Our Board

Mahomed (MS) Paruk

MS has been our Non-Executive Chairman since January 2020. He is a Director of al-Baraka Bank, a member of the Audit Committee of Momentum Health, Chairman of the National Bioproducts Institute, and a past member of the Audit and Risk committee of South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). He is also a former Board member of Desai Jadwat, a firm of chartered accountants.

Kalim Rajab

Kalim has been Managing Director since January 2020, having served as Strategic Director from 2011 until 2019. He previously worked for De Beers, where he was involved in strategy and corporate finance in both the London and Johannesburg offices, and where he managed the Chairman’s Office.

He is a trustee of the Helen Suzman Foundation, the civil society organisation which promotes liberal constitutional democracy in South Africa. He also serves as Council Member of the Press Council of South Africa (PCSA).

Kalim was educated at the Universities of Cape Town and Oxford, the latter as an Oppenheimer Scholar. Contact Kalim

Vedanth Ori

Vedanth is the Financial Director of NNAC, leading all aspects of finance, treasury, taxation, reporting and binder holder governance. Vedanth’s expertise extends across operations, finance and reinsurance. He has been involved with the company since 2005 and a director since 2020. Contact Vedanth

Mahmoud Rajab

Mamoo is a Director of NNAC and has been associated with the company since its inception. As Managing Director until 2019, he successfully led the company through its transformation from a niche insurer servicing primarily the Natal market to a diversified insurer with a national footprint.

He currently serves on the Boards of the Centre for the Aids Research Programme in South Africa (CAPRISA, where he is Deputy Chair), the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO) and the Natal Playhouse Company (where he is Chair of the Finance Committee) as well as the St Aidan’s Mission Hospital. He is also Secretary of the Indian Medical Services Trust.

Prior to being a Director, Mamoo was called to the South African Bar in 1970 and served as a Member of Parliament for Springfield for the Democratic Party and its antecedent, the Progressive Federal Party, between 1984 and 1994. Before this, he was a member of the Economics Committee of the President’s Council.

Suresh Naidoo

Suresh Naidoo is the Chief Executive Officer of Accensis. He has obtained invaluable experience in various industries including public sector, manufacturing, information communications and technology. Suresh’s strengths lie in entrepreneurship, stakeholder management, the implementation of business strategies, business development and corporate governance.

As a seasoned professional, Suresh has over the years started and managed various businesses including operating as MD of KPMG KZN region and served as the Head of Public Sector At Deloitte KZN. He has assisted many organisations which to drive results and implemented successful strategies to build, grow and diversify as well as sustain operationally efficient businesses. Over the course of his career Suresh has also gained broad cross-industry experience, having fulfilled various consultative roles from both business and technical perspectives. These include being a specialist on Internal Audit serving the private and public sector. His in-depth understanding of the business environment, combined with his technical expertise, has enabled him to play a vital role at various clients.

During his tenure at Pierian SA, the firm grew consistently. Among others, Suresh was the past president of SAICA eastern region. Suresh is an active board member of SAICA eastern region. Suresh has the following board positions:

• Chairman of Finance Committee of KZN Cricket Union
• Member of the Management Committee of KZN Cricket Union
• Member of the Management Committee of KZN Cricket Union

Suresh understands the South Africa business landscape due to his first-hand exposure as a director at KPMG and Deloitte.

Nandi Mandela

Nandi Mandela has been self-employed and a director at Linda Masinga & Associates, a town-planning & development consultancy, since 2003. She is also a founder member of New Ground Investments (Pty) Ltd, a property development company, and Natholigugu Investment (Pty) Ltd, an investment company owned by women.

Her 20 years work experience in various fields – the corporate sector, development consulting and property development – has accentuated her keen interest in working with communities at all levels of society, through development facilitation and corporate investment programmes. Ms Mandela is currently a director at Mediclinic International and a director for the KwaZulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra (KZNPO).

Bongani Mthembu

Bongani is the Chief Executive and Artistic Director of both the Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestras, and is widely regarded as one of Africa’s leading arts administrators. In addition to his governance role, Bongani brings valuable experience to NNAC in helping us think about our role in society and how to form meaningful partnerships.

Bongani has been part of UNESCO’s Scientific Committee on Arts Education and is a member of the International Society of the Performing Arts. In a wide and varied creative career, he was appointed as Commissioner General for the France-South Africa Seasons in 2012 and 2013. He has previously served as Policy chair on the National Arts Council of South Africa, and is currently a director of the State Theatre in Tshwane, and the Playhouse Theatre in Durban. He is also a trustee of the Steel Drum Foundation, the National Creative Arts Youth Festival and a patron of the Durban Music School. He previously served as director of uShaka Marine World.

Bongani trained at the Julliard School in New York.

Steven Budlender SC

Steven’s role as Group General Counsel at MultiChoice involves a combination of law, strategy and sports rights.

Prior to joining MultiChoice in September 2023, Steven was well-known as a leading senior counsel in South Africa. He spent 19 years in practice and had a general litigation practice, with a particular focus on constitutional, administrative, regulatory and media law. Steven appeared more than 150 times in the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court of Appeal, often in high-profile cases. He has also acted as a judge of the High Court on numerous occasions.

Steven served as the lead independent director at Cricket South Africa from 2021 to 2023.

Arthur Els

Arthur is a qualified actuary and has significant experience in areas of actuarial control and enterprise risk management. In a wide-ranging career, he has had senior roles as a statutory actuary in life insurance and as a consulting actuary. He is currently a non-executive director of the eSwatini Royal Insurance Corporation where he is also a member of the Audit Committee and chairs its ALMIC.

Arthur is chairperson of the boards of Trustees of two retirement funds, the Altron Group Pension Fund and the Altron Group Provident Fund, and chairs their investment committees. On a professional level, Arthur has always been involved in the affairs of the Actuarial Society of South Africa, having been a member of the Council, a member and chairperson of various practice area committees, and assisting with the training of actuarial students. He currently chairs the Disciplinary Committee of the Actuarial Society.