The Team

Although the Nova team consists of self-motivated individuals from a diversity of backgrounds, regular team meetings are held to define roles, improve communication and to establish synergy.

Dr Attie Van Niekerk

Managing Director

In 1994 dr Attie van Niekerk became a founding member and managing director of the Nova Institute.

Under his leadership, researchers from a diversity of backgrounds, together with a number of low-income families, are engaged in processes to design, and evaluate in practice, household products and processes that are effective, sustainable, affordable for low-income households, desirable, replicable and socially beneficial.

He is the author of numerous academic articles, holds a DD degree from the University of Pretoria and teaches part time at the Faculty of Theology of the same university. He was a minister of the (black) Dutch Reformed Church in Africa in Venda from 1978 to 1984, and professor for the church's theological training at the University of the North from 1984 to 1993.

Dr Montagu Murray

Programme Manager

Dr H M Murray holds the following five degrees from the University of Pretoria, all with distinction: BA, BA Honours, BD, MDiv and DD. His academic studies included pre-graduate studies in Wabasha, Minnesota in the USA and post graduate research at the Universities of Utrecht and Leiden in the Netherlands. Since 1999 he has been involved in research projects for the Centre for the Study for AIDS, ISWEN at the University of Pretoria, the Nova Institute, the Dutch Reformed Church and the Witness Forum of Mamelodi / Lusaka.

Dr Murray has distinguished himself as researcher. He has published several articles in peer reviewed journals, lectured at the University of Pretoria and he has presented his research on various occasions on a national and international level. He is a core member of the Functional Household Programme Team who won the THRIP EXCELLENCE AWARD from the South African minister of Trade and Industry in 2005 in the category Social Development.

Dr Murray's has more than 10 years' experience in developing quality of life solutions for low-income households in the Southern African contexts. He is currently programme manager of the Nova Institute.

Dr Murray is a Director of the Nova Institute. He is married to Dr Carien Murray, a medical doctor. They have a daughter, Renee.

Dr Christiaan Pauw

Director: Project Development

Dr C J Pauw holds a BA, BA Honours and a BD degree from the University of Pretoria, all with distinction. He received a DD degree on 4 May 2006 at the same university. Since 1998 he has been involved in various research projects for the Nova Institute, the Dutch Reformed Church, the Willem Nicol Education Trust and the Christian Social Council. The research includes a strategic environmental analysis (SEA) and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for a large petro-chemical business. In both cases he was part of the socio-economic team.

He has coordinated and taken part in various socio-economic studies in both urban and rural contexts. These include studies on household living conditions in Bela-Bela, Maluti (Limpopo province) and Mariveni (Limpopo province). He has done qualitative and quantitative research in the field of energy efficient housing and household energy consumption patterns in two urban areas. He has also been involved a study on the impact of diarrhoea on households in Brits, North-West. He has coordinated fieldwork for studies into the environmental health impacts as well as numerous studies on the uptake of the improved top-down ignition technique.

Dr Pauw played a key part in the development of the Nova Institute's QOLA and PIQOLA instruments which are used to analyse quality of life in the household.

Since 1998 he has been involved in community projects aimed in the fields of ABET, urban farming and sustainable household-based agriculture in rural areas.

During 1998 he worked on the eMbalenhle Air Quality Project coordinating research and field activities. He has also been involved in behaviour change research on the same project 2001 and again in 2004. In 2005 he played a leading role in a study for the DME to evaluate the implementation of the Basa njengo Magogo technique in Tembisa. He was also a core member of the Functional Household Programme Team who won the THRIP Excellence Award for 2005 in the category Social Development. In 2006 and 2007 he was instrumental in the development of a methodology to verify greenhouse gas emission reductions from the implementation of the alternative top-down ignition technique against the WBCSD/WRI GHG Project Protocol.

Since 2007 he leads Nova's implementation of the implementation of the alternative top-down ignition technique which has taken place in four provinces. He also leads Nova's monitoring team which have had greenhouse gas emission reductions of 87000 tCO2eq from Nova's projects verified by an independent third party. In 2010 he played a key role in the development and registration of a Voluntary Gold Standard methodology for the quantification of greenhouse gas emission reductions from the alternative ignition technique.

