Russell Davies (Director)

Russell is originally from Melbourne, Australia but has lived in Cape Town since January 2006 following 6 years in London, UK. He holds undergraduate degrees in Law, Commerce and Theology, a Masters in Social Policy and a post-graduate diploma in Development Management. Following four years practising as a solicitor, Russell has spent most of his professional life in senior roles with international NGO's in Australia, the United Kingdom and South Africa. For 8 years prior to joining REAP in September 2010, he was Director of HOPEHIV, a UK based children's charity with project partners all over East & Southern Africa. ...READ MORE

Russell is motivated by helping others to fulfil their potential and loves cultivating the broad network of partners that makes REAP tick – staff, board members, donors, HEIs and recruiters. Outside of work he is an accomplished musician, heavily involved in his local church and an avid sports fan. Minimize

Charity Bafana (Recruitment & Selection Manager)

Charity hails originally from Zimbabwe and holds an undergraduate degree in Social Science with majors in Organisational Psychology & Industrial Sociology from the University of Cape Town and a post-graduate Diploma in Business Administration at the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business.

What Charity loves most about her work is the fact that it creates opportunities for her to play a small part in raising responsible young leaders and citizens who will know the value of hard work and of giving back to those less fortunate. As part of the REAP team she feels that she is helping create opportunities that allow young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to dream and there is no limit to how BIG one can dream!

Kanyisa Diamond (Regional Manager - Western & Eastern Cape)

Kanyisa grew up in the Eastern Cape and holds an undergraduate degree in Social Science with majors in Industrial Psychology and Industrial Sociology. What motivates her about her job is the fact that she is deeply inspired by young people who want to better themselves and their circumstances through education. She joined REAP in 2008 as a Student Development Advisor and is married with two small children.

Glenda Glover (Programme Development - Research & Advocacy)

Glenda was born and educated in the Eastern Cape. She spent the 1980s fighting apartheid in Johannesburg through the Black Sash. This experience took her into the NGO and development arenas. She spent the 1990s working in community organisations in the context of land reform.

Glenda came to REAP as the director in 2003 with an honours degree in Public Administration from the University of Stellenbosch. REAP was just starting out and had little money, yet they had a dedicated staff team, determined to provide support to rural youth. Glenda established a range of sustainable partnerships and under her leadership ...READ MORE REAP won a Gold Impumelelo award. In 2008 she asked to vacate the directorship so that she could dedicate time to the further development of the programme and to sharing REAP's experience more broadly for the advantage of students from poor marginalised communities. Glenda lives life enthusiastically and loves time with family, travelling, cooking, reading and jazz. She is driven by a passion for justice and providing opportunities for all to enjoy life to the full. Minimize

Charlene Nel (Operations Manager)

Charlene completed a BA Honours (Psychology) at the University of the Western Cape in 2000 and went on to work in their Arts Faculty from 2001 to 2002. She then worked with teenage girls at St Michael's Children's Home before joining The DG Murray Trust as a Grants Administrator in 2003. Charlene was always passionate about working in the education sector, and eventually returned to UWC in 2007 until July 2008.

She Joined REAP in October 2008 as Student Development Advisor for the KwaZulu Natal region and eventually moved on to become the Regional Manager of Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. ...READ MORE Charlene was appointed as Operations Manager at REAP in 2011. Charlene is married, has two sons and is very passionate about South African cricket. She enjoys reading and building jigsaw puzzles in her spare time.

Charlene loves being part of an organisation that assists rural students in taking those first steps towards reaching their full potential. To her there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a shy first year student developing into a confident young adult. Minimize

Nadeema Taliep (Finance Manager)

Nadeema is originally from Cape Town and completed her formal schooling in 1978. She started her career in a corporate environment with Stocks & Stocks and then with Seeff Trust/Properties until she was headhunted into the NGO environment 12 years ago.

Nadeema joined REAP in 2007. What she loves about her job is the ability to develop others and afford opportunities she herself was given. Her passion for finance keeps her abreast of current issues effecting NGOs which in turn puts REAP in the forefront. ...READ MORE

Nadeema brings with her an enormous amount of experience in the financial field. She undertook to formalise & complete her degree in Financial Management and graduated from UWC in 2010 with a BCom in Management. She also serves on the Board of an NGO DOCKDA as a non-executive member.

Nadeema is married and has two daughters and a son, and is a grandmother of a 7 year old girl. Minimize

Tammy Abrahams (Programme Assistant)

Tammy studied Office Management & Technology at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and has worked in the corporate environment at Absa Bank for a total of 8 years. She loves listening to music and spending time with friends. She is also a collector of classic movies and has a passion for helping young people. She enjoys her job at REAP and even though she might not have direct contact with the students all the time, she knows her work in the background is changing young people's lives and creating opportunities for them.

