Our directors

Victor obtained his medical degree (MBChB) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 1988. He then completed a Masters in Medicine (Radiotherapy) postgraduate specialist degree at the University of the Free State in 1995, after which he registered as a Radiation and Clinical Oncologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). He also holds a Master´s in Business Administration in Health Care from the University of the Free State. Victor previously served as the Managing Director of Bigen Africa Health and Executive Director of Bigen Africa Group Holdings. He is currently the CEO of Right to Care. Victor has vast experience across the public and private sector in practice and in management and the Board looks forward to his valuable contribution in the new role. Victor was appointed to the board in April 2020.

Mahlape Sello is a practising Advocate and a member of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates. She has been in practice since 2003. She is a panellist with the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa and China-Africa Joint Arbitration Centre. Mahlape was appointed a member of the South African Law Reform Commission in 2007, on which she served until December 2011, and was then reappointed in August 2013 to date. She is the chairperson of Murray & Roberts Limited having been appointed to the board in 2009 and to the chair in 2013. She was the chairperson of the Advertising Industry Tribunal Appeal Committee of the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (appointed in 2013). She was appointed to the Life Healthcare board of directors on 3 July 2017.

Prof Marian Jacobs retired as Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town in 2012 and holds the position of Emeritus Professor, Paediatrics and Child Health at that institution. Previous positions of employment include: Professor of Child Health and Director of the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town, where she was also employed as a community paediatrician in a joint position with the Provincial Health Department, and earlier, as a community (public) health lecturer and specialist. Her global experience includes service as Chair of the Boards of governance of the Medical Research Council in South Africa; the Centre for Health Research (ICDDRB) in Bangladesh; the Council for Health Research and Development (COHRED) in Geneva, Switzerland; and the African Population and Health Research Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Marian has served as convenor and a member of the scientific committee of many national and international scientific congresses in the global health arena and has also co-authored a number of key publications over the course of her academic career. She currently chairs the Advisory Committee of the Academy for Leadership and Management in Healthcare in the National Department of Health, serves as a member of the Technical Steering Committee for the World Health Organisation’s Maternal, New-born Child and Adolescent Committee; and is Advisor to both the Global Mental Health Platform of the Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal, and the Doris Duke African Health Initiative.

Audrey Mothupi is a businesswoman, entrepreneur and the chief executive officer of SystemicLogic Group, a global financial innovation and technology disruptor. She currently serves on the following boards: Pick ‘n Pay and Brainworks Capital. She serves as Chairman of the following non-profit boards: Orange Babies of South Africa (HIV/Aids), Numeric Board of South Africa (Maths) and Roedean School (SA). Prior to SystemicLogic Group, Audrey served as the head of inclusive banking at the Standard Bank Group and chief executive of group strategic services at Liberty Group. As a result her experience spans across various business domains including group strategy, talent design, marketing and communications strategy, integrated with strong corporate relationship management. She was appointed to the Life Healthcare board of directors on 3 July 2017.

Joel Netshitenzhe is the Executive Director and Board Vice-Chairman of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), an independent research institute dealing with strategic issues facing South Africa. Joel is a member of the National Planning Commission and the ANC National Executive Committee. Joel serves as a non-executive director on the boards of Nedbank Group and CEEFAfrica (a section 21 company dealing with tertiary education opportunities). He is also a programme pioneer of the Nelson Mandela – Champion Within Programme which is run by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Life College Association. Before joining the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) as CEO in 1998, he was head of communication in President Nelson Mandela΄s office. In addition to being GCIS CEO, he was appointed head of the Policy Co-ordination and Advisory Services (PCAS) in the presidency, in 2001. He headed the PCAS on a full-time basis from 2006 until his retirement in 2009. Prior to 1994, he served in various capacities within the ANC: Radio Freedom, Mayibuye editor, member of the ANC Politico-Military Council and deputy head of the Department of Information and Publicity, and as part of the ANC negotiating team. He was appointed to the Life Healthcare board of directors in 2010.

Caroline is a Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years’ experience in finance. After serving articles at Coopers & Lybrand (PwC) in 1993 she spent 22 years at Eskom, culminating in leading the Treasury function and gaining invaluable experience in debt capital markets, asset/liability management, risk and treasury. Caroline has had exposure to a wide variety of market sectors, business transactions and stakeholder interaction both domestically and internationally. Caroline is also currently a director on the board of Sun International Limited, South African National Blood Service and Chairman of the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF). She was appointed to the Life Healthcare board of directors in September 2021.