Tertius Murray

Financial and ICT Manager

In June 2007 Tertius joined the Nova Institute and added his skills in marketing and finance to the growing Nova team and is currently the Financial and ICT Manager.

He is also actively involved in the implementation and verification of Nova's Basa Magogo project which aim is to reduce air pollution and improve the quality of life of low-income households in South Africa.

He holds a B.Com Honours degree in Marketing- and Communication Management from the University of Pretoria. Previous work experience include contract research for investment opportunities in the Nelson Mandela Metro for Garnett-Adams, a business consultancy firm, as well as holding the position of Marketing Manager for LEFI, a non-profit organisation focusing on care takers in the community.

His dream is to help with the upliftment of low-income households and he believes that it is the possibility of a dream coming true that makes life interesting. His interests include swimming, fly-fishing, birding, touch-rugby and reading. He also enjoys spending time in nature with his wife Delene and two children Henry and Alet.

Suzette Lategan

Office and HR Administrative Manager

In May 2008 Suzette joined the Nova team as Office Manager. She is currently working at Nova as Office and HR Administrative Manager.

She was born on 17 February 1983 and grew up on a farm with her family near Bloemfontein in the Free State Province of South Africa. She is one of three children with an older brother and a younger sister. She graduated at Sand du Plessis High School.

After High School, Suzette completed a Diploma Course in Fashion Design at Bloemfontein Fashion Academy with Pattern Design, Garment Construction, Creative Art, History, Marketing and Sketching as some of the most important subjects.

Suzette started working at Anneke Designs after she completed her Diploma Course. During this period some of the highlights were: The Bloem Vision Bridal Show 2004 and 2005, a well-known event attended by some of the best Fashion Designers in South Africa. The Matric Farewell Dress Competition in 2005 hosted by Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein (finalist).

Suzette and her husband, Charl Lategan, moved to Pretoria in 2006 where she commenced work at an attorney's office as receptionist and conveyance typist.

Hendrik Snyman

Project Manager

Following secondary schooling and nature conservation studies at the Pretoria Technicon, Hendrik Snyman was employed as manager at the Oppikoppi Holiday Resort close to Thabazimbi in the current Limpopo province. Following this period, he travelled abroad and was employed in the United Kingdom as a Street Environmental Manager until his return to South Africa to commence theological studies. While in the latter stages of his studies, Hendrik accepted a position as project manager at Nova.

He has four years' experience in developing quality of life solutions for low-income households in the Southern African contexts. His recent assignments and work experience includes:

• Participation in the establishment of proposals, budgets and work plans for R&D projects aimed at intervention on house level in the quality of life of households
• Implementation and management of work budgets for several projects
• Development of an implementation optimisation calculator(s) for a national programme of implementing an alternative ignition technique for domestic coal fires
• Overseeing and managing all field work related to several divers projects participated in
• Key member of a team responsible for the design, registration and verification of several Verified Emission Reduction projects under the Gold Standard accreditation programme
• Liaison with the Project Director to facilitate all new developments regarding IT systems and -reporting

Hendrik is married to Ms Lorraine Snyman, an Asset Manager for a leading South African property fund. They have a daughter, Améli.

Riaan Ingram

Research Specialist

Riaan Ingram has been educated in theology and philosophy.

He is mainly occupied with practice research and is especially interested in the economic development of low income households through enterprise development and the promotion of efficient management of household resources.

Juan-Pierre Boshoff

Project Manager

In 2010 Juan-Pierre (JP) Boshoff started working as a project manager for Nova. He is currently a project manager on the Improved Cooking Stove (ICS) - and Commercial Agriculture Projects.

JP has four years' experience in project management.

From 2007 until 2010, while still studying full-time at the University of Pretoria, JP also worked full-time as a project manager at Growth-Link - an HR and psychometric assessment, consulting and training company in Pretoria. At Growth-Link, JP received further skills training in the Psychometric assessment and research of Abilities-, Personality- and Simulation Assessments (Training Provider: SHL). As project manager, JP conducted numerous medium-scaled research- and assessments projects for various national and international mining companies.

JP Boshoff holds the following two degrees from the University of Pretoria: BTh and MTh (Cum Laude).His hobbies include mountain biking, playing guitar and growing bonzai trees.

