Estienne de Klerk is a qualified Chartered Accountant with 25 years’ experience in the listed property sector. During the 25 years, he has been involved in various corporate action such as take-overs, mergers and acquisitions, transformation deals and capital raises. De Klerk started his career at Eskom Durban Distribution in a marketing role. In 2002, he joined the Investec Property Group’s property fund management business where he was appointed Fund Manager and Executive Director of Metboard. Later on, he became Executive Director and Group Managing Director of Growthpoint before being appointed Chief Executive Officer (SA). Estienne is Chairman of the SA REIT Association and a longstanding member where he served as Chairman of the Taxation and Regulatory Committee since SAREIT’s inception. He is a former President of the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) and represented the industry in the Property Sector Charter negotiations.

Romy Maree is a Chartered Accountant with 10 years of experience in the finance field and currently holds the post of Finance Executive at Dipula Property Fund, a real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE).

Her role includes Group financial statements and integrated report preparation, Group budget planning, Management of the operational finance team, function Internal control evaluation AND Regulatory compliance.

Romy’s journey began as an Audit Senior and Training Accountant with Mazars Cape Town in 2013, moving on to Audit senior specialising in the Real Estate Managing audit process at Mazars USA LLP – NYC in|2019 and progressed to Senior Audit Manager at Mazars Gauteng by 2019.  Romy gained analytic and meticulous chartered accounting experience in the audit field of the property sector and the listed REIT environment and is a highly focused individual who displays sound technical ability and up-to-date tax knowledge. Romy skill as a team leader with exceptional communication and interpersonal skills has driven her forward to the point of being elected as the SA REIT treasurer from 2024.

Romy holds a Bachelor of Accounting Science from the University of South Africa. She came in the top 10 with her postgraduate diploma in Accounting from the University of the Western Cape. Romy is a registered Chartered Accountant and is awaiting her Registered Auditor accreditation from  The Independent Regulating Board of Auditors.

Leon was appointed as financial director and to the board in October 2014 and elected as chief operating officer in February 2021. He is responsible for all aspects of the asset and property management of the business, which includes the general administration of the property portfolio.

Leon Kok is a Chartered Accountant (SA) with an excellent blend of operational experience, sound business acumen and technical accounting knowledge. He joined Redefine in 2014 after a 13-year career at Peermont Global Limited. Prior to this, Leon completed his articles. He remained with KPMG until 2000, after which he moved to Brait SA as Group Financial Manager and then to Emperors Palace as Chief Financial Officer until 2006.

Gerald Völkel is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ experience. Prior to being appointed Financial Director and Executive Director of Growthpoint Properties in 2013, he spent 12 years at JD Group Limited where he worked as Group Financial Director and later as Chief Financial Officer.

Gerald began his career in the auditing industry, where he was an Audit Partner of Ernst & Young for four years.

BA LLB (University of the Witwatersrand)

In July 2009, Tracey was appointed Chief Legal Officer of Redefine Properties.

She specialises in property law and real estate, but in her capacity as Chief Legal Officer, she covers a very broad spectrum of legal practice is engaged with and has responsibilities and experience in the legal, operational, and strategic goals of the company.

Her experience includes banking and corporate finance, transformation, empowerment and enterprise development initiatives, black economic empowerment, general commercial law, local and international property transactions, M&A, Competition Commission legislation, regulatory law, labour law, and business crime/investigation.

In addition to her experience in the South African market, she is, and has been involved in and gained experience in the international corporate, strategic, legal, operational, and regulatory operations of Redefine Properties.

Prior to joining Redefine, Tracey specialised in litigation as a partner in a large legal firm and thereafter established her practice.

Tracey was appointed to Madison Property Fund Managers as group legal advisor to Madison, ApexHi Properties Limited, Outward Investments (Proprietary) Limited, and their subsidiaries in 2008.

He is an admitted attorney with degrees in business management and law and a postgraduate diploma in property development and management. Danny is the Human Capital and Transformation manager for the Attacq Group, where he has been employed for a decade.

He is passionate about purpose-driven transformation and promotes diversity and inclusion in the workplace and the real estate industry.

