Speakers | Smart Mobility Conference 2020

Dr Paul Vorster

Paul has served as CEO of the Intelligent Transport Society South Africa (ITSSA) since its establishment in 2001. This involves engagement with public and provater sector to promote ITS solutions, develop and implement knowledge management portal, arrange capacity-building and knowledge sharing workshops.

He has been a member of the International ITS Benefits Evaluation Community (IBEC) and served as its Senior Vice President. He also served on the ITS Policy Committee of the International Road Federation (IRF).

Paul served as Communication and Marketing Advisor on Maputo Development Corridor, and was a member of the team for the Integrated Public Transport Network concept plan for the Cape Winelands District Municipality and served on the team for the Soccer World Cup 2010 Transport Operation Plan for the City of Durban.

He is organiser and moderator of a range of webinars on transport on topics as diverse as Utilising Drones in the Transport Environment, Green Transport and the contribution of Electric Vehicles, Safeguarding Commuters during Covid-19 and Public Transport in a Perfect Storm.
His passion is to promote smart mobility solutions has made presentations about transport in South Africa at various international forums, including at United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva, the ITU Connected Car Conference (Geneva), IRF ITS Policy Committee (Lisbon), ITS World Congress (Busan, South Korea), IRF Middle East Regional Conference (Abu Dhabi), IRF ITS Policy Committee (Stockholm), Living Labs Conference on Sustainable Transport (Stockholm), and was the organiser and moderator for the Special Interest Session on ITS in Africa at ITS World Congress (Detroit).

Makhuku Mampuru

Mr Makhukhu Mampuru is the Head of Department of the Department of Roads and Transport. GDRT is responsible for improved mobility and accessibility in Gauteng as well as to develop transport and socio-economic infrastructure that helps residents participate meaningfully in economic and social activities. The Department’s vision is to develop an integrated, sustainable infrastructure that promotes people-centred, innovative and an accessible, safe and affordable movement of people, goods and services.

He holds a BA In Development Studies van University of Johannesburg, a BA in Political Studies and International Relations from the University of Witwatersrand.

Previous positions in that of CEO of the Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage Site and of Dinokeng Projects. He was also Deputy Director-General: Business Regulation and Governance, of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development and has served as Non-Executive Director of the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller.

MEC Jacob Mamabolo

Jacob Mamabolo is Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Gauteng Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure and is currently also Acting MEC for Health.

He worked as a civil servant for over 10 years, starting as an Office Manager for the former Deputy Minister of the Department of Correctional Services. He also worked for the Department of Home Affairs as a Parliamentary Liaison Officer and rose through the ranks to become the Chief of Staff.

MEC Mamabolo was also appointed Project Manager of the Home Affairs Turn-Around Strategy which is recognised as one of the best practice models in the public sector. He was also head of the Home Affairs 2010 Soccer World Cup Project. Following his success in the World Cup, he was then appointed Chief Director responsible for Ports of Entry.

Before his current appointment, MEC Mamabolo was head of Change Management, supporting the Turn-Around Strategy in the National Department of Public Works.
His qualifications include a Senior Diploma in Teaching, a degree in law (B. Proc), and a master’s degree in Public Administration. He is also a registered PHD, Public Administration student with the University of South Africa. MEC Mamabolo has special professional interest in turn-around strategies, change management and project management.

Jack van der Merwe

Mr Jack van der Merwe has recently stepped down as the CEO of the Gautrain Management Agency tasked with overseeing the building and operation of the Gautrain and he now serves as the CEO of the Transport Authority for Gauteng. He has worked in the transport sector for close on 50 years. He was Director-General of the Gauteng Department of Public Transport and Roads from 1995 to 2004.

Jack is a Civil Engineer, obtained the degrees B.Sc. (Eng.) Civil and B.Sc. (Eng.) (Hons.) Civil, from the University of Pretoria. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s SED programme. He is an Honorary Fellow of the South Africa Institution of Civil Engineers.

In 2011 he was appointed by the MEC for Roads & Transport to head up a special team of experts tasked with developing an 25-year Integrated Transport Master Plan for the Province of Gauteng (ITMP25).

In 2011 he was elected UATP President for Africa (the African association of urban & regional passenger transport operators, authorities, consultants & suppliers) and Vise-President of UITP (the International Public Transport Association). He also serves as a member on the UITP Policy Board. In 2012 the Premier appointed him as the project leader for the Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis project. In 2016 he was tasked by the MEC for Roads & Transport to develop a Transport Authority for the Gauteng Global City Region together with the necessary legislation.

