Heather Regenass
Director
717-9701



Heather.Regenass@wits.ac.za  

Heather started working at Wits in 1998 with the Income Generation Project and moved across to Marketing as Manager within 2 months.  She rejoined Wits in the DFO in January 2008 and her passion for the institution is as strong as ever.  Recruiting and building a dedicated team was her first priority, and with the DFO team, she is committed to raising funds to support Wits initiatives, in spite of the decidedly unstable financial climate in which we operate.

Heather says: “It is heartening to receive responses from Alumni all over the world for the Chancellor’s Fund Appeal – thank you for supporting Wits”.

Charmaine Pretorius
Information Systems Support Manager
717-9721


Charmaine.Pretorius@wits.ac.za

Charmaine has been with the DFO on a permanent basis since 2001.  In her position as Information Systems Support Manager she is responsible for ensuring that the IT requirements for all staff are met and that all the computers and systems are kept in good working order.

“I enjoy working with all the dedicated staff who keep me challenged in finding the most efficient ways to ensure our information is always of the highest integrity and that systems are fully utilised.”

Cindy Petersen
Donor Relations Officer
717-9703



Cindy.Petersen@wits.ac.za

We are delighted to welcome Cindy Petersen who joined the Development and Fundraising team as a Donor Relations Officer in April 2010. Cindy is a Wits graduate having completed a BA degree in 1997 and a BA Honours in Applied Linguistics in 1998. She started her career working as a research assistant in the Gauteng Premier’s Office before moving to a marketing company where she established and ran customer care departments for start up insurance companies. For the past seven years Cindy worked as Senior Grants Officer for Tshikululu Social Investments and The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.

In her new position, Cindy will be focussing on individual donors, taking over from Raelene Robertson who is retiring after ten years in the post. Please feel free to contact Cindy if you would like to find out more about individual giving, bursaries and our bequest programme. We wish Cindy all the very best for her career here at Wits.

Delores McKenzie
Senior Secretary
717-9702



Delores.Camp@wits.ac.za

Delores started working at Wits in the School of Electronic and Information Engineering in 2005.  She then worked for the Deputy Registrar for 3 years and joined the DFO in November 2008 as Senior Secretary to the Director.

Delores sees the DFO as an exciting and challenging environment.

Gerhard von Gruenewaldt (Dr)
Research Funding Advisor
717-9719


Gerhard.vonGruenewaldt@wits.ac.za  

Attached to the DFO, Gerhard is private consultant and part-time advisor to the University of the Witwatersrand since April 2005.   His main task at Wits is to stimulate and facilitate research and research funding and he liaises closely with the DVC (Research) Professor Belinda Bozzoli in this regard.

As the former Vice-President of the National Research Foundation of South Africa, Gerhard was responsible for all grant funding activities as well as science outreach facilities, such as the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement and the National Zoological Gardens.

Gerhard says that “working closely with many academics from all disciplines is a most rewarding and stimulating task and the depth and breadth of expertise vested in the various faculties is impressive.  I believe that with better coordination and support, the available capacity could be readily harnessed not only to become the top university in the country but also one of the top 100 globally.”

Kamal Bhagwandas Jogibhai
Research Manager
717-9711


Kamal.bhagwandas@wits.ac.za

John Baatjies
Admin Assistant
717-9705

John.Baatjies@wits.ac.za

Besides assisting with data capture, John offers invaluable, amicable assistance wherever and whenever required.

Lucille Scheurenberg
Corporate & Foundation Researcher
717-9713


Lucille.Scheurenberg@wits.ac.za

Lucille’s relationship with Wits started in 1964 when she worked in the Main Library for 3 years. She then returned to Wits to work in the WBS Library in 1978 where she was instrumental in starting the Corporate User Scheme which was later extended to other Wits libraries.

In 1992 she joined the DFO as a Development Officer and then found her niche in prospect research.  Prospect research has been the focus of her work for the past 15 years.

Maria Shardelow
Donations Administrator
717-9715



Maria.Shardelow@wits.ac.za

Maria started with Wits in February 1997 when she worked for the Salaries Department and then transferred to the Foundation.

She handles all finances relating to donations and liaises with Wits’ Project Managers, Deans and Business managers on a daily basis.

Maria says: “I enjoy being part of the successful team in the DFO.  The process of acknowledging and notifying academics about the donations received is really satisfying”.

Martha Molete
Capital Campaigns Manager
717-9704



Martha.Molete@wits.ac.za

Martha was most recently Head of Communication for the Cancer Association of South Africa. Other organisations she worked for include Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa, Planact, Umanyano Media Services and Learn & Teach publications. She was also Senior Media Relations Office at Wits from 1999-2003. She is a Wits graduate with an MA in History and has a Higher Education Diploma from UNISA and a BA from Carleton University in Ottawa.

