Alumni in the spotlight March 2022
- Wits Alumni Relations
Catch up on a wrap of Witsie awards, appointments and newsmakers from the past month.
Awards
Wits RHI Executive Director and loyal Witsie Professor Helen Rees has been awarded the prestigious L’ordre national du Merite (National Order of Merit) by the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, in recognition of her ground-breaking career.
In addition, she received the Ministerial COVID-19 Special Award at the National Batho Pele Excellence Awards in the Platinum Category in recognition of her outstanding contributions to COVID-19 research in 2021/2022.
Director of the Office of AIDS & TB Research at the South African Medical Research Council and former CEO of the South African National AIDS Council Dr Fareed Abdullah (DOH 1991) has been appointed as Knight of the French National Order of Merit. This is in recognition for his work as “clinical researcher and public health specialist in the fight against HIV and TB”.
Ivor Feinberg (BA 1970, BProc 1975) received the Cross of Officer of the Order of Merits to Lithuania from the Lithuanian ambassador to South Africa, Dainius Junevičius, at the Lithuanian Independence Day on 11 March 2022 for his distinguished service in promoting the name of Lithuania as well as assisting Lithuanian citizens and the Lithuanian diplomatic service.
Alberto Fogolin (BSc QS 1972) is the latest recipient of the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award from the Italian South African Chamber of Trade and Industries. To receive the award, the recipient must have excelled in business and their philanthropy endeavours.
Theresa Mazarire (MSc 2019) of the Wits Institute for Malaria was one of just 20 laureates selected from 440 applications in 17 African countries to receive the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science sub-Saharan Africa Young Talent Award.
Enrico Pescivolo (BAS 2018, BAS Hon 2021) was announced as regional winner in the 2022 Corobrik Student Architecture Awards. His thesis is titled: “Obsoles[s]ence: Recharting humanity’s relationship with technology through the adaptive reuse of the Kelvin Power Station”. He receives a R10 000 prize and the opportunity to compete in the national awards.
Award-winning journalist and PhD candidate in the Department of Political Studies at Wits, Albert Sharra (MA 2018), is the recipient of the Commonwealth Split-site scholarship, at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He will spend a year at the Centre of African Studies advancing his PhD studies in digital activism and people power in the Global South.
Thuso Mbedu (BADA 2014) was awarded the Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series at the 37th Film Independent Spirit Awards for her portrayal of Cora in the television series The Underground Railroad.
South African philanthropist and founder of 67 Blankets Carolyn Steyn (BA 1982) was awarded the highest French order of merit the Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Mérite (Knight of the French National Order of Merit).
Appointments
Charles Molapisi (BCom 1998) has taken over as CEO of MTN South Africa after Godfrey Motsa stepped down. He has been serving as group chief technology and information officer since January 2019. He has been with the MTN group since 2009 and previously ran the group's Zambian business for over three years and also worked for MTN in Nigeria in various roles for almost seven years. Before that he spent six years at Telkom South Africa.
Manisha Chiman (BCom 2011, BCom Hons 2012) has been promoted to the position of Underwriting Head: Liability, Professional Indemnity, Construction at SHA Risk Specialists. In her new, expanded role Chiman will be responsible for both the general liability and professional indemnity product classes and will oversee a team of skilled underwriters.
Makolo Kalambaie (BCom 2008, BCom 2009) has been appointed as the new underwriting head: Financial Lines at SHA Risk Specialists. Kalambaie is a financial lines specialist with extensive industry experience, including 15 years as an insurer and two years as a broker.
Ashburton Investments, the Jersey-based asset management business of FirstRand Group, has promoted Katherine Davey (BCom 2002) from senior equity analyst to investment manager. She relocated from South Africa to Jersey and has worked in the Ashburton Investment team for nearly 10 years, having joined in 2013 as an Equity Research Analyst for the African Equity Opportunities Fund.
Jonathan Barnes (BA 2011, LLB 2012) and Craig Robinson were promoted as partners of prestigious law firm Bowmans. Barnes specialises in commercial litigation and international arbitration. His expertise covers transactional disputes, contractual claims and urgent High Court proceedings. He is also a qualified mediator. Robinson has advised on numerous domestic and cross-border transactions in South Africa and other African jurisdictions as well as other types of corporate and company law and governance matters. He holds a certificate in advanced company law from Wits.
FirstRand announced the appointment of Mduduzi Ndlovu (BCom 1995) as the new head of its asset management business.
Dzhavhelo Mudau (BAcc 2017, HDip Acc 2018) has been appointed as divisional financial manager of OK Furniture.
Natasha Shilubane (BSc 2018, MSc 2021) has joined the Regional Conservation and Empowering People programmes of BirdLife Africa.
Samantha Williams (MA 2010) has been appointed executive director of Birmingham City Schools.
Newsmakers
Connie Mashaba (MBA 2021) celebrated 40 years of marriage with former mayor of Johannesburg Herman.
Alumnus Michael Abrahamson (BSc 1990, BSc Hons 1991) beat his own world record in recalling the first 2000 digits of Pi in five minutes, 12 seconds on Pi Day 14 March 2022.
Head of the Centre for Respiratory Disease and Meningitis at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases Professor Cheryl Cohen (MBBCh 1997, DTM&H 2000) was profiled in the Lancet.
Nontobeko Ntombela (MA FA 2013) lecturer and head of Department of History, Art and Heritage Studies at Wits curated an exhibition titled “When Rain Clouds Gather: Black South African Women Artists, 1940–2000” at the University of Cape Town.
Director of the Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (Wits VIDA), 
Professor Shabir Madhi (MBBCh 1990, MM 1999, PhD 2004) co-authored a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, which investigated the efficacy and safety of Nirsevimab in healthy late-preterm and term infants.
Books
Cathy Park Kelly (BA 1988, PDipEd 1988) released Boiling a Frog Slowly (Karavan Press, 2022), which is a personal memoir about escaping domestic abuse.