He has been asked by the World Bank to present the method, advantages and implementation of PPP’s in Russia and the Philippines.

William Dachs

Prior to joining the Gautrain Management Agency in 2010 where he now works as the Chief Executive Officer, William Dachs was the Head of the Public Private Partnership Unit at the South African National Treasury and was one of the Unit’s founding members in 2000.

In his time with the PPP Unit he worked on a number of large infrastructure PPP projects in the renewable energy, health, transport and logistics sectors.

Between 2007 and 2009 he also worked for the World Bank as a senior finance specialist focusing on infrastructure finance in Central and East Asia.

He has also worked as an independent contractor advising a range of domestic and international public sector clients on the financial and institutional aspects of infrastructure finance.

He is a Professional Engineer with degrees in civil engineering and law: Prior to joining National Treasury in 2000, he worked for eight years as a consulting civil engineer in transport and water related projects in South Africa.

Vuyisile Majola

Vuyisile Majola is CEO of Ubunye Capital and has 16 year diverse managerial and consulting experience in transport economics and in the informal sector and has experience in Mini-Bus Taxi financial modeling.

She has focused her work in the South African Mini-bus taxi industry with stakeholders (SANTACO and NTA) across the public and private sector.

She is a final year MBA candidate at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and regular contributor to MBT formalisation and corporatisation initiatives with both government and the corporate sector.

Mohamed Mezghani

Mohamed Mezghani has been working in public transport and urban mobility related fields for more than 30 years. Since January 2018, and currently, he is the Secretary General of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP). Until then, he had been Deputy Secretary General of UITP (2014-2017), Knowledge Director (2001-2006) chairing the department developing content-related services for UITP members, and Senior Manager (1999-2001).

From 2006 till 2013, he worked as an independent consultant and Adviser to UITP on several technical assistance and training projects in Africa and the Middle-East.

Before joining UITP, M. Mezghani was a consultant in the French group, BCEOM, (from 1990 to 1999) and in the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management, ADEME, (from 1988-1990).

He is a graduate in Industrial Engineering (1987) from Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Tunisia and has a Masters in Transport (1988) from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, France.

Freeman Masuku

Freeman Nkululeko Masuku is currently the Acting Deputy Director General for Transport in the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport. He has worked for the Department in various Civil Engineering and administrative roles for 11 years and before that was working in the private sector in the Civil Engineering field.

Freeman has specialist skills in Transportation particularly in the Planning, Design and Construction of Transportation Infrastructure. He has recently worked on the Gauteng Smart Mobility Plan which was completed in 2019. Freeman also serves as Chair for various infrastructure implementation committees in the Gauteng Province that require Multi agency coordination.

Freeman Nkululeko Masuku holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree from NUST , a Masters in Civil Engineering Degree from the University of Stellenbosch and a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and is currently enrolled for a PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Stellenbosch and his areas of study are in the application of predictive smart systems in Transportation Systems and applied Socio-Technical Systems .

Kersen Naidoo

Kersen Naidoo is an industry specialist with extensive work experience in both the public and private sectors. His areas of specialist expertise span Intelligent Transport Systems, Freeway
Management Systems, Electronic Toll Collection, Toll Road Management, Energy Efficiency, and Roadway Lighting Design and Lighting Control.

He is currently the Managing Director of Aptymo (Pty) Ltd, a specialist technology company
that provides professional services in the following areas – Intelligent Transport Systems, Toll Road Management, Electronic Toll Systems, Smart City IoT applications, and Forestry Biotechnology (DNA genomic selection technologies and applications).

Kersen holds a BSc Eng (electronic) from the University of Natal with specialisation Toll Road Management, Intelligent Transport Systems, Electronic Toll Collection and Interoperability.

He has served various terms on the Board of the Intelligent Transport Society South Africa and has served as Chair of Working Group 2.1.2 of the Road
Network Operations Committee of PIARC.

Dr Gustav Rohde

Dr Rohde is the CEO of Zutari (formally Aurecon in Africa). The previous 7 years he was the Global COO of Aurecon and played a key role in preparing the company for a digital rich future.

