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The esteemed individuals – Darshan Daya, Edmund Higenbottam, Liz Kolobe, Ria Papier, and Nicola Gubb – have officially embarked on their roles as board members.

Providing his insight on these new appointments, Savca chairperson and executive director of Ata Capital, Lelo Rantloane commented: “Our five new board members were voted in by our members based on their unique individual and collective skill sets, and industry experience gained over a number of years.

“They join the board at a crucial time, when there is great expectation around the role private markets can play in our economy. Together they will contribute towards the already diverse board, and provide strategic oversight to the Savca team as they translate the association’s vision into critical activities to drive the growth of private equity and venture capital in the region.

“We wish to extend a warm welcome, and look forward to collaborating with them as we work to expand the reach and impact of the private equity and venture capital industry.”

• Daya brings more than two decades of private equity industry experience across many economic cycles to bear, having worked in large cap buyout funds prior to co-founding Capitalworks in 2006.
• Higenbottam is a veteran investment banker and private capital fund manager, with extensive experience across London, Johannesburg, Lagos and Dubai. His banking career started in 2001, having worked at global investment banks and, from 2008 has worked in the Africa market.
• Kolobe has more than 13 years’ experience in private equity, advising and executing transactions. She is a principal at Agile Capital, representing the firm on various boards across various sectors including water, mining services, media, financial services, environmental management, medical, property, soft services and energy.
• Papier is the client director at Old Mutual Private Equity (OMPE), responsible for leading fundraising and investor relations functions. Prior to this, Papier was in the client solutions team at Standard Bank Investment Banking.
• Gubb has over 25 years of investment and corporate finance experience with a particular niche in BBBEE and gender-lens investing coupled with 17 years of board experience in financial services, media, wholesale fuel supply and private education.

Gratitude and farewell

The chairperson acknowledged outgoing board members, Richard Rose, Yvonne Maitin, Rory Ord, Andrea Bohmert and Thiru Pather, to whom a heartfelt thanks was extended for their exemplary service and ongoing commitment.

This being his last year as the chairperson of Savca, Rantloane thanked the members and fellow board members, for the support they have provided, as the association underwent a number of significant changes, and for entrusting him with the position for the last three years.

Rantloane said: “Richard, Yvonne, Rory, Andrea and Thiru brought a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Savca board, inspiring a high level of commitment to the association and supporting the executive team to lay the important groundwork that will enable us to fulfil our shared vision for the industry.

“The impact of their contributions is highly appreciated and has become a key part of our development as the industry’s association and has enabled us to position both venture capital and private equity as key opportunities for investors.”

“We’d also like to formally welcome Tshepiso, whom, having joined Savca in November 2022 as chief executive officer, now has her feet firmly planted in the organisation, as well as Mandlakazi, who joined Savca this month as the executive responsible for operations.”

Gratitude was extended to Shelley Lotz and former operations executive, Manusha Parshotum, for their immense commitment to the organisation in the last financial year, which contributed greatly to its sound status.