Lindiwe Mokhwelepa

Call Center Manager

In 2010 Lindiwe Mokhwelepa started to work in her current position as the Call Centre Manager of the Nova Institute. Apart from managing the Call Centre, Lindiwe also assists with admin of Nova projects, reception and telephone services, financial admin, assistance with back-ups, archiving, filling and retrieving and assistance to Exco members with their admin.

Lindiwe was born on 10 May 1974. She grew up in Pretoria and graduated at Bonginsimbi High School. After High School, Lindiwe did a Diploma Course in Marketing at the Technicon of Pretoria with Marketing, Communication in English, Economics, Consumer Behaviour, Accounting for Marketers, Personal Selling, End User Computer, Law for Marketers and Quantitative Techniques as some of the most important subjects.

She started working at Mohwiti Technologies after the Diploma Course. Lindiwe got married to Convoy Mokhwelepa in 2005 and has two children.

In July 2008 Lindiwe started working as contractor at the Nova Institute as Data Capturer. In November 2008 she joined the Nova team where she first worked as Office Manager and was subsequently appointed as Call Centre Manager- a position that she still holds today.

In her spare time Lindiwe spends her time reading, listening to music and enjoying sports.

Thembi Tsotetsi

Area Leader Lekwa and Seme

Thembi started working for the Nova Institute in 2007, interacting with the stakeholders of both municipalities- Lekwa and Seme. She is currently working on two projects; Basa Magogo and the Improved Cooking Stove. She manages the operation of both projects in above specified areas as well as supervising the work of the fieldworkers.

• Basa Magogo: This method of fire making is well received and accepted by both communities.
• Improved Cooking Stove: This project started at the beginning of 2010 in Sakhile (Standerton), they are still conducting surveys to gather information on the people's way of living and the tools they use for cooking as well different kind of stoves they use for making fire before implementation takes place. This project is also well accepted by the community of Standerton, they are looking forward to the implementation.

If you ask her about herself, Thembi will tell you: "I love GOD, I am a Christian, I belong to the group of movers/people who are eager to learn and be exposed to new adventures, I am a go-getter and enjoy challenges, I don't give up easily, I am very persistent, I like to be given a chance to show case my capabilities. I like music especially gospel and jazz, I enjoy dinning out and travelling the world. THAT IS ME!!!"

Obed Nelovholwe

Fieldwork Manager

In 2004 Obed joined Mayibuye Holdings (Pty) Ltd on an energy and water cleaning project. He held a position of fieldwork manager in the roll-out Basa njengo Magogo until 2010 when he joined the Nova Institute- again as a fieldwork manager.

For him the enlighten time was in 1989 when he was working for Stocks and Stocks Civil in the Engineering department of Quantity Surveyors and Soil Sciences. This contract was for three years. During this time he registered with the College of Finyazwanda and achieved his N4 certificate in Electrical Engineering.

In year 1993 he worked for Osmium Corporation as a Grignard's reagent chemist and production of thimerosal. This position lasted for three years where-after he joined Next Project Management owned by M.O. Albers on Precious Metals conversion to catalysts. He was promoted to a supervisory position from 1996 to 2003, but then was retrenched when Next Chimica, a subsidiary Next Management, was bought by Engelhardt.

In his spare time he runs Madzanga Resources (Pty) Ltd an organisation whose business is the extraction of essential oils from indigenous plants for use in perfumes and aromatherapy.

Tshediso Alfred Pudumo

Area Leader and Researcher Assistant

Alfred Pudumo joined Nova during June 2010. He is currently doing theology with UNISA in collaboration with URCSA-NTS.

He enjoys helping people to attain a healthy quality of life. He has been involved with Quality Control interviews for Basa Magogo, HHRA (Human Health Risk Assessment) and is currently involved with implementation of Basa Magogo in Govan Mbeki Municipality.

Sunday Mashinini

Area Leader Msukaligwa

Sunday Mashinini joined the Nova Institute as an Area Leader in the Msukaligwa Municiplaity which includes areas such as Breyten, Kwazanele, Ermelo and Wesselton.

Here he oversees the implementation of Nova's flagship Basa Magogo Project implementation.

Moodi Matsotso

Area Leader in Maluti-A-Phofung

Moodi Matsotso shares the responsibility of Basa Magogo Area Leader in Maluti-A-Phofung with Erick Rampeqwa. Her duty is to see to it that the project runs smoothly. She recruits Field Workers, inform the traditional leaders and ward councillors about the project and recruit them to become steering committee members.

