Executive Management

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. He was appointed to the role of Chief Executive in September 2020.

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 Chief Financial Officer in 2013. He assumed the role of Acting Group CEO on 17 January 2020 until 31 August 2020.

Adam’s responsibilities has included strategy, investor relations and health policy. He joined Life Healthcare in 2003, and has had a number of executive roles, including marketing and funder relations. Adam has also served on the boards of Max Healthcare and Scanmed S.A. He was previously marketing director at HealthBridge. He served as Chief Executive Officer – SA from July 2018 and was appointed to his current role in April 2024.

Avanthi has over 19 years’ experience in the areas of governance, ethics, risk and compliance, having served as a Group Company Secretary for numerous JSE listed companies, including Implats and Kumba. Avanthi also ran her own governance consultancy, focusing on assisting listed companies in areas specific to strategic governance. She has presented at numerous workshops and conferences in relation to her areas of expertise. Avanthi was appointed to the role of Group Company Secretary in March 2019 and moved to the role of Chief People Officer end February 2021.

Craig is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He joined Life Healthcare in 1998, from PwC, in the role of Financial and Administration Manager. He was promoted to the role of Hospital Manager, Life St Dominic’s Hospital in 1999. In 2001, he took up the role of Regional Manager: Border Hospitals and in 2006 he moved into the role of Regional Manager: KwaZulu-Natal. Craig served as Business Operations Executive – SA from November 2017. He was appointed to his current role in April 2024.

Merle began her career 34 years ago and worked at two other leading private healthcare groups where she gained more than 15 years’ experience in senior management roles, including the role of General Manager: Nursing Efficiencies. This role specifically related to efficiencies in the utilisation of nursing hours appropriate to level of care, processes aligned to key performance objectives and managing staffing ratios to support standards for quality assurance and patient and employee safety. Merle also spent time nursing in Saudi Arabia, and in the United Kingdom, where she was Lead Nurse in the implementation and roll-out of a ward/theatre staffing tooI for NHS trust hospitals. In addition to her qualifications, she has also completed a Leadership and Management Development Programme. Merle was appointed to the position of Chief Nurse Officer in September 2021.

Riedwaan is a thoughtful, socially inspired executive, with a demonstrated history of working in the health industry. He has over 25 years’ working experience gained across the insurance and health sector at the nexus of business, technology and analytics. He has spent many years on the funding side, including 15 years at Discovery Health. There he headed up various divisions including risk intelligence and business intelligence and was a member of the health executive committee. After that, he moved to the supply-side, where he co-founded and built Professional Provider Organisations Services (PPO Service) and later led the organisation as the CEO. PPO Service is a shared service hub for clinicians with a vision to create transformed health care systems for patients. Before joining Life Healthcare, he occupied the role of Executive Director and Head of Business Development, Analytics and Experience at Healthforce. Healthforce is pioneering clinic management and telemedicine service that brings specialist knowledge to primary care clinics. He held the position of Funder, Policy and Product Development Executive – SA from September 2020 and moved to the role of Funders, Analytics and Product Disruption Executive in August 2021. He was appointed to his current role in April 2024.

Joshila is an admitted attorney of the High Court. She joined law firm, Bowmans where she completed her articles and went on to serve as Legal Advisor at senior management level across a range of industries. Prior to joining Life Healthcare in 2019, Joshila served as Group Manager: Governance and Ethics at Sun International. During her tenure at Life Healthcare, Joshila has served as Corporate Services Manager, and most recently, as Head: Governance and Ethics. She was appointed to the role of Company Secretary end February 2021.

Brett is a qualified actuary with a background in health insurance; capital management and wellness; loyalty and rewards programmes; business planning; and strategy. He previously held the role of Chief Actuary, Discovery Vitality since 2014. Brett joined Discovery in 2001 and held actuarial and finance management positions. His prior experience includes actuarial roles at Fedsure Health, Alexander Forbes and Liberty Life. He was appointed to the role of Group Strategic Planning Executive in July 2018 and moved to his current role in April 2024.

André has significantly contributed to primary healthcare. His work in child health, immunization programmes, and HIV/AIDS was recognised with the Nelson Mandela Scholarship in 2001. He joined Life Healthcare in 2003 holding various roles in pharmacy and hospital operations. His tenure culminated in the role of GM: Business Operations (Inland). In 2019, André transitioned to the funder relations team, assuming the role of the executive responsible for funders, patient services, and health policy. He was enrolled as the chairperson of the Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA) in 2021. André was appointed to his current executive management role in April 2024.

Asanda completed her training contract at Grant Thornton Kessel Feinstein in 2005 and qualified as a chartered accountant in 2008. After completing her training contract, she joined the Auditor General and subsequently went on to establish the Internal Audit Function at the University of Fort Hare. She joined PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc in 2008 and went on to perform various roles including governance, risk and compliance, and finance transformation. She joined Life Healthcare in 2021 as General Manager: Group Finance. She was appointed to the executive management in April 2024.

Pennie has held many senior roles within Life Healthcare over a period of 14 years from 2001 to 2015 including that of Business Efficiency Manager. In October 2018 she re-joined Life Healthcare in the role of Business Optimisation Lead after serving as General Manager – Business Process Improvement within the healthcare industry for a period of three years. She was promoted to the role of General Manager: Business Impact in 2019. She is an lnstitute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators graduate and is skilled in developing and leading large scale business process improvement projects including organisational and system redesign, financial modelling, execution, and change management. She has a strong history of delivering operational efficiencies and leveraging value in hospital administration processes through disruption and innovative solutions. Pennie was appointed to the position of Business Impact, Marketing and Life Health Solutions Executive – SA in August 2021, and moved to her current role in April 2024.

David has over 30 years’ experience in running businesses, operations, project management and system implementations across the banking, insurance and asset management industries. This included regional and business responsibility into Africa. David joined Life Healthcare in 2021 as IT service delivery manager with the responsibility of managing the Cloud migration project and thereafter progressed to the Head of Solution Delivery. He was appointed to the role of Chief Information Officer in July 2023.

Kurt has been with the Group since 2006. Although, having served in regional and hospital operations for part of his tenure, he has held the primary position of Regional Financial Manager of the coastal division. In this role, he has served on many of the Group’s subsidiary and associate boards. Kurt was appointed as Business Operations Executive – SA in 2016 and Business Integration Executive – SA in September 2018. He took up the role of Business Operations Executive - Diagnostic Imaging and Oncology in January 2020 and his current role in August 2021.