Meet the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Board of Trustees

Professor Jakes Gerwel - Chairman

Prof Gert Johannes (Jakes) Gerwel BA, BA Hons, LicGermPhil, DLitt et Phil.
Jakes Gerwel is Chancellor of Rhodes University, Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at the University of the Western Cape, and Honorary Professor in the Humanities at the University of Pretoria.

He was Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Western Cape from 1987 to 1994. From May 1994 to June 1999 he served as Director-General in the Office of President Mandela and Secretary of the Cabinet in the Government of National Unity.

He is presently a non-executive director of Naspers. He is non-executive chairman of Aurecon, Brimstone Investment Corporation, Life Healthcare and Media 24.

He chairs the Boards of Trustees of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation and is vice chairman of the Peace Parks Foundation.

Professor Njabulo S Ndebele - Trustee

Professor Njabulo S Ndebele, a former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Cape Town, is a Fellow of UCT and Senior Research Fellow at the University' Department of Social Anthropology. He is Chair of the Idasa Board, the MTN (SA) Foundation and sits on the Nelson Mandela and Mandela Rhodes Foundations.

Earlier positions include Scholar-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation in New York; Vice-Chancellor of the University of the North; Vice-Rector of the University of the Western Cape; Pro Vice-Chancellor National University of Lesotho, and Chair and Head of the Department of African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Professor Ndebele is a graduate of the Universities of Lesotho, Cambridge, and Denver. He has served as Chair of the South African Universities Vice-Chancellor's Association; Founding Chair of the Southern African Regional Universities Association; and President of the Association of African Universities. He holds honorary doctorates from Universities in the Netherlands, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and is an Honorary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University. He is the author of internationally acclaimed fiction, literary and cultural critique. "Fools" and Other Stories, Rediscovery of the Ordinary, The Cry of Winnie Mandela, and Fine Lines from the Box are among his major works.

Futhi Mtoba - Trustee

Aside from being an Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Trustee, Futhi is currently the Executive Chairman of Deloitte Southern Africa and has the following qualifications: CA (SA), Higher Diploma in Banking Law, B Compt (Hons), BA (Econ) (Hons), BA (Econ) and is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants (ABASA). She currently serves on the Boards of Public Accountants and Auditors, Public Investment Commissioners (PIC) - where she is Chairman of the Investment Committee - Business Unity South Africa, Money Laundering Advisory Council, Standing Committee for the Revision of the Banks Act (1990), Trustee WDB Trust, SA Wine Trust, Nepad Business Foundation and United Nations Global Compact.

Futhi is also a past Chairman of ABASA, Johannesburg Branch, and past National President of ABASA, a past Board Member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, Financial Markets Advisory Board and Eastern Central Southern African Federation of Accountants (ECSAFA).

Mahesh Cooper - Trustee

Mahesh jointly heads up the institutional business unit of Allan Gray Limited as well as Allan Gray's offshore investment business unit. He joined Allan Gray in 2003 as a business analyst with previous experience in asset and healthcare consulting. Mahesh completed his Bachelor of Business Science degree at the University of Cape Town and is a qualified actuary. During his university career he was the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Class Medal, Marks and Spencer/Woolworths Scholarship, Dean's Merit List and the Jan Smuts Academic Award. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (UK) and the Actuarial Society of South Africa. In April 2006, Mahesh was appointed as a Director of Allan Gray Limited.

The Trustees of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation in South Africa are devoted to education and the entrepreneurial scope that Southern Africa offers its youth. Meet the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation team for more on the people behind this catalyst for change in Southern Africa.