Apart from her Nova work she is also a community engagement & wellness coordinator at the University of the Free State's QwaQwa campus.

She is a mother of three children- two girls and a boy as well as a grandmother of two granddaughters. She likes engaging with the community, helping others and also like baking.

Erick Rampeqwa

Area Leader in Maluti-A-Phofung

Erick Rampeqwa shares the responsibility of Basa Magogo Area Leader in Maluti-A-Phofung with Moodi Matsotso. Together they see to it that the project runs smoothly.

They recruit Field Workers, inform the traditional leaders and ward councillors about the project and recruit them to become steering committee members.

In his spare time Erick likes playing soccer and enjoys being with people.

Andries Louw

Project Manager

Andries Louw was contracted by the Nova Institute as a researcher, project manager and systems analyst. He is involved in the research and development of quality of life solutions with his main focus on domestic energy. By working closely with low-income households Andries is striving to implement Nova's objective of making sure that the technology fits the context of the household.

Andries has 10 years' experience in the IT industry and four years in the church and non-profit sector. Having studied German at school, French, Greek and Semitic languages at University, he has always loved languages. In 2007 he launched Vulavula Languages, his own language learning business.

His IT experience is mostly in the field of database development (Microsoft Access), report development (Microsoft SQL Server and Crystal Reports) on ERP systems as well as training, training material development and service desk (Microsoft Dynamics AX).

Andries studied theology and worked mainly in youth ministry as well as in the NGO sector, focusing on marketing and fundraising.

His interests and passions are in the areas of languages, cultures, African identity, diversity, fundraising, social and environmental justice, creativity in poverty, tansdisciplinarity, discipleship, church planting, theology, missiology, blogging, movies, cycling and camping to name a few.

He describes himself as "... a follower of Jesus Christ, Cecile's husband and the proud father of two cute young girls, Anelia and Marisje. I am an African and a South African."

Maria Nyathi

Area Leader

Maria Nyathi's current involvement with Nova is as an Area Leader in Molati. Her understanding of different languages (Tsonga, Afrikaans and English), makes her a pivotal role-player in the current ICS project in that community.

Mrs Nyathi serves on a local committee with the traditional leaders of five surrounding villages. This committee governs the local energy and water issues. Maria's specific role is to represent the women of the local villages and to communicate the opinions of the local women and of the local traditional leaders to one another.

Mrs Nyathi completed her school education in 1967 at Rita Secondary School in Giyani. She married (Rev.) David Nyathi and they both did theological studies. In 1975, they both got involved in the local church (Uniting Reformed Church) in Molati and in its various community initiatives. Involved at Nova as a business strategy and energy consultant since 2005.

Henry Murray

Consultant Management & Energy

Henry Murray is a Strategic Management Consultant and Business Analyst involved at Nova as a business strategy and energy consultant since 2005.

He is a keen squash player and occasional skin diver.

Jaap de Jong

Consultant Climate & Energy

Jaap has graduated as a Master of Science in Environment & Resource Management at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam in 2004. Before Jaap joined Nova, he has worked at the Ministry of Environment in The Netherlands, at the European Commission in Brussels, and at DHV, a international private company. As a generalist, Jaap specialised in multidisciplinary strategic sustainability issues. His projects mainly dealt with renewable energy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental issues and urban planning.

Jaap started working at Nova in January 2011. His main task is the establishment of a network of organisations in Southern Africa, which will focus on the identification and implementation of small-scale, pro-poor carbon projects. Jaap also contributes to the energy activities of Nova and acts as a general consultant in multiple projects. Jaap coordinates Nova's activities regarding the climate negotiations at COP17 in Durban and COP18 in Qatar.

Marina de Wet

CHICS Program Developer

Marina is involved in the development of the chics programme.

She likes reading, writing and playing music.

Catherine Senyolo

CHICS Program Manager

Catherine Senyolo is the Programme Manager for the chics programme.

She is an introvert that likes singing and decorating.

Mathilda du Preez

Researcher

Mathilda du Preez is currently completing her PhD in Psychology, specifically focusing on the interaction between humans and their environment.

She has been involved in the PPR project since 2009.