Keynote Speaker
Dr Augusta Dorning
Multi-award winning Healthcare Leader
The Managing Partner of "Extraordinary Hospitals of Africa" a boutique consultancy, Augusta is a self motivated dynamic leader and influencer with over 40 years proven success in senior leadership and management roles in the public, private, consultancy and non-governmental healthcare sectors. She has travelled to 100 countries and is a brand ambassador with exceptional project implementation, relationship building and inter-personal skills.
Augusta was the Hospital General Manager of the largest private hospital in South Africa for 9 years from 2007 to 2016, the first woman to lead the Hospital in its 120 years of existence. She joined the private healthcare sector having worked in public and not for profit healthcare prior. Prior to her career in the private healthcare sector, she was the first woman to be appointed as Director of Labour Relations in the public service. Augusta was also the first woman to chair the Education Labour Relations Council of South Africa, and the first woman to lead a bargaining team at the Health Sector Bargaining Council in South Africa. Augusta has received numerous awards during her career and is recognized as one of South Africa’s most influential women in healthcare. She is part of the Quote This Woman+ database of experts.
Augusta's approach to her work is project based, client and outcomes focused. She is a skilled business person having inter alia transformed the Netcare St Augustine's Hospital into a highly successful multi-award winning flagship facility, secured foreign funding for resource challenged SDG projects at St Mary's Hospital as well as profitably run her own consultancy for 10 years. She has managed teams ranging in size from five (5) professionals to 1200 professionals.
Augusta is also a practicing academic and has presented more than 20 conference papers in the last 10 years, represented her organisation on 9 panels, and has had 4 peer reviewed papers published in the last 5 years. Her doctoral thesis was published internationally as a book in 2012 and is titled “The Case for Executive Coaching in Private Healthcare in South Africa”.
As an advocate of social justice, Augusta has initiated and directed more than 46 corporate social responsibility projects as well as numerous requests for medical assistance from persons without financial means or access to medical treatment.
Augusta provides pro bono advice to non-profit healthcare organisations in South Africa. Augusta also mentors and coaches talented healthcare workers who wish to advance their careers, pro bono.
Speakers
Professor Deresh Ramjugernath
Vice-Chancellor
Professor Deresh Ramjugernath has a BScEng (Chemical) degree from the University of Natal, which he obtained in 1993. He graduated with a PhD in Engineering (Chemical) from the University of Natal in 2001. He is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching at Stellenbosch University. Prior to his appointment at Stellenbosch University, he was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research (March 2017 to December 2020) and Pro Vice-Chancellor: Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (March 2013 to February 2017) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He was also the holder of the DST/NRF South Africa Research Chair (SARChI): Fluorine Process Engineering and Separation Technology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal from September 2007 to December 2018 (Interim chair from March 2017 to December 2018).
He was appointed full professor of chemical engineering, at the age of 31, in January 2004 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. From July 2007 to December 2011, he also served as the Assistant Dean: Research and Postgraduate Studies in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Prior to his appointment as a SARChI Chair, he served as the Head of School of Chemical Engineering (January 2005 to June 2007) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Professor Ramjugernath and his team have worked closely with the chemical industry in South Africa and internationally; and have undertaken numerous contracts and research projects.
He has served on a number of company boards and has been a consultant for research and innovation for organizations globally. He is also an entrepreneur and runs start-up companies, which have been spun-off, from research at the University. He has also established numerous international collaborations with universities and industries abroad. He has to date published and co-published in excess of 370 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 350 national and international conference papers. He has also authored and co-authored numerous consulting and technical reports. In addition, he has published and co-published over 10 chapters in books and has 7 patents which have been either granted or filed.
He has also successfully graduated over 90 Masters and 50 PhD students, as well as supervised and co-supervised over 22 Post-doctoral fellows. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognition, including the NRF President’s Award in 2005; NSTF Awards in 2006 and 2010; UKZN Vice-Chancellor’s Research Awardee in 2010;Honorary professorship from Durban University of Technology in 2012; inducted as a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2012; inducted as a fellow of the South African Academy of Engineers in 2013; South African Institute of Chemical Engineers Gold Medal in 2013; South African Institute of Chemical Engineers Innovation Award in 2013 (member of the team); listed by Thomson Reuters in 2013 as one of the most highly cited researchers; Fellow of the African Academy of Science in 2016; Fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2017; and most recently the Universities South Africa Entrepreneurial Development in Higher Education Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Nazareen Ebrahim
Researcher for AI and Policy Development Center
Nazareen Ebrahim is an accomplished AI ethicist with a solid foundation in media, technology, and communications, built over 20 years. As the AI Ethics Lead at Socially Acceptable, she is dedicated to building a responsible digital citizenry and is deeply involved in public education on AI Ethics and digital democracy.
Nazareen serves as an advisory board member of the South African AI Association and is a board director at the Minara Chamber of Commerce, where she leads the technology portfolio. She is also the Founder/ CEO of premier African communications and PR firm Naz Consulting International.
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Recently, she joined the Centre for AI and Policy Development as a research group member, focusing on training within their AI Policy Clinic. Additionally, Nazareen is developing her first book, "Africa's 5IR: How Ethics will Lead the Technology Revolution," due in early 2025.
She continues to share her insights as a keynote speaker, panelist, and guest tech commentator on Cape Talk with Lester Kiewet every Tuesday morning.
