls and Boys Town and specializes in therapeutic work with emotionally and behaviorally challenged children and youth in various Child and Youth Care settings. Her passion lies in assisting children and youth to overcome adverse circumstances and reach their full potential.

Kathleen began her social work career at Cotlands Baby Sanctuary, where she worked with HIV-positive and abandoned babies, before moving on to a Children’s Home. She holds a BA in Social Work from Unisa and a Master’s in Forensic Social Work from North-West University (NWU).

Kganya Mothapo
National Fundraising andResource Mobilising Officer

Kganya is a National Fundraising and Resource Mobilising Officer; he has worked as the Fundraising Manager for the Gauteng region when he joined GBTSA. Prior to joining the organisation, he worked at African Bank, as a Senior Branch Manager. Some of his achievement through his tenure as a Branch Manager was recognition for highest sales achievement in the country in 2018 and best customers service in 2019.

Kganya brings a vast experience and skills to the fundraising role with creativity, new strategies and fresh approach with a vision to take fundraising to the next level. He also brings expertise in developing and implementing strategy, operating model development, revenue growth, performance improvement, change management and target attainment within the fundraising division.

Tommie Veldman
CFO

Tommie Veldman has over two decades of experience in financial management. He has worked for Telkom SA for 11 years as a Regional Finance Manager. He also served as the Financial Manager for Basil Read Homes (Pty) Ltd; was appointed the Head of Inspections for the South African Revenue Service; and is an articled clerk with Ernst & Young.

Since taking up his position at Girls and Boys Town has been the pursuit of the organisation’s financial goals in order to safeguard employees and ensure the availability of resources to serve the youth entrusted in its care in the short and long-terms. Tommie holds B.Comm Accounting degree from Rand Afrikaans University, B.Compt (Hons) degree from University of South Africa, Senior Management Programme from the University of Pretoria; the qualification of Associate General Accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants SA and has completed Articles of Clerkship with the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Nokofika Simelani
HR Manager

Nokofika Simelani is the HR Manager at Girls and Boys Town South Africa, bringing over a decade of experience in Human Resources across a range of industries. She has worked with prominent organisations such as African Sales Company, McCain Foods SA, Ster-Kinekor Theatres, and Career Central. Her areas of expertise include employee engagement, talent acquisition, employee relations, and performance management.

Nokofika holds a BCom in Behavioural Sciences from North-West University (NWU) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Labour Law from the University of Johannesburg (UJ). She is passionate about aligning HR strategy with business objectives and fostering a positive organisational culture.

In her role at GBTSA, she is committed to enhancing the employee experience, supporting teams across the organisation, and contributing to strategic people initiatives that drive long-term success.