Masisizane Board
The Masisizane board has a mix of representatives from Old Mutual plc, Old Mutual (South Africa), our empowerment partners (WIPHOLD and Brimstone) to two external representatives, Iraj Abedian and Gareth Ackerman, all of whom oversee the initiatives.
Crispin Sonn
Director: Marketing, Communications and Corporate Affairs
Crispin was appointed Director of Marketing, Communications and Corporate Affairs in November 2008.
Besides his commitments at Old Mutual, he is also a member of the council of the University of Cape Town, on the board of advisers of the Graduate School of Business at UCT and Chairperson of Feedback, a company that distributes around a million tons of food per year to the poorer communities in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
Crispin graduated from UCT in 1990 with a BA degree in Social Sciences and Humanities and his work experience spans both the entrepreneurial and corporate worlds.
Marshall Rapiya
Managing Director: Retail mass Market
Marshall Rapiya was born on 25 July 1952 in the Eastern Cape. After completing high school in King Williamstown, Marshall obtained a Bachelor of Administration (Economic Sciences) Degree from UNISA.
He joined Group Schemes in 1977 as an Advisor in Umtata. In 1987 he was appointed Area Manager, then quickly moved through the ranks as Regional Manager Border and Transkei then Provincial Manager for the Eastern Cape in 1990.
In 1995 he became Divisional Manager in charge of the Eastern and Western Cape as well as the National Scheme Development Team.
Two years later he was given the responsibility of running the national sales force and marketing division and in 2000 Marshal was appointed General Manager – Group Schemes Sales and Marketing. In February 2005 he assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer Group Schemes.
Following Paul Hanratty's appointment as Managing Director, Marshall was appointed as Managing Director, Retail (Mass Market).
Gloria Serobe:
Gloria Serobe is a founding member of WIPHOLD and Chief Executive Officer of Wipcapital.
A recognised leader in transforming the profile of corporate South Africa, Gloria has received numerous recognition awards. These include the Impumelelo Top 300 Award for "Contribution to Transformation, Job Creation, the Economy and as a BEE Role Model" and the Business Woman of the Year Award in 2005.
Gloria has been heavily involved with Transnet's retirement benefits and served as Chair of its Second Defined Benefit Fund and the Pension Fund Investment Committee.
She also has extensive experience at Director level and past directorships include: Chair of Metropolitan Group, Chair of the Life Offices Association, MTN, M-Cell and the Financial Markets Advisory Board.
Gloria currently sits on the Boards of Old Mutual, Nedbank, the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), Export Credit Insurance Corporation and the Financial Sector Charter Council.
Fred Robertson:
Fred Robertson is deputy executive chairman and founder of Brimstone Investment Corp, one of the largest black empowerment groups listed on the JSE. The group was formed in 1995 and now commands interests in the financial, industrial and health sectors.
Fred started out as a teacher and proceeded to insurance broking, which launched him into the centre of the financial services industry. He is chairman of House of Monatic and Lion of Africa Life Assurance.
He is also a founder of Commlife Holdings. He sits on the boards of Remgro, Sea Harvest, Lenco Holdings and Lobedu Leo Burnett. He is a founding trustee of the Business Trust.
Rojie Kisten:
Rojie Kisten holds an Honours Degree in Business Administration from the University of Durban Westville. She also received the Top Student Award at the University of Stellenbosch Business School for the Management Development Programme (MDP).
Rojie spent 11 years in various businesses in Old Mutual South Africa and Nedbank, including life assurance, retail and commercial property and asset manager before assuming her current role.
She is currently the General Manager of Corporate Affairs and in her personal capacity is the President of ABSIP (Western Cape).
Nicky Bicket:
Nicky Bicket was born and schooled in Cape Town. He started his working career with Pick 'n Pay, where he spent twenty-two years, working his way through store management, Human Resources and Strategy and finally started and led the Pick 'n Pay Financial Services division (no Go Banking).
In 1999, he was offered the Head of HR and Strategy position at Old Mutual (SA) and in 2006 was asked to head up the Group CEO's Office in London. This role involved the management of the CEO's office as well as the Group functions - HR, Strategy, Brand, Internal and External Communications - other than finance.
He is married with two daughters. Aside from his work and family, Nicky is passionate about classical music and has a performer's licentiate in the organ.
Iraj Abedian:
Iraj Abedian qualified from the university of Cape Town with a Masters of Arts in Economics. He further obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Simon Fraser in Canada.
Iraj is the founder and director of Applied Fiscal Research Centre at the university of Cape Town and has worked in various positions for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Standard Bank Group among others.
He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Pan Africa Advisory Services and sits on the board of various organisations.
Gareth Ackerman:
Gareth Ackerman qualified from the university of Cape Town with a Bachelor of Social Sciences Degree. He further obtained a CMS Diploma from the University of Oxford.
He acted as manager of store systems and labour scheduling for Pantry Pride Supermarkets in the US before becoming operations manager of Pick ‘n Pay Australia in 1984-1986.
From 1986-1990 he became general manager of Pick ‘n Pay retailers in Johannesburg.
Gareth is currently the director of Pick ‘n Pay Stores Ltd and Pick ‘n Pay Holdings Ltd.