“I am delighted to be back at Wits and to be part of the Build a Better Campus campaign ” she says. “The many exciting capital projects will provide state-of-the-art facilities which form part of the bigger nation-building and development efforts that are so important for South Africa’s future.”

Melanie Keartland
Capital Campaigns Manager
717-9704



Melanie.Keartland@wits.ac.za

After 25 years in the Arts, Melanie Keartland – former head of Wits Theatre – has decided to try something new.

“They say that your mid forties are a good time to re-invent yourself” says this Wits Graduate, “and I am not one to pass up fabulous opportunities”.  Melanie interviewed for the position of Capital Campaign Manager in the Development and Fundraising office in September of this year – “It was a long shot for me,” she says “as I don’t really know the field, I was not sure if my skill set would fit.”  Well apparently it did and she started in her new post on 2 November 2009.  

Pedzisai Chiwota
Financial Manager
717-9710



Pedzisai.Chiwota@wits.ac.za  

Pedzisai has over 18 years working experience of which 12 years has been in financial management.  He started in the Ministry of Home  Affairs  Zimbabwe  from 1991 to 1998 as a Finance Officer.

In February 1998 Pedzisai moved into the private sector and joined Innscor Africa Limited ( Bread Division ) as an Assistant Accountant  responsible for Head Office Accounts where he rose through the ranks  to become Management Accountant in 2002.

In December 2005 Pedzisai  joined Dairibord Holdings ( a Zimbabwe stock exchange listed company)  as Financial Controller for  Lyons Zimbabwe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dairibord Holdings Zimbabwe, where he was responsible for controls and financial reporting.  Whilst there Pedzisai participated in various major projects including the 2006 currency conversion in SAP systems for Dairibord Holdings Zimbabwe.

Pooven Naiker
Development Officer
717-9707



Pooven.Naiker@wits.ac.za

Pooven Naiker, a stalwart of the university for 19 years, has 13 years of donor fundraising skills acquired in the DFO. 

Pooven is passionate about keeping good donor relationships which has ensured her high success rate time and again, especially in the field of student bursaries and scholarships.

Sibongile Ndimande
Administrative Assistant
717-9718



Sibongile.Ndimande@wits.ac.za

Sibongile has worked for the DFO for 14 years but has been with Wits for the past 21 years.

In her position as Administrative Assistant she is responsible for all aspects relating to Creditors in order to facilitate an efficient process between the DFO and the University.

Suraiya Buccas
Senior Projects & Proposals Officer
717-9722


Suraiya.Buccas@wits.ac.za

Suraiya joined Wits as Senior Projects & Proposals Officer in the DFO in July 2008. She manages the proposal writing process to maximize private sector support to the institution. 

Although a newcomer to Wits, Suraiya is by no means new to the higher education sector.  She comes to us from the University of KwaZulu-Natal where she spent 16 years in both the support and academic sectors. She has a BSocSc(Hons) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is currently completing the LLM in Health Law at Wits.
 
Suraiya’s motto:  “Success comes from being passionate about what you do and working positively with people”.

Thato Mfundisi
Projects & Proposals Officer

Thato has over eight years experience in the development sector working in the areas of fundraising, research, programmes and projects management.
She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Management as well as a National Diploma in Administration from Technikon SA.

Tshepiso Rambau
Research Officer
717-9727



Tshepiso.Rambau@wits.ac.za

Tshepiso comes from the Wits Health Consortium (HERO) Health Economics Research Office which is part of Boston University. She has been involved in various research projects in and outside Wits University dealing with the research cycle from conceptualization, statistical analysis, interpretation, monitoring and evaluation to Report Writing. She has BA and BA Hons in Clinical Psychology from the University of Limpopo and is currently studying for a Masters in Research Psychology also from UL, focusing on concepts and management of alcohol problems by traditional healers in the Limpopo Province.

Vinesha Singh
External Donor Liaison Officer
717-9717



Vinesha.Singh@wits.ac.za

Vinesha’s first experience of Wits was as a student in 2004 and she later joined the DFO as a contract staff member.   Vinesha is now the External Donor Liaison Officer in the DFO and her main responsibilities lie in fundraising for various projects, stewarding current donors and assisting with Bursaries and Scholarships.

Vinesha enjoys her job because it involves interacting with different people.

Yolanda Paterson
Database Administrator
717-9705



Yolanda.Paterson@wits.ac.za

Yolanda has worked in the DFO at Wits for several years.

In her position as Database Administrator she is responsible for capturing all information and producing reports relating to both donors and projects undertaken in the DFO.