Our Directors

Executive Directors

John Anthony Copelyn (72)

Chief Executive Officer
B.A. [Hons] B.Proc.
Johnny joined HCI as chief executive officer in 1997. Prior to this he was a member of Parliament and general secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union. He is the chairperson of the HCI subsidiary companies Deneb Investments Limited, eMedia Holdings Limited and Tsogo Sun Limited and associate company Southern Sun Limited which are listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Kevin Govender (52)

B.Comm (Hons) B.Compt (Hons)
Kevin joined the HCI group in 1997 and has held various roles within the group. He was the Chief Financial Officer from 2001 to 2019. He was also the Acting CEO of eMedia Holdings Ltd from 2014 to 2017. He holds directorships in numerous HCI subsidiaries including Deneb Investments Limited, eMedia Holdings Limited and Frontier Transport Holdings Limited. He is a trustee and chairperson of the finance committee of the HCI Foundation. Kevin was appointed to the board of HCI as an executive director in June 2000.

Rob Nicolella (54)

Financial Director
CA (SA)
Rob is a chartered accountant and has attended a leadership and development programme at Harvard University. During his 18 year tenure at Investec Bank, Rob headed the Structured Finance Division (Western Cape) and thereafter, Private Bank Western Cape. He joined the HCI Group in 2011 to develop the HCI Properties portfolio. He is a director on the boards of Southern Sun Limited and Frontier Transport Holdings Limited. Rob was appointed to the board in May 2019 as an executive director and as financial director from August 2019.

Yunis Shaik (66)

B.Proc
Prior to his appointment at HCI, Yunis was an attorney of the High Court and served as an acting judge in the Labour Court. He is a former deputy general secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union and served as a senior commissioner to the CCMA in KwaZulu-Natal. He is chairperson of Frontier Transport Holdings Limited and a director of Deneb Investments Limited, eMedia Holdings Limited and Tsogo Sun Limited. Yunis was appointed to the board of HCI in August 2005 as a non-executive director.

Independent Non-Executive Directors

Mohamed Ahmed (58)

Chairperson - Audit and Risk Committee
Mohamed is a director and chairperson of the audit and risk committee of Southern Sun Limited and Deneb Investments Limited. From 1997 – 2001 he was the chief financial officer of HCI. He has previously held directorships in Seardel Investment Corporation Limited, MTN and Real Africa Holdings Limited. Mohamed was appointed to the board of HCI as a non-executive director in September 2020.

Mimi Freddie Magugu (64)

Chairperson - Remuneration Committee
B.A. (Theology)
Freddie has been serving the community in East London and Mitchell’s Plain as a pastor since 2006. Prior to this appointment he reached the position of national organising secretary for the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union. Freddie was appointed to the board of HCI as a non-executive director in April 1998.

Laurelle McDonald (41)

CA(SA)
Laurelle is the chief financial officer of Southern Sun Limited. She completed her articles at Grant Thornton in 2006. Laurelle has been employed within the Tsogo Sun Group from 2007 as Corporate Finance and Treasury Manager. Upon its unbundling from Tsogo, she has served as chief financial officer of Southern Sun Limited. Laurelle was appointed to the board of HCI as a non-executive director in March 2020.

Nqobani (Bani) Mkhwanazi-Sigege (39)

B.A. (Politics, Philosophy and Economics)
Bani joined the HCI Group in 2013. Together with Rob Nicolella she was part of the inaugural team of HCI Properties. Prior to joining HCI she was employed at Investec Bank in the property finance division. The focus was funding property developers and institutional clients acquiring, constructing, and refurbishing property assets in all asset classes. She is currently a portfolio manager at Khumo Capital. Bani is a trustee of the HCI Foundation. Bani was appointed to the board of HCI as a non-executive director in September 2019.

Elias Mphande (64)

Chairperson
Elec. Eng. (dip)
Elias was appointed as the independent chairperson of HCI in 2014. He was the marketing director of Viamax Fleet Solutions, a subsidiary of Transnet, before joining Vukani Gaming Corporation as chief executive officer, until 2010. He serves on the boards of eMedia Holdings Limited, Tsogo Sun Limited and HCI Coal. He also consults for various companies in the gambling industry. Elias was appointed to the board of HCI as a non-executive director in September 2010.

Jabu Ngcobo (72)

Chairperson - Social and Ethics Committee
Member - Audit and Risk Committee
Member - Remuneration Committee
Jabu served as regional secretary for Africa of the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers Federation from 2006. Prior to this appointment he held the position of general secretary of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union. He is a director of Southern Sun Limited and HCI Coal Proprietary Limited (“HCI Coal”) and a trustee of the HCI Foundation. Jabu was appointed to the board of HCI as a non-executive director in October 2004.

Rachel Watson (64)

Member - Social and Ethics Committee
Member - Audit and Risk Committee
Member - Remuneration Committee
Rachel retired from a managerial position at a regional broadcaster. She was previously employed at the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union. She is a director of Frontier Transport Holdings Limited, eMedia Holdings Limited and Tsogo Sun Limited and a trustee of the HCI Foundation. Rachel was appointed to the board of HCI as a non-executive director in March 2014.