BOARD MEMBERS – Ecommerce Forum South Africa (EFSA)
Tatiana Ndlovu
Group Head eCommerce & Digital Marketing, Old Mutual and Chair of EFSA
Tatiana is a data and results driven professional with over 18 years of Marketing, Digital and eCommerce experience that spans the full marketing value chain across various verticals such as Banking, ICT, Insurance, FMCG, Media and Telecoms.
Tatiana holds a Master of Management degree in the field of Strategic Marketing from Wits Business School and has completed an undergraduate and postgraduate studies respectively.
Tatiana has a proven track record and the ability to develop and drive strategies to achieve business results. She has worked on initiatives and projects that have a demonstrable legacy of both commercial and social success for the business.
Her passion includes working with the Youth as well as capability building. Tatiana believes that education is the cornerstone of every society and is an enabler to social and economic cohesion.
She is prominent in driving thought leadership within the Marketing and Digital industry, not only through lecturing and content development but through mentorship as well as through speaking engagements on varied topics impacting the current eCommerce and Marketing landscape.
Kiaan Pillay
Co-founder and CEO at Stitch.money
Kiaan Pillay is the CEO & co-founder of Stitch, a payments infrastructure company that helps businesses launch and scale faster, and operate more efficiently, by providing seamless access to the financial system. A former developer, Kiaan spent his career building API startups in Africa, including Root, a bank account for developers, and Smile Identity, a pan-African identity verification company. While working on a peer-to-peer payments app, he saw firsthand the challenges fintech innovators face due to outdated financial infrastructure across the continent. This understanding inspired him to launch Stitch in early 2021.
Karen Nadasen
CEO of PayU
Karen Nadasen, PayU South Africa’s Country Manager, is regularly described as one of South Africa’s most inspiring women in tech, nominated for IT Personality of the Year 2017, listed among 100 Most Influential Young South Africans 2017 and the Regional Winner (SADC) of Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government 2018.
Since taking the helm 4 years ago, PayU has dramatically grown its total ecommerce processing volume and revenue, whilst costs have reduced significantly during her tenure. All this whilst balancing personal life – Karen started her position as CEO having just returned from maternity leave after 4 months. Though Karen’s industry experience, mostly abroad, ranges from FTSE 100 companies, and large multi-nationals, she started out as a Java developer in a small development house in Cape Town. She is a passionate advocate for women in technology and leads diversity and inclusion for PayU Africa.
Brendan
Cuthbertson
Head of Private Sector Sales, Cisco
Brendan leads Cisco’s Distribution business across Middle East Africa, he sits on the MEA Sales Leadership Team (SLT) and is responsible for Cisco’s Distribution planning, strategy and sales across over 70 countries. He resides in South Africa and is also a member of Cisco Leadership Board Exco (CLB) for South Africa and sits on various other Cisco South Africa leadership committees. Prior to this he was the head of Cisco’s Private sector sales business for South Africa which included the Enterprise & Commercial business, he is also one of Cisco’s corporate spokespeople. Brendan holds a Post graduate Diploma in Digital Business from Emeritus Institute of Management in association with MIT and Columbia Business School. He began his career at Cisco in 2006 heading up Cisco Capital across Africa and thereafter took on the role of Strategic Partner Executive across the Middle East & Africa region within Cisco’s EMEAR Digital Acceleration Team, after this he took on the role to head up Cisco’s Channel Partner businesses for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Jason Blackman
Senior Director – Global Customs Compliance, DHL
Jason Blackman is a logistics and express industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience within the courier and logistics industry. He started working at DHL in South Africa in 1994 and has held various roles including Claims and Risk Management, Export Management, Head of Customer Operations for Sub Saharan Africa, Head of Customs for DHL Global Forwarding Sub Saharan Africa and formerly the Senior Director of Customs, Compliance and Regulatory Affairs for DHL Express Sub Sahara Africa. He is currently the Global Head of Customs Compliance for DHL Supply Chain.
With a strong focus on a liberalised competitive market environment with simplified, transparent customs processes that promote and facilitate free trade.
Jason’s focus efforts are on regulatory engagement and collaboration between the private sector and Government as well as other Regulatory Agencies.
Jason is a seasoned compliance advocate including bridging the gap between compliance and trade facilitation and advocating for smooth and optimised clearance process at all border crossings and ports of entry.
Adewale Adejumo
Special Projects
Digital Growth Consultant | Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Dropstore.co.za
Adewale is an online entrepreneur, a Digital Growth consultant and has nearly 10 years experience building leading eCommerce platforms. He is currently the co-founder of Dropstore - the 1st automated inventory marketplace in Africa for e-commerce entrepreneurs and suppliers - and works with making it easy for wholesale suppliers to distribute their products online to e-retailers."