B Bus Sci (Finance Hons), FCA (ICAEW), PLD (Harvard Business School)

Having joined the Investec Property Fund’s (now Burstone) executive management team in August 2012, Andrew has been instrumental in growing the Fund from R2bn of local assets into an integrated international real estate business with currently c.R35bn GAV under management and c.R5bn third-party capital under management across South Africa, Europe and Australia.

Andrew successfully led the process of internalising the Fund’s asset management functions in South Africa and Europe, culminating in rebranding the Investec Property Fund to the Burstone Group in October 2023.  Andrew fulfilled the role of Chief Financial Officer from August 2015 until 1 December 2018, when he became Chief Executive Officer of the Fund. This position is a culmination of Andrew’s commercial, corporate finance and property industry experience, leveraging his skill as a chartered accountant for the benefit of the Fund through all aspects of M&A opportunities, corporate activity, financial structuring and asset positioning to ensure consistent business growth, efficient capital recycling and industry-leading returns.

Before this, Andrew spent eight years in London, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, worked in corporate finance, and later headed up the Caesars Entertainment UK team responsible for driving profitability and rolling out new business opportunities across the EMEA region.

Raj Nana completed his bachelor’s degree in Accounting at the University of Witwatersrand and served his articles with the FirstRand group.

During his career in investment banking, Raj was employed at RMB and Barclays Africa Group Limited where he worked in the sectors of property finance, corporate debt and acquisition and leveraged finance.

Prior to joining Attacq in April 2014, Raj was a leveraged finance transactor. Raj joined Attacq’s Executive Committee on the 1st April 2016 and was appointed as the Attacq Group, Chief Financial Officer, in June 2018.

Ian Vorster completed articles at PKF Johannesburg Inc and qualified as a chartered accountant in 2006. In 2007 he joined the PKF Corporate Division, where he was appointed a partner in 2009. Following the PKF and Grant Thornton Johannesburg merger in 2015 Ian was appointed the Head of the Grant Thornton Corporate Finance Division.

Vorster has extensive experience in due diligence investigations, valuations, fairness opinions – in terms of the Companies Act and the JSE – and Reporting Accountants’ work in respect of companies listed on the JSE.

Jenna Sprenger joined the Investec Property Fund in 2014 and subsequently formed part of the Fund’s executive management team and later the Board of Directors as CFO. In December 2020 she made a decision to change roles to focus on and manage the Fund’s balance sheet and treasury function across South Africa and Europe. She is also responsible for the roll out of ESG strategy and direction. She has played an integral role in the growth of the business to an asset base of R25bn across multiple geographies including South Africa, Australia, the UK and most significantly the investment into the €1bn Pan-European Logistics platform. Prior to joining the Fund, Jenna was the Financial Manager at Annuity Properties Limited, which she joined shortly after it listed until its sale to Redefine Properties. Post-graduation, Jenna completed her accounting articles and gained experience at KPMG Johannesburg and KPMG New York.

He advises on M&A transactions, general corporate law, infrastructure projects, joint ventures, partnerships, private equity, corporate restructuring, due diligence, commercial law and real estate transactions. In addition, he acts for sponsors, funders and investors in the energy and infrastructure space.

Lesley joined Redefine Properties in 2010, was promoted to head of finance in 2015 and became head of corporate finance and investor relations in 2019. She plays a pivotal role in identifying and pursuing value-add opportunities to enhance the sustainable financial performance of the company.

She also serves as a member of the Management Committee and a standing invitee to the Executive Committee meetings.

Among many others, her core responsibilities include producing and coordinating interim and year-end financial statements, integrated reports and other reports for the company and its subsidiaries and ensuring strict compliance with IFRS and Johannesburg Stock Exchange requirements.

Since launching her career as an Audit manager at Grant Thornton Johannesburg in 2007, Lesley has honed her senior leadership skills by supervising financial managers within the company and property management finance areas.

Monica Muller completed her articles at Deloitte where after she qualified as a chartered accountant. While working at Deloitte, she was then appointed Manager in the audit division in 2010 and was later promoted to Senior Manager in 2012.

She joined Resilient in October 2013 as a Financial Manager and was appointed as the CFO in March 2020.

