Mandla was the chair of MultiChoice SA from 2007 to 2010 and chair of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) from 1999 to 2005. He participated in various arts programmes and conferences throughout Africa. In 2007, he received South Africa’s National Order of Ikhamanga (Silver) for literary, journalistic and cultural achievements and in 2009, a Living Legends award from the eThekwini municipality. A number of his works have been published. He was editor-at-large of Leadership magazine, programme director for television (TV) at the South African Broadcasting Corporation and his fourth novel, The Lost Colours of the Chameleon, won the 2009 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize – Africa region. His directorships include Medu Arts & Literature, Phuthuma Nathi, and Datapost. Mandla is a recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of Fort Hare, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria. He received his Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of the Witwatersrand and was a fellow at Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies.

Lerato is a chartered accountant (SA) and accomplished chief financial officer with over 18 years of experience leading financial strategy, business transformation, and governance excellence across high-impact sectors, including telecommunications, financial services, and infrastructure. Known for her ability to lead through complexity, Lerato has held executive roles at organisations such as Cell C, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, AfriNet (Alexander Forbes), Telkom, and BP South Africa. Lerato holds a BCom (Hons) and CTA from the University of Natal and is a graduate of Cranfield University’s Strategic Operational Management programme.
She was selected for the BP Global Career Accelerated Program and continues to be a sought-after voice on governance, transformation, and inclusive leadership.

Peter is a public policy and regulatory specialist with over 30 years of international and domestic experience in the telecommunications and ICT sectors. His expertise spans public policy, regulation, corporate governance, and technical matters. He currently serves as a senior adviser at Access Partnership, where he supports initiatives in broadband policy and regulation. Previously, he served two four-year terms as an executive councillor at ICASA.