Rahul Jain
Co-Founder and CEO Peach Payments
Ricardo Lognath
CEO, Omninela
Rutendo Hlatshwayo
Chief Legal Officer, Ozow
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Rutendo had a particular interest in critical analysis, creative reasoning and corporate governance, which resulted in her enrolment at the law faculty of the University of Cape Town (UCT). Subsequent to receiving her Bachelor of Laws Degree, Rutendo was awarded the annual Master of Laws Degree scholarship by UCT and Cornell Law School in New York.
Having focused on business law and antitrust law during her Masters program, Rutendo was afforded the opportunity to intern at the International office of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington D.C. which expanded her understanding of consumer protection, competition law and critical reasoning in the legal arena.
In 2010, Rutendo moved back to South Africa and began her employment at one of Africa’s largest law firms, Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Inc. After 6 years in legal practice, and aspiring to new challenges in a fast-growing, booming payments industry, Rutendo joined Ozow as Head of Legal. Rutendo currently serves as the Chief Legal Officer of Ozow.
Mzuzukile Soni
Founder and CEO, Brownsense
Shamiela Letsoalo
Corporate Affairs & Communications, South Africa, Naspers
Tinashe Guramatunhu
Founder and CEO, King online
Drs. Alastair
Tempest
CEO
CEO Ecommerce Forum South Africa (EFSA)
Alastair has spent most of his life working in Brussels, Belgium, for, among others, Readers’ Digest, and latterly the Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing. He was active in privacy, alternative dispute systems, co-regulation and self-regulation, ecommerce and postal issues.
He sat on the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Marketing and ICT Commissions; the Unsolicited Communications Enforcement Network (UCENet); and was elected a member of the Universal Postal Union Consultative Committee.
He moved to South Africa in 2011 to work for the DMASA on the POPIA law. He ran the DMASA for 2 years, leaving to set up the EFSA. He and his wife, Lauretta Ngakane, set up Conock Consultancy to provide expertise in Privacy in 2014.
Dr. Adheesh Budree
Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town
Currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town specialising in ecommerce, the economics of technology and ICT4D. Adheesh sees himself as primarily as a researcher and a facilitator of knowledge transfer. From a research perspective, he has presented in a number of conferences and published journals. While doing so, he ensures that he stays up to date with emerging trends and thought leadership by remaining actively involved in industry through consulting.
Vuyo Tofile
VUYO TOFILE is the FOUNDER and CEO of Timbaktuu and serves on its board of directors. TIMBAKTUU is a leading driver of ecommerce and merchant services within informal markets.
Prior to founding Timbaktuu, Vuyo was the co-founder of mySME tools which operated in six African countries, and was also the co-founder of Emgaging Technologies, a digital policy management software.
Previous to becoming a tech entrepreneur, Vuyo was a media entrepreneur having invested in television commercials firm, Star Films and he was a director at onboard media and production company, Six Degrees Media.
Vuyo is an experienced SME mentor, speaker and advisor having consulted to the African Development Group on the development of a pan-african agri-preneurship platform (AfDB Food Cuisine platform), and co-hosted business workshops in countries like Ethiopia through the AfDB Fashionomics platform.
He is a former Goodwill Ambassador for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and was the former Advisory Board Chairperson for one of the leading Township Entrepreneurial Network Organisations within South Africa, Ekasi Entrepreneurship
Lionel Krieger
Freelance Digital Marketing Consultant
Lionel is a skilled digital marketing freelancer with a demonstrated passion for the growth and advancement of the ecommerce landscape. With experience working alongside the EFSA CEO on website updates and technical support, he brings hands-on knowledge of the organisation's goals and technical infrastructure to the board.
Additional Background:
- History of leadership as Exco member for the advocacy portfolio in Safrea (2023-2024)
- Current Advisory Board member for the South African Artificial Intelligence Association
- Proven understanding of the intersection between digital marketing and the AI field.
Lionel is committed to:
- Advocating for policies and initiatives that support the growth of responsible and ethical ecommerce in South Africa.
- Promoting education and resources to help businesses of all sizes thrive in the online marketplace
- Collaborating with other board members to create a vibrant and connected ecommerce community.
Head of Communications – Ecommerce Forum South Africa (EFSA)
Lauretta Ngakane
Head of Communications
Lauretta joined the Ecommerce Forum South Africa and currently heads up all communications.