About Us
The SA Chamber of Commerce is an umbrella organisation and conduit for trade, community and investment into and out of South Africa. The SACC aims to bring under one concerted effort, a forum and meeting point for businesses who have an interest in both the UK and South Africa in an attempt to facilitate the development of business opportunities.
The constitutional objectives of the SA Chamber of Commerce are:
- To bring under a common management agreement, all current SA business focused organisations to benefit from; knowledge sharing around common practices, sharing of information and economies of scale in their logistical management,
- to offer advice to members in the operation of their business as and when might be requested or appropriate,
- to provide a united voice when dealing with government bodies and private sector groups,
- to provide training opportunities for members in all aspects of business as appropriate with particular emphasis on operating businesses in South Africa and the United Kingdom,
- to provide a central body for the administration, research, lobbying and support of sub-committees and associated bodies with specific interests in SA-UK business,
- to provide a forum to promote business opportunities between members, and,
- to provide proactive facilitation of business introductions.
- Organisations and activities which make up the SA Chamber of Commerce
The SACC brings under one management structure activities offered by the SA Business Club, Trade missions, SA Business Awards, Mamba Mentors, Board member events, white papers, research and open letters to government, training activities and various ad-hoc activities and events as set up by the Executive Committee and Secretariat.
Who runs the SA Chamber of Commerce
The SACC is run by the CEO together with the Executive Committee. The Chairperson has direct oversight of the day-to-day operations and is elected at the AGM by the members of the SACC.
Buy-in from Government
The set up of the SACC has been ratified by the SA Government and the SA High Commissioner in London. We also are proudly supported by the SA DTI and UKTI.
Full written and detailed constitution obtained upon request.
Management Team
- Christie, Annette (SA)
- Futter, Ian (UK)
- Littauer, Svend (UK)
- Rushent, Juliet (UK)
Executive Committee
- Albertyn, Cecilia (SA)
- Futter, Ian (UK)
- Brook, James (UK)
- d Siena, Deborah (UK/SA)
- Godoy, Sean (SA)
- Hall, Adrienne (UK)
- Henzi, Charles (UK)
- Honiball, George (UK)
- Janssens, Luc (UK)
- Kamineth, Eloise (SA)
- Lamb, Jason (UK)
- Kostopoulos, Celeste (UK)
- Magen, Candice (SA)
- Mahoney, Wendy (SA)
- Marini, Kai (SA)
- Miller, Mike (UK)
- Mitchell, Wesley (UK)
- Muvuti, Farai (UK)
- Nihal, Leyya (UK)
- Pike, Jonathan (Germany Munich)
- Pillay, Rajen (SA)
- Sachs, Nick (UK)
- Selzer, Ronell (UK)
- Shaw, Antony (UK)
- Stegmann, Rene (SA)
- Stimson, Donna (UK)
- Thaker, Harshal (UK)
- Townsend, Timothy (Jersey)
- Verdonk, Tania (UK)
- White, David (SA)
- Whiteman, June (Isle of Man)
- Wilson-Max, Arlene (SA)
Board of Directors
Dennis completed his articles at EY in South Africa and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1984. He spent 14 years in investment banking focusing on IPOs and mergers and acquisitions with some of the major banking groups and accountancy firms.
He co-founded global Facilities Management Group, Servest, in 1997, where he grew the business into a multinational group focussing primarily on South Africa and the United Kingdom but also operating in other African and international markets.
Dennis is also a Chartered Director (SA) and sits on a number of boards as non-executive. He is also actively involved in the development of senior leaders.
Peter works with global investors, banks, law firms and corporates to successfully navigate South African and Sub-Saharan Africa economics and politics. Offering a range of high touch subscription options to dedicated investors and consulting services for larger projects, financial institutions and corporates, he particularly specialises in developing political economy strategy and scenario planning for both individual and organised business.
Ali Chafekar
Director
Ali Chafekar’s background has involved managing inward investment, foreign direct investment and trade related projects, which have often led to regeneration, working with multiple stakeholders and partners from the private and public sectors. Ali brings the experience of working at senior level alongside various central government departments, ministers and leaders, investment promotion agencies, municipalities and their networks within the public sector, significant stakeholder partners, embassy representatives and their commercial attaches.
Thabiso is an experienced governance and business development practitioner. He has a deep understanding of the complexities of corporate governance, financial management, board dynamics, systems thinking and business leadership. Thabiso has a strong ability to analyse and interpret data, develop and implement solutions, and effectively manage resources. Thabiso is a SME business consultant who enjoys consulting on projects that involve commercialisation and new business development. He’s an experienced practitioner with tenures in the health, education, conservation and eco-tourism services sectors, and is skilled in corporate governance and sustainable development, business planning, analysis, entrepreneurship, and environmental finance.
Ed is a Director and Trade and Export Finance Ambassador for the South African Chamber of Commerce. He is a Managing Director at GKB Ventures and has over 26 years of experience working in structured export finance in Africa. He began his career as a solicitor for Simmons & Simmons before moving to Barclays Capital and led emerging markets transactions in Africa. Ed is Vice Chair of the Westminster Africa Business Group and serves on the board of the UK Africa Infrastructure Board.
Sarah Hutton is a South African born business woman who has had the pleasure of a career working around the world. As Human Resources Director for Coca-Cola, Sarah aligns the HR Agenda with business strategy and measurable results. Holding an MSc, Management (Industrial Relations), degree from Oxford University, Sarah is highly valued by the leadership teams she works with, for delivering pragmatic HR solutions to meet business needs on a daily basis, but also for driving large scale organisational change. Sarah has throughout her career at Coca-Cola, been a formal mentor to women in early and mid-career, through a program called “women in leadership”. Sarah is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a member of SAICA and ICAEW.