Nicholas Gobha (Accounts Administrator)

Nicholas holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from UNISA and is currently doing his Honours in the same field. He also studied Self-development and Leadership at TSiBA Education.

Nicholas worked at Nedbank Retail while studying and has travelled as far as Zambia with his poetry and acting. He has been involved with various NGO's while studying, including ASSET (Bursaries for disadvantaged students) and SAEP (Environmental projects, student and community development). ...READ MORE

He has a passion for community and student development as he believes in the principle of "Paying it Forward." He is also a mentor and coach to first year students at Tertiary School of Business Administration. Minimize

Vatiswa Mangxola (Student Development Advisor – Western Cape)

Vatiswa is originally from East London and completed her schooling at Greenpoint Secondary School. She relocated to the Western Cape where she obtained her BA degree majoring in Psychology and Language & Communication. She furthered her studies by doing a BA Hons, majoring in Community Development and Development Studies at the University of the Western Cape.

She started getting involved in youth projects while at University and this was when her passion for working with young people was ignited. In 2007 she worked in the Arts Faculty at the University of the Western Cape ...READ MORE as a Recruitment Assistant, and then moved to REAP in 2010. Vatiswa currently manages the Tswane University of Technology and the University of the Witwatersrand student cohort.

During spare time, she enjoys reading, watching sport and being around family and friends. Vatiswa is very passionate about education. Minimize

Florence Petersen (Receptionist)

Before starting with REAP in 2000, Florence had a full-time singing career. She is a mother of three and loves the outdoors, singing, playing netball with her daughter and accompanying her son to his various sporting events. Florence loves interacting with the students at REAP. What she finds most humbling is when they start out for the first time. Florence reflects on how they sound so vulnerable and insecure but then she has the privilege of observing how they mature and slowly become more confident. She loves seeing the change. Florence also finds it very rewarding when students call to say thank you for being there.

Robyn Pritchard (Student Development Advisor – Western Cape)

Robyn graduated from the University of the Western Cape with a B. Psych degree in 2007. For a year thereafter she worked as a Personal Assistant to a Discovery Insurance broker and in March 2009 she was employed as a Student Support Officer at the College of Cape Town where she worked at a few of their campuses including Athlone, Thornton and the City. Robyn has been a Student Development Advisor at REAP since July 2011. Robyn enjoys the camaraderie of the team and how they all pull together when things need to be done. One of her favourite aspects of the job is working closely with the students and tending to their concerns. When not at work she enjoys relaxing with the important people in her life, namely her family and friends. Robyn likes to read, work out, draw and write poetry when in the mood.

Sherol Tafeni (Bookkeeper)

Sherol was born and raised Cape Town. She obtained her National Diploma in Internal Auditing from Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2002, majoring in internal Auditing and Financial Accounting. She has been working in the development sector for 8 years.

Sherol worked for REAP between 2007 and 2010 and returned again in January 2012. She feels honoured to be part of the REAP team, working towards improving the lives of young and intelligent South Africans and this is what motivates her to wake up every morning. Sherol is looking forward to assisting more students to reach their dreams!

Ntombekhaya Tutu (House Keeper)

Ntombekhaya joined REAP in May 2011. Having completed her training in waitressing, domestic work and cooking at Zanokhanyo in Khayelitsha in 2009, she worked for Adcon, doing stock-taking for various shops, including Jet, Edgars and Diskom. She is currently studying level 4 on a part-time basis at Abet School in Khayelitsha. Ntombekhaya has two sons, Buhle, aged 14 and Okuhle, aged 8. She loves spending time with family and friends and considers her job at REAP a gift from God, as she is very happy and feels that she makes a difference.

Nombulelo Tyhokolo (Recruitment Administrator)

Nombulelo is originally from Johannesburg, but was raised in Cape Town and holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from UNISA, with majors in Marketing and Business Management . She completed a one- year certificate in Event Coordination at Damelin College and completed a 3-year Leadership and Entrepreneurship course at Tsiba Education. She is currently doing an Honours in BCom at UNISA, specialising in Marketing.

Nombulelo works part-time as a consultant for EDCON Financial Services and was promoted to Line Manager in 2005. She joined REAP as Recruitment Administrator in February 2012. ...READ MORE

Nombulelo is passionate about education, loves working with young people and believes that young people can ignite opportunities for themselves through education.

