Prof Jacklyn Cock

Jacklyn Cock is Professor of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She has written extensively on gender, militarization and environmental issues. Her latest book s   are  'Melting Pots and Rainbow Nations: Conversations on Difference and Disadvantage' (with Alison Bernstein) (University of Illinois Press, 2002). and 'The War Against Ourselves: nature, power and difference". (Wits University Press, 2007).

Diane Fine

Cheryl Frank

Cheryl Frank is the Executive Director of RAPCAN, a child protection organisation based in Cape Town. She holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at UCT as well as a Social Work degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She has worked as a Senior Research Consultant at the Institute for Security Studies, as the Director of the Criminal Justice Initiative at the Open Society Foundation, as a researcher at the Institute of Criminology at the UCT, and as a social worker at Nicro. Cheryl's primary interest is in the area of crime prevention and she has written and published in this field as well as in the areas of child justice, restorative justice, policing, victims' rights, child labour and youth violence.

Dr Pumla Dineo Gqola

Pumla Dineo Gqola is a feminist writer whose creative writing has appeared in various anthologies of African and postcolonial writing, and in journals and magazines like Agenda, Fito, Tyhume, Gowanus,Postcolonial Text, Chimurenga and the UK-based Drum. She has published academic articles on African and Caribbean literature, feminism, womanist and postcolonial studies, and is co-editor of Discourses on Difference, Discourses on Oppression (2002). A graduate of the Universities of Cape Town, Warwick (England) and Münich (Germany), she is associate professor of Literary, Cultural and Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and writes an occasional column for the Mail and Guardian.
Pumla’s other research awards have included the Five Colleges African Scholars Associateship in 2005, which she was unable to take up, a Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant for 2001-2004, an Association of Commonwealth Universities Scholarship in 1998-9, an Andrew Mellon Foundation Grant in 1996 as well as a Centre for Scientific Research and Development Award in 1995.

Mr Jody Kollapen

Mr Jody Kollapen is the Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission, a constitutional body set up in terms of the South African Constitution to protect and promote human rights. A lawyer by training he practised law in Pretoria, South Africa from 1981 to 1992 focusing on public interest law. He joined Lawyers for Human Rights, a human rights NGO, in 1992 and served as its National Director from 1994 until 1995. He was appointed to the Human Rights Commission in 1996 and was elected chair of the Commission in October 2002. His areas of interest include human rights within the administration of justice, equality and the advancement of socio-economic rights. He also serves on the boards of various national and international human rights bodies and was part of the panel appointed to interview and shortlist members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He is married and has three children.

Mr Godfrey Letlape

Godfrey is a founding member of Mafori Management Consultants, a consulting firm founded with Pakie Mphahlele in 1998, specialising in micro and housing finance. Godfrey spent five years from 1993 to 1998 with Deloitte and Touche auditing financial institutions. Godfrey has worked on a number of micro-credit and enterprise credit assignments. Godfrey trained as an accountant and has a strong financial management background. His qualifications include B.Comm, B.Compt (Honours) and CTA.

S’mangele Mayisela

S’mangele Mayisela, is a registered Educational Psychologist, qualified from WitsUniversity. She previously worked for the Johannesburg Parent and Child Counselling Centre and CSVR as a trauma practitioner. Currently she is in private practice and is the Director of Elegnams Human Development Services, a life skills development institution. She has interest and extensive experience in trauma work that she presented at a variety of conferences and has written a paper on trauma and ex-combatants published in Volume 13 of Psychoanalytic therapy in SA. Since she obtained MAP from Wits BusinessSchool, she is keenly pursuing business opportunities.

Prof Mary Metcalfe

Professor Mary Metcalfe has worked in Education since 1974 in various capacities. She taught in the Department of Education at Wits before being appointed as Gauteng Member of Executive Council responsible for Education from 1994 to 1999. She served as MEC for Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Land Affairs from 1999 to 2004. In April 2004 she was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Gauteng Legislature. She was appointed as Head of the Wits School of Education with effect from 1st February 2005. Prof Metcalfe's professional and academic qualifications include a diploma in Specialised Education and a Masters Degree in Education from Wits. She has done research work and been published on a variety of education topics, including special education, education transformation and governance. She has two teenage children.

Mr Tefo Raditapole

Tefo is a director at Cheadle Thompson & Haysom Attorneys Inc. having started his legal career there in 1990. Prior to the first democratic elections in 1994 he acted extensively for the African National Congress and the Congress of the South African Trade Union. He has also been employed as a special advisor to the Premier of Gauteng Province, Mr M Shilowa, since 1999. He is a professional conflict manager and trainer. He has consulted for various institutions including the International Labour Organisation, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Electoral Institute of South Africa. He sits on a number of boards including the Resolve Group (Pty) Ltd, Tokiso Dispute Settlement (Pty) Ltd, Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation and the Ombudsman for Banking Services. He served two terms as a Commissioner on the Commission for Employment Equity. He co-facilitated negotiations on the Financial Sector Empowerment Financial Sector Charter negotiations. Tefo is also a co-author of a Juta's commentary on Black Economic Empowerment.

Prof Hussein Solomon

Prof. Hussein Solomon lectures in the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria and Director of the Centre for International Political Studies. He sits on various editorial boards and is also Editor-in-Chief of Islamic Focus. He writes extensively on Islamic Fundamentalism, conflict resolution in Africa and South African foreign policy. In addition to his work at the University, he is a member of the International Steering Committee of Global Action to Prevent War, is a Research Associate of the South African Institute of International Affairs, is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and a Visiting Professor at the Global Collaboration Centre, Osaka University, Japan