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Board

The ENGF is governed by a group of seasoned professionals with relevant skills and competencies which will continue contributing enormously to the organisation’s vision.

Ms Nomkhitha Gysman

Chairperson

Member of the Board of the Grahamstown Foundation and National Arts Festival

A member and co-chairperson of the UN Women East and Southern Africa Regional Office Civil Society Advisory Group

Also a member of the Care-Centred Societies Commission, an international body consisting of experts from academia, civil society, and policy, interested on various aspects of care-centred economics, social justice and sustainable living.

The founding chairperson of the Eugenia Nothemba Gxowa Foundation, Nomkhitha Gysman, is a black African feminist, a researcher, analyst, training materials developer and workshop facilitator. In all her capacities Gysman is driven by a passion to ensure that gender equality through women empowerment is achieved. With Wits University Press, she is documenting stories and experiences of female military veterans from the SADC Member States. She was one of the reviewers of the Africa Barometer commissioned by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance on Women's Political Participation. Gysman was the SADC Parliament’s Head of Gender from 2014 to 2020, where she had an opportunity to work with women parliamentarians from the SADC Member States. From 2003 to 2014 she ran a consulting firm focused on gender analysis and planning, organisational development and accredited training. She has worked for various South African civil society organisations including Oxfam Great Britain as Programme Coordinator of a Gender-based Violence Programme. Gysman has published articles in academic journals and opinion pieces in newspapers. She has a Masters in Gender Studies from the University of the Free State, and is a qualified secondary school teacher with 16 years teaching experience. In August 2022 she joined the Care-Centred Societies Commission, head-quartered in Berlin, Germany. She joined about 30 other experts (from civil society, policy, and academia) involved in various aspects of care-centred economics, social justice and sustainable living from around the world. The initiative explores potential to shift from consumption to caring as the basis of wellbeing.

Ms Nomso Kana

Vice Chairperson

Ms Nomso Kana works as an entrepreneur in the broadband infrastructure sector. She was a lobbyist for sustainable resource use and led the South African Delegation to the World Sustainability Energy Forum. In 2019 she was appointed to serve as a Commissioner for 4IR: an initiative of the South African President. She has studied nuclear science and serves as a governor for the Nuclear Energy Foundation Agency, a commercial African group that advocates for alternative energy sources in 43 African countries. Kana is actively involved in youth development through the SADC Parliamentary Forum and the African Women leadership network. Kana has received several international accolades for her social entrepreneurship work; the most recent is the Young Entrepreneur Award by the African Women Innovation, Entrepreneurship Forum. In addition, she is a Programme Director of Taungana Africa, a non-profit movement that provides high school girls from rural and extremely under-developed Sub-Saharan communities with world-class internet access and exposure to education and career options in science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship and mathematics. Kana is Deputy Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Science Centre and Small Enterprise Development Agency. She is an advisor to the Eastern Cape Province Premier on digital transformation and digital economy. She serves as a member of the City of Johannesburg, Smart City Advisory Council and she is also a governor of the Nuclear Energy Foundation for Africa.

Anita Kube

Secretary

Currently pursuing her Bachelor of Laws, Ms. Anita Kube is a paralegal. She has more than six years of experience working in the fields of research and advocacy. Additionally, she has experience in the media, technology, and wellness sectors. She has obtained training from the SDG Academy and Harvard online - a valuable repository of high-quality, no-cost online courses on sustainable development and the SDGs. She has devoted her advocacy to promoting the idea that we all have a collective responsibility to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality (SDG 5) - target 5.3—aiming to eliminate all harmful practices, such as child labor, early and forced marriage, and FGM, by 2030. She’s also enrolled in two online courses at Harvard University between 2020 and 2022: "Human Rights, Human Wrongs: Challenging Poverty, Vulnerability, and Social Exclusion" and "Introduction to Digital Humanities", This had a profound impact on her outlook on the world, and she now aspires to and is capable of working internationally with a thorough understanding of various country dynamics. Ms. Kube has also worked with foundations for civil society, such as the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), which is a human rights approach to HIV/AIDS and TB in Southern Africa through capacity building and advocacy and provides education constantly to ensure that society is informed. She is a vocal advocate for human rights, gender equality, and fighting against gender-based violence. It is this mission that has led to her volunteering role at the Eugenia Nothemba Gxowa Foundation, which ultimately led to the foundation's consideration for a position as a member of the board. Ms. Kube possesses thematic experience in sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV and AIDS, child marriages, and advocacy.

Adv Mthobeli Ntleki

Treasurer

Advocate Mthobeli Ntleki qualified as an electrical engineer at Iqhayiya Technical College in 1997. Since 1998 he has been working for MTN in various capacities, and is currently Senior Supervisor for MTN’s Own Shop Department in Port Elizabeth. Ntleki also serves as Regional Chairperson of the Employment Equity Forum for MTN’s Eastern Cape Region. In addition to his engineering qualification Ntleki has an LLB from UNISA (2017) and he was admitted as an advocate to the Grahamstown High Court in 2018.

Ms Anna Weekes

Additional member

Anna Weekes has been a journalist, trade unionist and media activist since the early 1990s. She has worked as a senior journalist at Sowetan newspaper, New Frame, and as an editor at Pacific Media Watch in New Zealand. Anna holds a Masters degree in Philosophy (Journalism) and her PhD is currently under examination. She has also lectured in the Journalism and Media Studies department at Rhodes University and facilitates media training workshops for casual workers and community healthcare workers. She is on the board of the African Connection girls' soccer team in Makhanda.

Ms Simphiwe Nombewu

Additional member- Public Representative Officer

Ms Simphiwe Nombewu is a Reinsurance Technical Administrator for the German company, Munich Reinsurance, where she has worked since 2008, dealing with a range of multinational clients. She is experienced in client management, and from 2006 to 2008, worked as Business Coordinator – Client Management at Glenrand MB. Prior to that, she was a Senior Claims Administrator at Santam Insurance in Port Elizabeth. Nombewu has a Social Science degree from Rhodes University with majors in Psychology and Industrial Psychology and an LLB (UNISA). She is a keen public speaker and is involved in cultural and sporting organisations and corporate social initiatives.

Dr Lindsay Kelland

Additional member

Dr Lindsay Kelland is a feminist philosopher based in the Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics, Rhodes University (South Africa) where she works on the transformation of pedagogy within ethics, philosophy, and Higher Education. Her research covers gender, sexualities, and sexual violence. She has published numerous articles in this area; culminating in a recent publication in Hypatia entitled ‘A Call to Arms: The Centrality of Feminist Consciousness-Raising Speak-Outs to the Recovery of Rape Survivors’. In 2015, she was a joint recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Community Engagement Award for her work in community-based, action research with the Siyahluma project. She is one of the Sunday World Heroic Women: 2022 (Women in Academia Category).

Nosiseko Mditshwa

Additional member

Nosie as she is affectionately known, was recruited to replace Vumile Lwana as an additional board member. She has a Bachelor of social work degree from the University of Fort Hare in Alice and currently undertaking research which is towards completion of her honours degree. Her work experience includes working as a student social work at Fort England Hospital in Makhanda, tutor teaching Psychology 111 students at the University of Fort Hare and as an intern at the Department of Social Development where she was responsible for administration of grants for children who have survived abuse.

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