HSF Trustees

Cecily Carmona

Cecily is a strategic advisor who has worked across industries predominantly in the field of strategy development and implementation, turn-around projects and operational improvement. She is a Director on the Board of the Foundation for a Safe South Africa, a non-executive director of Scaled Impact (a not for profit organization) and is a Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative and the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is also mentor to entrepreneurs on the Endeavour Network.


Max Du Plessis

Max du Plessis is an advocate (Senior Counsel), honorary research fellow University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, a senior research associate at the Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria, and fellow at Chatham House, London. As an advocate in South Africa and associate tenant, Doughty Street Chambers, London, he has an extensive practice in public law, human rights and international law. He holds the degrees of B.Iuris (SA), LLB (Natal), LLM (Cambridge), and PhD (UKZN).


Cora Hoexter

Cora Hoexter is an academic who has published extensively in her two main research areas, administrative law and the judiciary. She is currently a part-time Professor in the School of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where she teaches and supervises in the postgraduate programme.  She was the inaugural President of the Administrative Justice Association of South Africa and serves inter alia on the editorial board of Cambridge Studies in Constitutional Law and the advisory board of the Centre for Rights and Justice at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.


Nick Jonsson

Nick Jonsson is a Durban based entrepreneur and is the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Jonsson Workwear Group, southern Africa’s leading work apparel brand. Amongst other pursuits he is Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. Anne’s Diocesan College and also serves on the Board of Governors of Michaelhouse.


Daniel Jowell

Daniel Jowell is a barrister practising at Brick Court Chambers, London. He is the grandson of the late Helen Suzman.


Kalim Rajab

Kalim Rajab is a director of the New National Assurance Company, South Africa's largest empowered short-term insurer. He previously worked for De Beers in strategy and corporate finance. He was educated at the Universities of Cape Town and Oxford, the latter as an Oppenheimer Scholar.


Gary Ralfe (Chairman)

Gary Ralfe retired from active business life in 2006 after forty years of service firstly with Anglo American Corporation, and then with De Beers where he was Managing Director for eight years. In addition to the HSF he chairs the Board of Governors of Michaelhouse, the fund-raising arm of the Alexandra Education Committee, the fund- raising arm of Business Against Crime and the Beyond Foundation which does community work in rural areas.


Nick Binedell

Nick is the founding director and current professor of the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science. He is involved in several civil society initiatives, providing strategic advice and direction.


Phila Zulu

Phila Zulu is a banking and finance lawyer. He was educated at Rhodes University, obtaining a BCom and LLB degree. After a decade as a lawyer in practice, including a stint at the London office of White & Case LLP, Phila is currently the Legal Director and Company Secretary for a leading international health and fitness company, where he also serves on the Executive Committee, Risk Committee, and the Social and Ethics Committee.