WWF - Key Persons
Known for her financial acumen, Ms Watson has forged a reputation for strong technical and ethical accountability proficiencies.
She was appointed to the WWF South Africa Board in January 2019 and serves as a member of the Finance Committee and Audit and Risk Committee.
Her experience has made her an asset to many of South Africa's financial oversight organisations, including being charged to lead as independent director of Coronation Fund Managers Limited, chairing its audit and risk committee and serving as lead independent non-executive director since 2017. In 2018, she was appointed as director of Steinhoff.
She is the vice-chairperson of the Board of the Global Reporting Initiative (term ending in 2019). The GRI is an independent Amsterdam based organisation that has pioneered sustainability reporting since 1997. Ms Watson is also an adjudicator in the EY sponsored Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards and a member of the JSE's Financial Reporting Investigations Panel. She was chairperson of the Accounting Practices Committee of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Ms Watson is a chartered accountant and an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Cape Town.
Dr du Plessis is well known in the environmental sector.
He has successfully headed WWF South Africa as CEO since 2007. He also serves both globally and continentally on several WWF network committees and working groups.
Through a varied and diverse career path, he has been part of several services and boards including the WWF Nedbank Green Trust, the Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust, the National Parks Trust of South Africa, the Table Mountain Fund and the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria. He also chairs the Academic Advisory Board of the Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies.
Before joining WWF, he was the director of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute at the University of Cape Town - one of just six national Centres of Excellence in South Africa. He has also served as the assistant director at the former Natal Parks Board and was a post-doctoral research associate at the University of California, Berkeley.
Du Plessis holds a BSc in Agriculture from Stellenbosch, an honours in Zoology from Pretoria, a PhD in Zoology from the University of Cape Town and an Executive MBA from the Graduate School of Business in Cape Town.
He has authored and co-authored over 50 scientific publications in the fields of conservation biology and behavioural ecology and published two books, earning the National Research Foundation's first President's Award in the animal sciences.
Dr Nomvuselelo (Mvusy) Songelwa boasts an illustrious career spanning over two decades in the conservation and tourism sector and is a staunch champion for rural development, women in leadership and strategic planning.
Songelwa has been the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship, the Ford Foundation's International Fellowships Program and the 2004 Women in Science Award.
Dr Shirley Zinn has a wealth of experience in Human Resources with impressive credentials in academia. She has an interest in motivational speaking designed to inspire especially disadvantaged young women.
She joined the board of WWF South Africa in 2020 and is Chair of the Remuneration and HR committee.
Dr Zinn is the former Group Head of Human Resources at Woolworths Holdings Limited. Prior to this, she was the Head of Human Resources of Standard Bank South Africa and Deputy Global Head of Human Resources for the Standard Bank Group. She also registered her own company, Shirley Zinn Consulting, which provides consulting and advisory services in HR, Transformation, Leadership and Education.
Zinn's previous roles also include serving as Group Executive HR at Nedbank and General Manager for Human Resources at the South African Revenue Service.
She has served on several boards including serving as the former Chairman of DHL: Global Forwarding SA, and the former Chairman of Starfish Greathearts Foundation. She is also a former Independent Non-Executive Director at Shoprite and previously served on the Board of Cricket South Africa.
Zinn was Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria's Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cape Town.
She holds a BA (University of the Western Cape); Post Graduate Higher Diploma in Education (University of the Western Cape); B.Ed. Honours (UNISA); M.Ed. (University of the Western Cape); Ed.M. (Harvard); and Doctorate in Education (Harvard).
Karen Gabriels joined WWF as chief financial officer in August 2021. She is also an executive member of the board. She was previously head of finance and operations at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation and chief financial officer of the Shuttleworth Foundation.
Karen is professionally skilled in the full financial function, governance and compliance, strategy, operations, and talent management. As a robust finance and operations expert, she oversees the company secretarial matters of WWF South Africa and its Associated Trusts, as well as operations, legal and information technology.
Karen holds a BCom from the University of Cape Town, served articles at BDO Spencer Steward and qualified as a Charter Accountant (South Africa) in 1999.
Job Titles:
- Founding Trustee of the Rhino
With an eye for fine art and strong networks across various fields, Mr Read has led a distinguished career in the art world and uses his influence to support several philanthropic causes.
Drawing on his exceptional networks, he has long been a champion in mobilising support for WWF. His association with WWF South Africa began in 1995 as a trustee, followed by his election to the Board in 1999 and later appointment as chairperson from 2004 to 2011. He also served on the WWF International Board between 2004 and 2010. He is currently deputy chairperson and sits on the Board's Remuneration and Human Resources Committee and Nomination Committee.
His passion for science, art and nature can be traced throughout his career. Following his national service he enrolled at the University of Cape Town and graduated with a BSc, majoring in Zoology and Archaeology. After a year at Christie's Auctions & Private Sales in London, he began his journey at the Everard Read Gallery - South Africa's longest established dealers in fine art - in 1980 before becoming its director in 1994. Today he chairs the Everard Read Group of Galleries, which has offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Franschhoek and London.