He is a professional engineer with a PhD from Texas A & M University in the USA. He completed an Executive Development Program at the Kellogg School of Business (North-Western University, USA) and is a Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering.

He currently serves on the Advisory boards of EBE at UCT and the Engineering Faculty at Stellenbosch. He has a passion for the digital transformation of our industry and the opportunities the fourth industrial revolution presents to engineers.

Mike Dreznes

Mike is Executive Vice President at International Road Federation (IRF). He assumed his current in February of 2012. Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, United States, he is widely known for his passion for improving the world and his knowledge about road safety products are impressive.
Mike’s responsibilities include to develop and conduct road safety seminars in more than seventy countries around the world, organise and monitor IRF Road Safety Committees, to develop IRF Road Safety Policy Statements. He represents the IRF at international high level committees and panels and is the author of multiple papers and magazine articles on global road safety.

He has served as Vice President of Barrier Systems, served as member of the Board of Directors of the International Road Federation and as Deputy Director General of the IRF, and before that as Vice President of Energy Absorption Systems.

Mike holds an MBA in Marketing from the DePaul University’s Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from the Loyola University of Chicago.

Corrie Kotze

Corrie Kotze is one of the founding members, a shareholder and group CEO of the AIH Group for past 13 years. The AIH Group is a global collective of consulting companies and manufacturing specialist organisations. The group of companies focus mainly on consulting and manufacturing in the automotive via a global footprint of offices and businesses in South Africa Europe, USA, Middle East and East.

Before founding AIH, Corrie enjoyed a 16-year career with BMW SA where he was responsible to set up the Landrover Defender and Land Rover Special Vehicle Plant for BMW SA. This plant was later sold to Ford and Corrie then took on the responsibly of Strategic and Corporate planning for BMW SA.

He was responsible for the feasibility and establishment of the Automotive Supplier Park in Rosslyn and similar supplier parks Nelson Mandela Bay, Coega and in the East London IDZ.

The flagship projects under Corrie’s leadership include the various automotive policy and incentive programme for South Africa and Africa (MIDP, APDP, ECOWAS, Automotive policy framework and the SA Electric Vehicle Policy framework. Other projects include usiness plan and project management of Optimal Energy (SA’s first EV vehicle), establishment and support of SKD & CKD assembly plants for Beijing Automotive Works, Mahindra, Hyundai , FAW, KIRRA Uganda, MellowCabs electric vehicle. Corrie was also responsible for Multi-OEM plant feasibility with Magna, Bangladesh Multi vehicle plant, Vietnam’s Vinvast EV, TESLA Germany, BMW, Mini Oxford, MBSA and Ineos Grenadier.

Corrie holds a BSc (Industrial Engineering) form the University of Pretoria and the BMW International Management Programme MDPIII.

Abimbola Akinajo

Abimbola Akinajo is Managing Director at the LAMATA in Nigeria. She is a chartered civil engineer with over 30 years post qualification experience, the last 25 of which has been in the design and delivery of major transport infrastructure projects.

She earned a B.Sc. (Hons) Civil Engineering from the University of Lagos, Nigeria after which she proceeded to the United Kingdom where she started her engineering career.

She has extensive experience in consulting and the rail industry especially in the United Kingdom where she worked for 20 years and delivered many high-profile rail infrastructure projects.

The projects include major London underground rail bridge replacement projects, the Connect Project (implementation of updated communications systems on the entire London Underground system), upgrading the Blackfriars station for the Thames Link project, the East London Line project handover, and London Over Ground Interface project among others.

Engr. Akinajo is a member of Institution of Civil Engineers (MICE), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE).

Richard Harris

Richard Harris is an experienced, highly motivated and results-orientated project director, project manager, thought leader and business builder in the Intelligent Transport Systems industry with a proven record of delivery. Extensive UK and international experience including European Commission supported research and development, implementation, policy and best practice projects.

A respected individual with extensive international contacts and a high profile international reputation. An accomplished and in demand ITS thought leader and public speaker with a special ability to communicate complex issues to a wide range of audiences in an understandable way without over-simplifying or trivialising the issues.

Used to working independently with stakeholders ranging from C Level executives and Government
Ministers to “the man in the street”. Recognised as someone able to make things happen and take ownership of events and who finds opportunities and solutions rather than difficulties or problems.