Mark Kerns is a seasoned senior executive with a distinguished career working with leading global and regional banks including Standard Bank where he was Head of Investor Services. He has held senior roles at The Bank of New York, JP Morgan, Bankers Trust and The WM Company. His experience embraces business ownership roles, client and sales management, product management leadership, strategy and corporate development within the post trade and securities services industry. Mark also has over 25 years of experience doing business into and out of South Africa. He is a Global Custodian Legend inductee and has received a Lifetime Achievement award from Global Investor.
Svend Littauer is the CEO of the South African Chamber of Commerce in the UK. He also runs his own business, spending the last two decades playing a key role in growing businesses by offering support services to entrepreneurs with global ambitions. He founded entreprenör in 2017, with the aim of extending his expertise to collaborations across continents, through connecting like-minded people whose drive and passion create value beyond pure professional service delivery.
Natalie Naudé is a highly accomplished professional with an impressive track record spanning over 15 years in global communication and media relations. Her expertise lies in the strategic development and seamless execution of communication campaigns that deliver impactful results. Natalie’s academic achievements include earning an MBA from the University of Cape Town, and BA in Communications and Political Science. Her passion for multicultural communication is evident in her work, where she consistently garners international media attention and conceptualises communication campaigns that resonate with a global audience. Natalie has collaborated with renowned organisations on a global scale, including YPO and Wesgro. Her work has graced the screens and pages of esteemed international media outlets such as BBC, CNN, CNBC, and prominent leadership magazines, effectively conveying their core ideas and objectives to a diverse and discerning audience.
Prof Francis W Petersen is a visionary leader in the South African higher education sector and the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria. He has previously held esteemed positions as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town. Prof Petersen holds a PhD in Engineering from Stellenbosch University. His international speaking engagements include prominent conferences worldwide, contributing to the global discourse on higher education and research. Currently, he is the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Universities South Africa (USAf).
Jonathan Rosenthal is the Africa Editor at The Economist. Every day I get to try to understand and then explain the world’s fastest-growing and fastest-moving region to smart readers across the globe. To do my job I get to travel across the length of Africa. I oversee all of The Economist’s output on Africa and edit the weekly pages in the Middle East & Africa section. I also write most of The Economist’s editorials on Africa. I manage a team of great reporters across the continent and represent the paper at public events. When not chained to my desk in London, I endeavour to travel extensively on the continent to report and write longer-form special reports and analytical articles with a particular focus on emerging trends.
Chantell Ilbury
Director
Chantell Ilbury is a globally recognised scenario strategist, facilitator and keynote speaker, and the cofounder of Mindofafox, as well as its education and training arm, Growing Foxes. Since 2001, she has supported business leaders, organisations and governments to navigate uncertainty, strengthen decision-making and develop future-fit strategy across diverse sectors including energy, finance, manufacturing, transport, agriculture and resources, with experience spanning Africa, Europe, the United States, Asia and the Middle East.
She is also a best-selling business author, co-authoring (with Clem Sunter) The Fox Trilogy, a widely respected body of work on scenario thinking and strategic decision-making, and is the author of A Fox’s Tale.
Chantell holds a BSc (Chemistry) and a Higher Diploma in Education, and completed an Executive MBA (University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business). She has also studied Strategic Negotiation at Harvard.
Advisory Council
HE Kingsley Mamabolo - SA High Commissioner to the UK
HE Antony Phillipson - UK High Commissioner to SA
John Battersby - Journalist and retired SA Chamber Director
Darias Jonker - Anglo, Head of Government Relations
Paul Bondi - Co Head South Africa, Rothschild & Sons
Cheryl Buss - ABSA
Mohamed Cassimjee - Consultant, Global Compass
Tanya Cohen - Ogentsa
Sharon Constançon - EO, Genius Boards
Kuseni Dlamini - Chairman, Massmart and Aspen Pharmaceuticals
Jason Goodall - CEO, Dimension Data UK
Adam Habib - Director, SOAS University
Dean MacPherson - Democratic Alliance KwaZulu-Natal Chairperson
HE Antony Phillipson - UK High Commissioner to SA
Mike Miller - SAPRO
Deva Ponnoosami - Businessman and Founder Member
Andrew Skipper MBE - Founder and CEO, Polymetis Professional Solutions
Moses Tembe - Bellamont Investments
Alliances
The South African Chamber of Commerce is honoured to have established alliances with other well-respected South African-interest groups in the UK.
South African High Commission
The South African Chamber of Commerce has an established relationship with the High Commission, and the High Commissioner regularly attends our events.
South African Department of Trade and Industry
Representatives from the DTI frequently attend our events, and from time to time we jointly host Chatham House Rules events together.
SAICA (South African Institute of Chartered Accountants)
The South African Chamber of Commerce is proud to have SAICA on board as members and also as a key strategic alliance. Where possible, we will let our members know of SAICA events but please also feel free to browse the SAICA website for further details.
The Global South Africans (GSA)
The South African Chamber of Commerce has a close working relationship with the London network of the GSA. We have run successful events in collaboration previously and intend to continue this in future.
Department for Business and Trade
The South African Chamber of Commerce has an established relationship Department for Business and Trade South Africa