Nombulelo enjoys watching movies at home, spending time with her family, shopping and browsing the internet. Minimize

Asanda Vumazonke (Student Development Advisor Intern – Eastern Cape)

Asanda was born and bred in Port Elizabeth and matriculated from Morningside High School, formerly known as Chinese High School, in 1999. She commenced her tertiary education in Marketing and Business Management at Damelin Business College as well as at the IMM Institute and furthered her studies in Sport and Events Management. After obtaining her diploma in Sport Management she went on to start her own Hockey club, which she both coached and managed. In 2008 she enrolled at Damelin College again and studied Advanced Project Management.

In 2006 Asanda moved to Cape Town where she worked at Wesbank as a Client Operations Officer ...READ MORE for one year before joining Hero Design and Advertising. In 2010 she was involved in various Soccer World Cup projects in Port Elizabeth and also co-started a Music Production Company.

Asanda joined REAP in April 2011 as Programme Assistant and was soon promoted to commence her internship as a Student Development Advisor. Minimize

Anél Wesson (Communications & Fundraising Manager)

Anél is originally from Natal but was raised and educated in the Western Cape. She obtained a National Diploma in Public Relations from Cape Technikon and completed the practical component of her studies at the Cancer Association of South Africa, focussing on education and fundraising. She worked in Public Relations for various local companies before moving to the UK in 1999, where she specialised in Event Management at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Since moving back to South Africa in 2007, Anél free-lanced for a number of NGO's in Cape Town before joining REAP at the beginning of 2011. She is very involved in her local church and also has a great burden for animals in distress and helps with the rescue, re-homing and rehabilitation of stray animals wherever she can. Anél is a keen medium-distance road-runner and loves the outdoors.

Gauteng Team

Phumla Hobe (Regional Manager - Gauteng)

Phumla was born in Cape Town, attended school in Gugulethu and obtained a Bachelors degree in Education at the University of the Western Cape in 2001. She started her career as a Positive Lifestyle Youth Educator in the NGO sector in 2002 at PPASA and in 2004 was appointed as a Regional Manager for the LoveLife Campaign in the Southern Cape. The experience of working in the development sector afforded her an opportunity of realising her purpose and passion in life. She joined REAP in October 2007 as a Student Development Advisor responsible for the Eastern Cape and Western Cape Institutions. It was a humbling experience for Phumla to work directly with students from their first year at University and to contribute to their personal and professional development and seeing them mature ...READ MORE and obtain qualifications.

In January 2011 Phumla was appointed as Regional Manager for the Gauteng Region. What fascinates her most about the work she does at REAP is the difference she feels we all make in the life of each and every student we touch, their families, communities and our country.

Working at REAP made Phumla realise that life is not just all about achieving and getting things you want , but that it's all about how much you can give to the others with your heart! Minimize

Lorraine Gumede (Student Development Advisor – Gauteng)

Lorraine holds an undergraduate degree in Social Science with a major in Anthropology from the University of KwaZulu Natal. Before joining REAP, Lorraine worked as an Education Training and Development Practitioner for HWSETA accredited service providers for eight years.

What motivates her as a Student Development Advisor is the positive impact she feels she makes in providing opportunities for youth to better their lives, families and the communities at large.

Owen Jansen (Student Development Advisor - Free State)

Owen was reared in Cape Town where he completed his schooling. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Education as well as a Higher Diploma in Education from the University of the Western Cape. He attained an Advanced Diploma in Further Education from the University of the Free State and was employed by the Free State Department of Education for 18 years where he served as Deputy Principal, amongst other roles.

Owen was involved in the development of rugby and cricket in the Northern Free State. He is passionate about capacitating the youth and was involved in numerous organisations. In 2004 he was promoted ...READ MORE to Programme Coordinator at the Lejweleputswa Education Resource Centre (FSDoE) and was instrumental in the establishment of various sustainable interventions to develop and support teachers and learners respectively. He joined REAP in November 2011 as Student Development Advisor. Minimize

Nomagugu Nyathi (Student Development Advisor Intern – Gauteng)

Nomagugu was born in Zimbabwe and raised in a family with strong Christian values, which created a favourable environment to cultivate and nurture her passion for human rights.