Extensive international experience spanning over thirty years working effectively with people from many nationalities and cultures throughout Europe the Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America. As the International Director of ITS UK established memorandum of understanding with thirty-five other national associations

A specialist in transport related end-user services, route guidance systems, in-vehicle and cooperative systems, fare collection, information presentation, construction and maintenance of large-scale information databases and data collection.

Richard was inducted into the ITS World Congress Hall of Fame in Bordeaux in October 2015 as the recipient of the life time achievement award. His citation read ‘An effective and charismatic champion and thought-leader for ITS for over 25 years who selflessly promotes ITS in general, without commercial considerations or bias. Known, respected, trusted and liked by ITS professionals all over the world, his commitment in worldwide organisations continues to inspire and benefit the international ITS community.’

Tony Huggett

Tony Huggett has a wealth of experience in the diverse fields of product development and design, manufacturing processes and engineering, materials science, supply chain management, ERP systems and engineering research.

While his career has generally involved product design and manufacture, manufacturing process development and systems integration, he also invented and patented some revolutionary packaging, and created the facilities to manufacture it.

Tony contributes as an external examiner in Mechanical Engineering, and having done his time on the Board of Directors of ITSSA, is the current Vice-President of ITSSA
In 2014 Tony joined the team at Traffic Management Technology, and is now part of the Sub-Saharan Africa Team in Kapsch TrafficCom South Africa Holding (Pty) Ltd. He now serves as the CEO of Hovis Logistics.

Tony is a Past President of the Intelligent Transport Society of South Africa and is still a serving Board Member.

Yssoufou Cisse

August 2015, CISSE Yssoufou was appointed Secretary General of UATP (African Association of Public Transport); he is member of Infrastructure Advisory Group of African Union Commission (AUC-IAG) for PIDA (Programme for Infrastructures Development in Africa); Member of Executive Committee of SSATP/World Bank.

He was Director of Research and Development at UATP in charge of the management of projects, membership development and member’s technical advisory.
He has previously worked with SOTRA and was seconded to the UATP since 2008. CISSE Yssoufou has 16 years professional experience in public transport.

In 2001 He holds a Civil Engineer degree from ESTP (University of Civil Engineering) Yamoussoukro (Côte d’Ivoire). He got a Postgraduate certificate in Transport Economics from LET – University of Lyon (France), in 2010.

Clancinah Baloyi

Clancinah Baloyi is the owner and founder of Syfte Group and serves on the ITSSA Board pf Directors. She holds an MBA in innovation and Leadership from the Gordon Institute of Business Science. Prior to her starting her own business, she was the Head of Department for Intelligent Transport Solutions at Intertoll, a subsidiary of Group Five.

She is the former Chief Information Officer of Metrobus and have worked for Tasima as GM: Business Solutions and was a Senior Manager at the Road Traffic Management Corporation
She has more than 18 years of experience in the transport and technology arenas. She has also served for two terms on the Intelligent Transport Society of South Africa as a Board Member. Throughout her 18-year tenure within the transport industry, Clancinah has built a reputation for developing business strategies, incubating new business models, and identifying and implementing technologies for enhancement of service delivery.

She is a seasoned business analyst, business process management professional, project manager and technology strategist, with experience spanning over 20 years in varied sectors of business. Her professional acumen lies in her ability to incisively dissect complex business problems and find practical solutions. Clancinah, a mother and student of life who is passionate about continuous learning and development, is results oriented and driven by socially impacting business solutions to everyday challenges and sees herself as a change agent.

Darren Capes

Darren Capes is ITS policy Lead in the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom. He is responsible for ensuring the UK’s Future Transport agenda is delivered and that road operators are ready to play their part in meeting the challenges new technologies and services will bring to the transport network.

Darren is a qualified civil engineer and has over 35 years experience in public sector highways and roads engineering.

He is a Fellow of both the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) and serves as the Chair of the IET’s National Transport Policy Panel.

Darren is passionate about transport technology and speaks regularly on the subject both in the UK and internationally.

Dr Mathetha Mokonyama

Dr. Mathetha Mokonyama leads the transport systems and operations area at the CSIR. He holds a degree in civil engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand as well as a Master’s and PhD in transportation engineering from the University of Pretoria.

He has previously worked for the City of Johannesburg and in private civil engineering consultancy in the areas of transport planning, transport modelling, traffic engineering and development engineering.