Mr Read is a founding trustee of the Rhino and Elephant Foundation as well as the Palaeontological Scientific Trust. He was chair of the Ditsong Museums which is the governing body of six major natural history and cultural museums in Gauteng. He currently serves on the Board of the Turkana Basin Institute which supports scientific research at Lake Turkana, Kenya.
A multi-talented TV presenter, actor, business person and philanthropist, Mr Maponyane is highly respected and widely regarded among the South African public. With a keen interest in socio-economic issues, he has invested much energy into addressing matters related to health and education.
He has been a member of the WWF South Africa Board since January 2017 and has brought a keen understanding of the youth audience and the causes that resonate with them.
As an entrepreneur Mr Maponyane has focused on supporting start-up small and medium-sized enterprises, serving as a director of both Silicon Maboneng and Tuta-me. In creating fresh learning opportunities for South Africa's youth, he established BursaryNetwork, a crowdfunding platform to raise capital towards further education.
He holds a BA in media studies, French and English, with a major in international human rights from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Job Titles:
- Founding Member of Coronation Fund Managers
- Professional Investor and Investment Expert
Mr Matthys (Thys) du Toit is a professional investor and investment expert with more than three decades of experience.
He joined the Board of WWF South Africa in 2020 and is Chair of the Investments Finance sub-committee.
Thys is a founding member of Coronation Fund Managers and was appointed as managing director in 1996. Thys was also instrumental in establishing empowerment asset managers like Namibia Asset Management, African Harvest, Kagiso Asset Management, Coronation Fund Managers (Botswana) and PPS Investments. Thys served on the boards of several JSE-listed companies, including Coronation, ZCI, PSG, Attacq and Pioneer Foods. He currently also serves on the board of Old Mutual. In addition, he is serving on the Advisory Committee of USB and as chairperson of Stellenbosch Trust. Thys is also the chairperson of Rootstock Investment Management.
Nomagugu Mtetwa is a chartered accountant with a wealth of experience in the financial services and telecommunications industries. Her expertise extends to short and long-term insurance, investment management and technology.
She joined the board of WWF South Africa in 2020.
Mtetwa has served on the boards of several JSE-listed companies and Development Financial Institutions, including Santam, Allan Gray, Sasfin, Italtile and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. She is an executive at Santam where she is responsible for the Group's strategy and investor relations. Before joining Santam, she was at Allan Gray where she oversaw fund operations, institutional client operations, investment compliance and Bermuda Africa funds. Previously she was a finance executive at Vodacom where she oversaw capital expenditure for South Africa. From 2008 to 2014, Mtetwa was an audit partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers Southern Africa and was part of its management committee leading diversity and inclusion.
A registered auditor, Mtetwa holds a Masters in Finance from the University of London and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting from UCT. She is also a fellow at GIBS Business School at the Centre for African Management and Markets.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer of the National Business Institute
- Corporate Strategy and Sustainability Expert
Shameela Soobramoney is a corporate strategy and sustainability expert with extensive experience in the financial services sector.
She re-joined the board of WWF South Africa in 2021 and sits on the Board's Finance Committee and Investment Sub-Committee.
Soobramoney is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Business Institute. Previously she was the JSE's Chief Sustainability Officer, and the winner of the Institute of Risk Management of South Africa's Sustainability Professional of the Year award for 2020. She is the immediate past chair of the World Federation of Exchange's Sustainability Working Group and member of the Strategy Group of the Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance. As a sustainability specialist she has been a key contributor to the JSE's research into climate change, the potential for a local market to trade in carbon credits and environment-related products, and the development of the sustainability segment of the JSE and the Green Bonds framework, among many other initiatives and innovations.
She previously served on the WWF South Africa board until 2016, is a non-executive director of the Green Building Council of South Africa and is the board chairperson of the Ubuntu Wilderness Trust. She is also a member of the Institute of Directors of Southern Africa, the Integrated Reporting Committee of SA Working Group, the Code for Responsible Investing in SA committee, Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative member group, and the African Securities Exchanges Association sustainability group, among others.
Soobramoney holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pretoria, Gordon Institute of Business Science and a Master's in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge. She is a recipient of the Chevening and Mansion House scholarships.
Mr Phillips has a long career in the running of several businesses, with an intuitive understanding of how institutions perform their work.
As a member of the WWF South Africa Board, he chairs the Finance Committee and sits on the Board's Audit and Risk Committee and Remuneration and HR Committee.
Graduating with a civil engineering degree in 1967, Mr Phillips began working with Thos. Barlow and Sons in 1968 and spent over 20 years of his career in the Caterpillar division across South Africa before becoming managing director in 1988.
In 1992, he left South African shores to take up the helm as CEO of Finanzauto SA in Madrid, Spain.
It would be four years until he returned to South Africa as CEO of Barlow Ltd, also serving as chairperson of PPC Ltd, before retiring in 2007. He also chairs Mpact Ltd and is vice-chairperson of Kansai Plascon. He also serves as an independent non-executive director of enX Group Ltd.