Nomagugu holds a B.Arts in Law and Organisational Psychology from Rhodes University and she is currently pursuing her M.Phil. Multidisciplinary Human Rights with the University of Pretoria. Nomagugu is inspired by people who are determined to improve their lives despite life's seemingly inescapable obstacles. She feels REAP offers an opportunity to surround herself with such positive minded individuals. Prior to working for REAP ...READ MORE , Nomagugu interned with the United Nations Information Centre and the Foundation for Human Rights, a donor organisation. She also worked as a fundraiser for Medicines Sans Frontiers and is still an active supporter of their cause. In her spare time Nomagugu enjoys good company, good food, live music and theatre performances. Minimize

Gillian Sibiya (Student Development Advisor - Gauteng North)

Gillian Sibiya hails from Thohoyandou (Limpopo Province), where she completed most of her schooling before moving to Polokwane, for her grade 11 and 12 years.

In 2003 she commenced her studies at the University of the Western Cape, where she completed an Honours Degree in Psychology. During this time, she volunteered as an HIV/AIDS peer facilitator at the University. Gillian then joined a Developmental organisation in Khayelistha, working in the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children's programme, providing psycho-social support. She went on to work at the University of Stellenbosch, focussing on ...READ MORE Research in Health and Society, before teaching English at the University of Northern Boarder in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Gillian enjoys the outdoors and is looking forward to positively contributing to the lives of the young men and women she will be assisting at REAP. Minimize

Lethabo Tloubatla (Student Development Advisor – Gauteng)

Lethabo graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a BA in Health Psychology with Social Work as a second major. Music & Arts is her first love, and she also has a passion for community service. She enjoys working with people and has good listening skills. Lethabo loves reading, scrapbooking and exploring the world of Information technology.

What she loves most about her job at REAP is being able to see the transformation in the students' lives. Most students go from having a low self esteem to being very confident in their own skin. Knowing that she makes a difference in someone else's life is what drives her to continue doing her work and doing it with lots of love.

KwaZulu Natal Team

Linda Budaza (Regional Manager – KwaZulu Natal)

Linda Budaza is from the Eastern Cape and matriculated at Lawson Brown High School in Port Elizabeth. She obtained her BA degree from the University of the Western Cape and completed post-graduate diplomas in Governance and in Management Development, also from the University of the Western Cape. Linda worked in various roles as an Administrative Secretary, a Residence Manager and an Alumni Manager at UWC, as Programme Co-Ordinator at the Public Policy Partnership and as Regional Director at the Canon Collins Trust before joining REAP as Student Development Advisor. Linda now heads up the KwaZulu Natal Team. ...READ MORE

Linda's work experience includes projects and campaigns, marketing, event management, stakeholder relations as well as student affairs and development. She loves reading, home decoration and research.

What Linda loves most about her job is being part of the student's transformation process from being a village boy/girl into a very confident and developed adult who is ready to contribute meaningfully in the development of South Africa and also plough back to his/her community. Minimize

Pinky Mathonsi (Student Development Advisor – Kwa-Zulu Natal)

Pinky holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and an Honours Degree in Industrial, Organisational and Labour Studies(IOLS) also from UKZN.

In 2006 she was employed on a part-time basis by UKZN Student Housing as Residence Assistant at one of the off-campus residences in Westville and by April of the same year she secured a full-time job at UKZN as the Academic Development Officer based in the Department of Optometry, Westville Campus. Here she was very involved in the day- to-day lives of students and helped them cope with their academics as well as their social lives. ...READ MORE

In 2011 March, Pinky relocated to Cape Town after accepting a position as Student Development Advisor at REAP. What Pinky loves most about her job is that it allows her to interact with students from underprivileged backgrounds who have goals and who rely on her to help them achieve these goals. Minimize

Lindo Mwelase (Student Development Advisor – KwaZulu Natal)

Lindo holds a Masters Degree in Population Studies (MA. Population Studies), and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology, both from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

He has worked on various community projects including AIDS support-, Violence against women- as well as Children in distress programmes. In 2010 Lindo co-published a book with his colleague Samantha Schwarer. The book is about the 2008 xenophobic attacks in Durban and it's called "Stepping into the breach-Philanthropic and civil society responses to xenophobia in Durban 2008. ...READ MORE

He has a passion for research, rural education and development through private-public partnerships. In his spare time he conducts motivational talks and is involved in community outreaches. He loves reading and watching soccer and rugby. What he enjoys most about working for REAP is knowing that his day-to-day activities within the organisation directly benefits rural students. Minimize

Mbali Shange (Student Development Advisor – KwaZulu Natal)

Mbali holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. She loves reading, writing and learning and is fascinated by nature and new places so she also loves travelling. Working with students is a pleasure for Mbali. She mostly loves face-to-face meetings, especially with the first year students. Seeing raw feelings and emotions is always refreshing for her.

Cape Town Team