Our Leadership
MR SIZWE NXASANA
FOUNDER
MR SIZWE NXASANA
Mr Sizwe Errol Nxasana holds a BCom, BCompt (Hons), CA (SA) qualifications.
He started his career at Unilever. In 1989 he established Sizwe & Co, the first black-owned audit practice in Kwazulu Natal. In 1996 he became the founding partner of Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba now called SizweNtsaluba Gobodo (SNG-Grant Thornton) which is the fifth largest audit firm in South Africa. In 1998 he joined Telkom SA as Chief Executive Officer and was responsible for its listing on the JSE and New York Stock exchanges. Sizwe was the CEO of FirstRand Banking Group since 2005 until he retired in September 2015. Sizwe serves as Chairman on various Foundations and Trusts. He is the Co-founder and Chairman of the National Education Collaboration Trust. He is Founder and Chairman of Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP) which funds and supports students who come from poor and “missing middle” backgrounds
Sizwe is now a social entrepreneur who recently founded Future Nation Schools which is a chain of affordable private schools in South Africa. He also founded Sifiso Learning Group which is involved in EdTech, academic and non-academic publishing and real estate.
Sizwe Nxasana has been conferred with honorary doctorates by the Universities of Fort Hare, the Durban University of Technology, the University of Johannesburg and the Walter Sisulu University.
DR JUDY DLAMINI
FOUNDER
DR JUDY DLAMINI
MBChB (Natal), DOH (UFS), MBA (Wits), DBL (UNISA), Stanford Innovation & Entrepreneurship Certificate (Stanford University).
Dr Judy Dlamini started out as a medical doctor before changing into business. She is entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist. Her passion is creating and adding value to society and humanity. Judy has worked in different sectors of the economy using her diverse skills sets and degrees in different subject areas.
After practising as a medical family practitioner for many years, she specialised in Occupational Health and consulted for different companies. Her MBA qualification from Wits University enabled her to change careers. She worked for HSBC Investment Bank, at the Johannesburg office in the Corporate Finance division.
She obtained Doctorate in Business Leadership from UNISA in 2014 and a Stanford Innovation & Entrepreneurship Certificate in 2018.
Dr Dlamini is Founder and Executive Chairman for Mbekani Group that celebrated 20 years in business in 2016. She is a non executive director of SA SME Fund, an initiative between government and the private sector to create jobs and grow an inclusive economy.
She is the former Chairman of Aspen Pharmacare Limited (Aspen) a JSE-listed South African pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor. Mbekani group has operations and investments in different sectors of the economy. Previous other board appointments include Anglo American plc, Discovery Holdings, and Woolworths Holdings.
She is a published author of Equal but Different, which was a bestseller for several weeks. She was selected as the 2017 Exclusive Books Homebru author in the business sector.
Judy was recently appointed as the Chancellor for Wits University, effective 1st December 2018.
She is the recipient of the African Economy Builder Lifetime Achiever Award for 2016 amongst several other awards, the most recent being AWCA 2018 Woman of Substance.
She is the co-founder and trustee of Mkhiwa Trust, a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) that the family uses for social investment.
XOLISA LUTHI
HEAD OF SCHOOL, FLEURHOF
XOLISA LUTHI
Mr Luthi started his teaching career at Tulip Combined School in Roodepoort where he was teaching Geography for the Further Education and Training. In 2005 he received an award for the most improved subject in the entire district for Geography Higher Grade.
In his first five years of teaching at Roodepoort, he was appointed as Head of Social Sciences Department, provincial moderator of School Based Assessment (Gauteng) and provincial Grade 12 marker for Geography (Gauteng).
In 2009 he joined Victory House as a Geography and Social Sciences head teacher, where he was also appointed a grade tutor for the Grade 10 students. He was awarded as the top Geography teacher in the district for 2 years in a row.
While at Victory House, he was appointed as Provincial Senior Marker and later Deputy Chief Marker for Geography. In 2011 Mr Luthi was appointed as the Johannesburg West district subject adviser for Geography in 42 schools. Under his tenure, the district’s results in Geography improved from 76% to 91% in 2013.
He was also one of the authors of the Mind the Gap Study Guide for Geography that was published by Department of Basic Education. In 2014 he was appointed as the Deputy Chief Education Specialist for Teacher Development, where he was responsible for the professional development of teachers in the Johannesburg West district.
In 2017 he was appointed the Head of School at the Future Nation Schools’ Fleurhof Campus.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor of Education Honours in Education Leadership and Management from University of Johannesburg
- Bachelor of Arts Degree from Wits University (Majored in Geography and International relations.)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Education from UNISA (Majored in Geography and Social Sciences)
- Numerous Certificates
- Certificate in Geographical Information Systems
- Certificate in ICT in Education
- Certificate in Coaching and Mentorship
- Certificate in Assessment
- Certificate in Teaching with Technology
- Microsoft Certified Educator
- A number of certificates in Teaching with Smart Notebook.
MAMPHO LANGA
HEAD: FUTURE NATION SCHOOLS
MAMPHO LANGA
Mampho Langa is the previous Executive Head of School at Meridian Cosmo City which enrols over 1000 students. Prior to this she was the Head of the African School for Excellence in Tsakane. She was Head of Academics at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) where she started as founding Head of the Department of Mathematics, Science, Computers and Technology in January 2007. Before this, she served as Project Manager of the South African Actuaries Development Programme (SAADP) in the School of Actuarial Science and Statistics at Wits University from 2004 to 2006. During the same period, she also worked as a part-time Mathematics Education lecturer in the BSc (Hons) and BEd (Hons) programs at Wits University. Prior to this, she worked as a Mathematics teacher and Head of the Mathematics Department at Matseliso Senior Secondary school in Soweto.
Mampho Langa has won numerous awards and received much recognition for her work in education including an award for the most improved results in the district in Mathematics, an award for the most outstanding Mathematics Higher Grade results in the Gauteng District 12. She holds a Masters in Mathematics Education from Wits University. She is an honorary member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. She also holds two Honours degrees in Mathematics education and Geography and a BA in Education.
Mampho has a keen interest in teacher development programmes and research in Mathematics teaching and learning. She has presented six papers at the AMESA and SAARMSTE conferences and has a journal article published in Pythagoras. She is also an author of Platinum Mathematics Grades 7 to 9.
HAPPY SESHOKA
HEAD OF SCHOOL, LYNDHURST
HAPPY SESHOKA
Albertina Manthlakana Happy Seshoka joined Pioneer Academies as a consultant from April 2014, working on the Student Leadership Winter Programme. In August 2014, she was appointed full-time as the Curriculum Developer and Lead teacher for the Leadership Course. She was appointed as Dean of Students at Pioneer Academy in Ormonde from March 2015. Prior to that she was the Head of Department for Life Orientation at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) from January 2007 – December 2013.
Before joining OWLAG she taught English Second Language, Geography and Life Orientation at Edward Phatudi Comprehensive School in Atteridgeville, Pretoria from January 1990 – December 2006. Happy Seshoka has served in a number of leadership roles in all the schools she has worked at. She has an ardent interest in start-up schools and has had an opportunity to be part of the pioneering teams of all the schools she has worked at.
Happy Seshoka holds a Bed-Honours degree in Education Management and B.A (Education, Psychology) from the University of South Africa. In 2002 and 2006 she was involved as a facilitator for teacher training in OBE Grade 9 Assessment and National Curriculum Statement-GET Life Orientation respectively. She is also qualified as an Accredited Assessor (IEB). She has co-authored Grade 10, 11 and 12 textbooks: Focus on Life Orientation CAPS for Maskew Miller Longman Publishers.