Raeesa Bayat
Corporate Relationship Manager
Raeesa Currently serves as a Corporate Relationship Manager at Al Baraka Bank South Africa, With a career dedicated to promoting ethical banking and fostering an equitable society, she has demonstrated a profound commitment to both professional excellence and community development.
In her role at Al Baraka Bank, she has been instrumental in building and maintaining strong corporate relationships that align with the bank's core values of ethical banking and social responsibility.
Beyond her professional achievements at Al Baraka Bank South Africa, Raeesa serves as the Director of Startup Grind Durban and South Africa, a global community that educates, inspires, and connects entrepreneurs. Under her leadership, Startup Grind Durban has become a beacon of innovation and support for local startups with over 11000 members in Durban alone, providing invaluable resources and networking opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs. Notable initiatives aside from hosting monthly events for 100+ attendees to build and grow the startup community, are a free mentorship program for entrepreneurs (8 candidates in current cohort), workshops to equip entrepreneurs with tools and resources to grow their businesses and most recently, the launch of a fund (Township Impact Fund NPC) to assist the informal startup sector to grow their businesses. Her dedication to fostering an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem highlights her belief in the power of collaboration and collective growth.
Raeesa is also an entrepreneur and a 2024 40under40 South Africa Nominee in the category of Community Development.
What make Raeesa unique is her ability to bridge the gap between corporate responsibility and entrepreneurial spirit. She is not only a successful corporate leader (having won numerous leadership awards) but also a passionate advocate for inclusive growth and empowerment of women.
Richard Gevers
Open Cities Lab Founder
Richard Gevers founded Open Cities Lab, a civic technology organisation focusing on digital and data governance and implementation to address participation, inclusion, and other urban challenges within African cities. He is also the CEO and co-founder of Tenji, a data science startup that builds data products and tools that aid socio-economic development and planning.
Open Cities Lab is a non-profit civic technology lab that uses open data and civic technology in initiatives to build inclusive and responsive cities, put citizens at the centre, and enable participative democracy. It implements and advocates for active citizens, open data-driven decision-making, future inclusive cities, open government, digital public infrastructure, and digital and data governance. Open Cities Lab believes in co-design that is centred around people and lets those in the centre of the issue set the frame, context, measurement, and verification of the results.
Before founding Open Cities Lab, Richard worked as an economist and data scientist based in South Africa, where he interacted with both private clients and all tiers of the South African government on a range of projects in various sectors. He is an entrepreneur dedicated to advancing African communities through dynamic solutions and tools, hoping to empower socio-economic development and to affect social change. He has a deep interest in openness and transparency in society.
When he finds spare time, he grows his beard, brews beer, appreciates good coffee and likes to tell people he listens to vinyl.
Dr Phumlani Tetyana
Acting Head of the Health Business Unit
Dr Phumlani Tetyana is a seasoned scientist and leader in health innovation, bringing over a decade of experience across research, development, and strategic management. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand and currently serves as the Acting Head of the Health Business Unit at the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). In this capacity, Dr Tetyana leads initiatives aimed at advancing health technologies to address South Africa’s critical health challenges, including the quadruple burden of disease.
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In his role, Dr Tetyana oversees a team focused on identifying, evaluating, and supporting high-impact health innovation opportunities. He is also responsible for overseeing the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Cluster and the Medical Device and Diagnostic Cluster (MeDDIC). These clusters are instrumental in strengthening local manufacturing capabilities and fostering innovations to build a competitive and resilient health sector in South Africa.
Before joining TIA, Dr Tetyana was a Research Scientist at Mintek, where he specialized in developing point-of-care diagnostic devices for infectious diseases, such as HIV and TB, translating cutting-edge scientific research into accessible health solutions.
Ricardo Lognath
CEO Omninela Medical
Ricardo Lognath has recently being named on the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list for 2024 which represents the most innovative and influential people under the age of 30 on the African continent. He serves as the youngest Board Member on the E-commerce Forum of South Africa.
As the co-founder and CEO he has propelled Omninela Medical's e-commerce platform, omninela.co.za, into among the Top 10 online health stores in South Africa with a growing loyal base of customers, who now have access to 10,000+ products from 250+ suppliers across 400+ brands by integrating healthcare and e-commerce to provide a platform where you are able to order health, beauty and pet care products without the admin of long ques and medical claims. Omninela is your one healthcare solution.
Dr Phumlani Tetyana
Acting Head of the Health Business Unit
Dr Phumlani Tetyana is a seasoned scientist and leader in health innovation, bringing over a decade of experience across research, development, and strategic management. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand and currently serves as the Acting Head of the Health Business Unit at the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA). In this capacity, Dr Tetyana leads initiatives aimed at advancing health technologies to address South Africa’s critical health challenges, including the quadruple burden of disease.
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In his role, Dr Tetyana oversees a team focused on identifying, evaluating, and supporting high-impact health innovation opportunities. He is also responsible for overseeing the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Cluster and the Medical Device and Diagnostic Cluster (MeDDIC). These clusters are instrumental in strengthening local manufacturing capabilities and fostering innovations to build a competitive and resilient health sector in South Africa.
Before joining TIA, Dr Tetyana was a Research Scientist at Mintek, where he specialized in developing point-of-care diagnostic devices for infectious diseases, such as HIV and TB, translating cutting-edge scientific research into accessible health solutions.