February 2021

Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO Nomkhita Mona has been named as the new group CEO of the SA Post Office.

Mona is an Alumni Award recipient and holds a BA degree, BA Honours degree in Industrial Relations from Nelson Mandela University.

Hollywood honors for two Mandela Uni Alumni

Two Nelson Mandela art and design alumni are flying the flag high in Hollywood!

Stuart Forrest (BTech Fine Art 1996) and Laduma Ngxokolo (BTech Textile Design 2010) this week both received international recognition at the highest level for their work.

Stuart, CEO of award-winning Cape Town animation company, Triggerfish, was delighted to find out that The Snail and the Whale – an animation production by Triggerfish in partnership with UK-based, Magic Light, has made it to the top 10 in the Animated Short Film category for the 93rd Academy Awards.

The 27-minute film was selected from 96 films that qualified in the category. The top five will be selected in March. “It is such an honour to be in the top 10 – confirmation that our work is among the best in the world” said Stuart.

Best known for producing two of Africa's globally successful films, Adventures in Zambezia and Khumba, Triggerfish has also won several Best-In-World awards for other productions in collaboration with Magic Light Pictures, notably "Stick Man" and Roald Dahl's "Revolting Rhymes" the latter being nominated for a British Academy Award and an International Emmy.

And staying with movies, Laduma’s MaXhosa brand is featured in the wardrobe of the soon-to-be-released Coming to America 2, the much-anticipated sequel to the hit comedy Coming to America.

Box office star and funnyman, Eddie Murphy can be seen sporting one of Laduma’s designs in the trailer of the movie which will be released early next month.

In addition to Eddie Murphy’s outfits, South African actress Nomzamo Mbatha also stars in the film and can be seen wearing one of his garments.

Laduma says it feels surreal to have his work featured in such a prominent film.

He was delighted to learn that Ms Mbatha actually schooled the cast about the heritage behind the brand’s designs – his signature prints inspired by traditional Xhosa beadwork patterns.

Laduma was approached by Ruth Carter, the movie’s costume designer who won an Oscar for her work on Black Panther, to co-work with her on a few MaXhosa pieces for the film.

“My team and I enjoyed every minute of working on this project, we were especially delighted to see our pieces on our very own Nomzamo and several other actors we grew up dreaming of meeting,” said Laduma.

Both Alumni have been recognised for their excellence by their alma mater, Laduma received a Rising Star Award in 2012 and Stuart, an Alumni Achiever Award in 2017.

New Director: Corporate Finance

The University congratulates and welcomes Ms Nokuzola Titima as its new Director: Corporate Finance from 15 February 2021. Ms Titima oversees the Corporate Finance Department which entails Research and Projects Accounting, Cash Flow Management; Assets; Investments and Insurance, BBBEE audit, grant audits, external audit including the preparation of the University and subsidiary annual financial statements.

Ms Titima, a Chartered Accountant (SA) spent many years in the corporate world, especially in the automotive industry.

She began her career with KPMG in 1996, where she completed her articles and stayed on as Audit Supervisor for two years before moving to another audit firm as Audit and Office Manager. There she spent a further five years. 

From there she went on to join General Motors as Manager Corporate Governance until 2009 when she decided to take a break and take care of her children.  At this time she started her own Accounting, Tax and Bookkeeping practice as a mornings-only practice. 

When her children were in primary school she decided it was time to go back into the corporate world. She slowly made her way back by taking temporary positions in a couple of multinational companies, the last of which decided to keep her at the end of the contract. 

She is joining the University from the same company, Axalta Plascon, which she has been with for the last five years as Assistant Controller.

Ms Titima is filling a post that was left vacant by Ms Jogee-Jamal when she was appointed as the Senior Director Finance in September 2019.

We wish Ms Titima all the best for her career in leading the ongoing good governance and financial stewardship of our resources.

Maxhosa features on Coming to America 2:

“My team and I enjoyed every minute of working on this project”

He keeps breaking boundaries and making waves internationally. Fashion designer and owner of luxurious brand Maxhosa, Laduma Ngxokolo has done it again.

His clothing brand Maxhosa has been featured on Eddie Murphie’s much anticipated movie, Coming to America 2, which is due for release in March.

Read full article on News24: https://www.google.co.za/.../maxhosa-features-on-coming...

University appoints new Senior Director: Support Services 

Lutho Nduvane, appointed as Senior Director: Support Services from 1 February, is looking forward to re-joining Nelson Mandela University after 14 years to contribute towards building an efficient, innovative and resilient academic institution in the 21st Century.

Mr Nduvane takes up the new position, created as part of the Organisational Redesign process to align the University’s structures with its strategic priorities, as the institution prepares to play a critical and substantive role in society, nationally, continentally and beyond.

Expressing his joy in returning to the University Mr Nduvane said: “I am joining the Support Service Division with the hope of contributing to the profound work they do in providing essential services - through Protection Services, Catering, Cleaning and Horticulture departments - to students and staff to ensure that the core business of the University continues without hindrance. 

“I hope to work with all the University stakeholders to ensure that these services respond adequately to their needs.  We will endeavour to implement systems and process improvements, which will help in enhancing efficacies of the division,”  

An “experienced administrator”, Mr Nduvane was most recently head of Trade and Investment in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Economic Development Directorate. 

This entailed attracting foreign direct investments and local mobile investment for the region and linking them with local business role players, particularly the SMMEs, to contribute towards the empowerment of communities. 

His experience in higher education began at the former Vista University and PE Technikon as a student advisor before becoming Interim Director: Student Governance at former the NMMU. He had been part of conversations to drive transformation and ensure the University did not alienate the society it was supposed to serve, before leaving to pursue private consulting as a Director at Africa Inform.

He was later recruited to join government (DEDEAT) as a Chief Director to manage the merger of the Eastern Cape Parks Board and Eastern Cape Tourism Board into the current Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency. He has also served as Chief Director of Public Entities Oversight and Intergovernmental relations. Mr Nduvane currently serves as a board member of the Bayworld Museum. 

He holds a Master’s in Social Change and Development from the University of Newcastle, Australia, and is currently studying for his MPhil in Development Finance at Mandela University.  He also holds a BA honours degree in Development Studies from the former UPE and a Secondary Education Diploma (SED) from Vista. 

The University community wishes Mr Nduvane all the best in his new role at the institution. 

Human Resources