Lars has over 30 years’ experience in the sectors of health, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical diagnostics and is a former senior corporate executive in the global life sciences sector. He has an accomplished portfolio as a non-executive director, with significant experience in management, finance, sales, and marketing, across international companies and sectors. Lars currently chairs the Board of Biovica International AB, a Swedish based cancer diagnostics company and he also serves as a non-executive director of Vitrolife AB, H.Lundbeck AS and ALK Abello AS. His previous executive roles included serving as President of Life Science and Diagnostic Group at Agilent Technologies Inc, President and CEO of Dako AS and President International for Applied Biosystems Inc. He also served as a Senior Advisor to Bain Capital Private Equity and was a director at Tecan Group AG. Lars currently resides in Sweden. He was appointed to the Life Healthcare board of directors in August 2022.

Jeanne is a pharmaceutical physician with 35 years’ experience in leadership roles, spanning commercial strategy, medical and regulatory affairs, business development and venture investments. Jeanne joined Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Innovation – JJDC, the Corporate Venture Fund of J&J in 2013. Prior to this, Jeanne had been Global Head of Scientific Licensing in the Pharmaceuticals Business Development Group at Janssen, J&J. Over the past nine years, Jeanne has advised on Seed, Series A, Series B and syndicated biotechnology and diagnostics investments across therapy areas. She was a member of the Investment Committee for investments in robotics, Big Data and Digital Health technologies. Jeanne has served as a non-executive director on multiple J&J Investee company boards and their Audit and Remuneration sub-committees. Jeanne recently retired from her role as Vice President, Venture Investments at JJDC. She is currently an independent non-executive Chair of a European Venture Capital-backed biotech company and is a venture partner at a European Venture Capital Fund. She has also been appointed to the Board of a new Translational Fund at the Sir Francis Crick Institute in London, UK. Jeanne currently resides in Ireland. She was appointed to the Life Healthcare board of directors in August 2022.

Paul is a qualified chartered accountant with over fifteen years of direct South African private equity experience. He is currently the Managing Partner of Sanlam Private Equity, a fund that manages over R4 billion in private equity assets. His earlier experience includes being a partner at Medu Capital where, in addition to his firm-wide responsibilities over nine years, he led and managed a number of high-profile mid-market investment initiatives. Paul was also an investment director at Value Capital Partners, a pioneer in bringing value-creation strategies to the investment process in the South African listed market. During this time, he led investments into Sun International, Metair and Grand Parade Investments. Paul was appointed to the Life Healthcare board of directors in February 2023.

Peter is a chartered accountant and has completed the Harvard Advanced Management Programme. He is a seasoned and proven business leader with strong global experience in strategy and operational delivery in complex and evolving environments. Peter has also gained deep experience in running retail businesses, operations and information technology, whilst in executive positions with the Standard Bank Group. During his time with Deutsche Bank (DB) in London, he was head of Operations for the Global Markets division, and subsequently Global COO for the Corporate & Investment Banking division, which included responsibility for technology and operations. He also managed the complex Brexit transition process for DB. Peter is a driven and courageous leader, with a successful track record of leading bottom-line profitability of substantial complex corporations, whilst delivering large-scale industry transformation. He has successfully and passionately driven diversity and inclusion programmes, both in South Africa and internationally, as well as dealing with regulators across the globe. He was appointed to the position of Group CEO in September 2020.

Fulvio was, until the end of June 2019, the Chief Operating Officer and Partner at PwC Africa and a member of the firm's leadership team. In this role, he assisted in the delivery of the firm's overall strategy and was also responsible for the effective operation of the firm's risk management, finance, information technology and other internal services. His experience includes being the audit partner on many listed entities such as South African Breweries Ltd, Standard Bank Group Ltd, and the FirstRand Group Ltd. Fulvio joined PwC in July 1987 following completion of articles at Deloitte and retired from the firm in June 2020. Fulvio is currently a non-executive director of the ABSA Group board, Equites Property Fund Limited, and The Ethics Institute of South Africa. He is also the chairperson of the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA). Fulvio was appointed to the Life Healthcare board of directors in April 2023.

Pieter completed his training contract and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1996 at PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. He joined President Medical Investments Limited (Presmed) in 1999, which became part of Afrox Healthcare Limited. Pieter performed various roles in the finance department of Afrox Healthcare and played a significant role in Afrox Healthcare’s delisting in 2005, and its subsequent relisting as Life Healthcare in 2010. He was appointed as Group Chief Financial Officer in 2013. He assumed the role of Acting Group CEO on 17 January 2020 to 31 August 2020.