He has published peer-reviewed technical papers, as well as book chapters on topics related to transport operations and modelling. He has also consulted on the topics of transport planning and operations for all spheres of government in South Africa and for international clients, such as the International Association of Public Transport.
His research interests include the modelling of the dynamic needs of public transport customers and the specification of their needs in public transport service contracts and service design.

He is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa.

Prof Jackie Walters

Prof Walters holds a Doctoral degree in Transport Economics from the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), now the University of Johannesburg (UJ). His academic speciality includes public transport and aviation policy studies, as well as transport economics and logistics.

He joined the Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg) in 1982 where he lectured under- and post-graduate students in Transport Economics. He was the Chairperson of the Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management for 18 years before he retired in 2018.

He is the Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS)(Africa), a research unit working in close collaboration with the University of Sydney. He has been involved in numerous research projects on a multi modal basis and is author and co- author of a number of papers and publications.

Recent research work focuses on the impact of policies on the development of the commuter bus industry, the public transport tendering system as well as general overviews of developments in public transport and the aviation industry in South Africa.

He also serves on a number of committees appointed by the South Africana Department of Transport and has been a member of the steering committee for the recently completed Gauteng Master Plan He has also been a specialist adviser to the Southern African Bus Operators Association since 1989.

Adam Giambrone

Adam Giambrone is a seasoned and dedicated leader in the public transit and transportation sectors with over 18 years of leadership experience. He is experienced in working at a senior level for large transit agencies/companies at both the technical and executive level. He is a highly effective communicator with experience in managing teams of people and multiple competing high-priority projects within tight timelines and budgets.

Adam is driven by a desire for self-improvement and is adept at working across functional lines with senior executives to deliver transformational transit projects in support of a long-term vision.

His operations and management experience is complemented by an EMBA from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) in which he focused on transportation management and operations. He also has a MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

He has led the optimisation of Saudi Public Transit’s (SAPTCO) inter-city schedule to account for new ridership patterns. He also led the TTC’s development of Toronto’s $11.5 billion light rail expansion based on analysis of ridership patterns and development trends and was in charge of a matrixed city team to bring the Brooklyn Queens Connector (a 16km LRT), the first LRT in New York City from community proposal to conceptual design and lead the design of the P3 framework and Tax Increment Financing structure.

Adam has worked on planning of a new commuter rail line in Montreal and proposal for a new consulting wing for AMT (now RTM) and developed a new performance culture regime tied to KPIs for SAPTCO. He has acted a chief advisor to the City of Milwaukee and oversaw a team of consultants to deliver the Milwaukee Streetcar Project.

Jason Barnes

Jason Barnes is a technology writer with almost three decades’ experience of working across a wide range of topics which includes defence, advanced materials/materials reclamation and sustainability.

Since the late 1990s, he has specialised in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). This includes associated sectors including connected and autonomous vehicles, consumer electronics and smart cities/communities, the Internet of Things and the related Internet of Logistics.

Jason was Editor of ITS International for over six years, and Technology Editor for a further two. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Editor of Traffic Technology International as well as a series of titles related to automotive design, production and testing.
He has also worked with a major international transport consultancy. This included being directly involved in the European Commissions’ Euro-Regional Projects, which were intended to harmonise transportation standards and infrastructure, and so greatly improve the cross-border movements of freight and people.

Jason has presented at conferences around the world. Topics have included the next generation of traffic management and road tolling, the influences of consumer electronics and habits on the movements of people and goods, Mobility as a Service, and the associated societal trends.

Mike van Tonder

Mike van Tonder is the Expertise Leader: Transport Planning and ITS at Zutari (previously Aurecon South Africa) located in KwaZulu-Natal responsible for Transportation Planning, ITS and Transportation Infrastructure.

Mike is a civil engineer specialising in intelligent transport systems (ITS), road safety, traffic engineering, transportation planning, public transport and project management. He has been involved in all types of ITS, traffic, transportation and road safety projects predominantly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Senegal, Nigeria and the DRC, as well as in the UK whilst resident there for 3 years.

His project experience ranges from transportation reviews and policy development for national governments to local traffic impact assessments for private developers. Since 2005 he has focused predominantly on the design and implementation of ITS and Public Transport projects in Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia.

With his extensive experience in ITS, road safety and public transport he has recently and currently project manages several large transportation projects in South Africa as well as working on projects in the rest of Africa, the Middle East and Australia.

Mike is a Past President of ITS South Africa.