The team

As the widow of Dr AggreyKlaaste, she plays a vital role in explaining and educating us on the thinking behind the Nation Building philosophy. She plays a crucial advisory and mentor role in our programmes and is the head of the Nation Building Prayer Committee.

His contribution to the development of the AKT is inimitable, tirelessly campaigning for funding and building crucial partnerships for our programmes.

The driving force behind the development of the AKT and has spearheaded its programmes. He has been at the centre of creating partnerships that foster nation building in our communities.

Mr Joseph NongThloloe was one of the founding members of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and played an active role in the anti-pass campaign in 1960 that led to the Sharpeville massacre and resulted in his arrest and detention by the security police for various periods of time. Former managing editor for the Sowetan and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. In 1994 appointed an input editor for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). He then became the editor-in-chief responsible for television news and current affairs. Served on the Human Rights Commission that investigated racism in the media. Former Press Ombudsman and named the Alan Kirkland Sogal Lifetime Achiever at the eighth annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards.Former chairman of the South African Editor’s Forum (SANEF) and president to the Union of Black Journalists and Media Workers Association of South Africa. Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law by Rhodes University in 2011.In 2002, he was awarded the Order of the Ikhamanga in Silver for his contribution to the liberation struggle, literary writing, journalism and the media in general.

Writer, playwright, journalist and human rights and gender activist. Her contribution to the development of the AKT and its programmes has been priceless, and her extensive experience and knowledge in building organisations has brought innovation and artistic expertise to the AKT.

Commissioner Makwetla is a revered humanitarian, pro-liberation and women rights activist. She is currently the Human Rights Commissioner responsible for children’s rights, immigration and xenophobia within the commission. She has extensive work and business experience, including the Randfontein Town Council, Market research Africa and IBM. Makwetla then ventured into entrepreneurship starting with a computer training centre, followed by Makwetla and Associates a company specialising in public relations, event management, community development, sponsorship procurement and disability equity management. Among their flagship projects was the Dr AggreyKlaasteSowetan Nation Building programme.

Prof. Anton Harber is a revered journalist and is an adjunct professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, a columnist for Business Day, and the co-editor of two books about HIV/AIDS and investigative journalism in SA and author of a third book about Diepsloot. He was the founding editor of the Weekly Mail, later known as the Mail & Guardian. He was the Chair of the South African Conference of Editors in 1991, the Chair of the National Association of Broadcasters in 1998, and the chair of the Freedom of Expression Institute in 2010. He serves on the board of directors of the Global Investigative Journalism Network. In March 2016 he became the editor-in-chief of eNCA.

Dr Thami Mazwai is Special Advisor to the Minister of Small Business Development. He is Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship at the University of the Western Cape and the University of Fort Hare. He is a Resident Executive at the Wits Business School. Currently, he heads a Task Team on township and rural economies for the National Planning Commission and a Task Team on the review of small business strategies.He is a pro-liberation activist who, like many others, suffered harassment at hands of apartheid security police. A doyen of journalism, Mazwai is the former Founder Chairperson of the South African National Editors Forum.

Ngwenya is a writer, essayist and journalist. He is a corporate strategist and head of the AggreyKlaaste Corporate Governance Committee.  His guidance and mentorship has been invaluable in the development of AKT’s focus and nation-building programmes.