Laurence obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Witwatersrand in 1993 and his bachelor’s in Accounting in 1995 from UNISA. He has more than sixteen years’ experience in listed property asset management in South Africa, having previously served as CFO of retail-focused REIT Hyprop Investments from 2003 to 2018. Cohen joined Vukile in March 2019 and was appointed to the board as CFO in July 2019.

Laurence has extensive experience in various aspects of property asset management, including REIT regulation, IFRS and JSE reporting, deal structuring, debt and treasury management and investor relations. He was instrumental in the publication of the first BPR and previously chaired the Accounting and JSE Committee and served on its Executive Committee.

Henry Kuhn is a qualified chartered accountant who after being involved in a number of property company audits during his articles pursued his passion for property in joining the Atterbury Property Group. Since then, he joined the Attacq Limited group assisting the company with the listing in 2013 as well as conversion to a REIT in 2018. He is currently performing the role of Group Financial Manager for the Attacq Group.

Conor has also been involved in setting up a number of public benefit organisations (charities) and obtaining tax exempt status for such organizations from the Tax Exemption Unit.

Conor currently serves as Chairperson of the Tax Board in South Africa, Gauteng division, a five year appointment.

Riaan Gous has an LLB and was previously a director of one of the predecessor firms of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc. where he gained extensive exposure to real estate transactions. He then spent some 10 years as an executive director of the Arabella Group and was actively involved in the development of their property portfolio.

His legal knowledge in the property sector has proven invaluable in the listing process and the many significant transaction Equites has concluded to date.

Samantha Jardine joined Growthpoint in 2014. She was a practising attorney and conveyancer in her earlier career and has been involved in the property industry for over 20 years. She has become a specialist in all aspects of property law, including leasing, landlord and tenant law, conveyancing, developments, and competition law.

Desirée Nafte joined Hyprop in 2011, and before that, she was a practising attorney.

Nafte entered the commercial property industry in 2001 as a Legal Advisor, specialising in property law as well as landlord and tenant law.

Nazeem Ebrahim has a B.Soc.Sci. and a B. Proc and in 1996 was admitted as an Attorney to the High Court of South Africa. He has been involved with the Board of Oasis Group Holdings in an advisory capacity since its inception in 1997.

Nazeem’s professional experience includes over twenty years of business and professional legal practice. He is an official member of the Industry Supervision Standing Committee of the Association of Collective Investments of South Africa. He has served on the Board of the Institute of Retirement Funds, the Association of Collective Investment Schemes, and the Investment Managers Association of South Africa. Ebrahim completed formal qualifications from the Graduate School of Business Administration of the University of Witwatersrand which qualifies him to serve as a Director on the ALT X Board of the JSE.

Johan advises the REIT sector, and his experience includes advising some of the largest commercial property developments and mergers in the REIT sector in South Africa over the last few years.

With more than 30 years of extensive experience as a commercial attorney in the real estate sector, he acts for numerous clients in South Africa. His work in this area consists of all aspects of real estate work, including conveyancing and notarial work, commercial property developments, sectional title schemes, registration of leases, servitudes and mortgage and notarial bonds for lenders in renewable energy projects, property legal, due diligence investigations and clients in the mining and manufacturing industries.

Within competition law, Johan works with clients from a broad range of sectors. He prepares merger notifications to the South African competition authorities, including in the steel, manufacturing, property management services and REIT sectors; provides compliance advice and training to clients; and provides opinions on competition law considerations in the consumer goods, agricultural services and aviation sectors.

Janke’s experience includes advising on complex commercial real estate transactions and corporate and commercial advice concerning sectional title developments, large intra-group restructures, the sale of commercial letting enterprises and real security transactions. These include, amongst other things, the registration of mortgage bonds, notarial bonds, ship and aircraft mortgages and the cancellation and cession of these bonds.

She has broad experience in commercial real estate transactions and corporate law, including drafting sale agreements, co-ownership agreements, shareholder agreements, bespoke MOIs and commercial lease agreements.

Before joining Attacq, Pierre spent seven years with First National Bank as a Dealmaker in New Business Acquisitions and Commercial Property Finance in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to originating new commercial property finance business, he assisted the FNB African subsidiaries in designing solutions for clients, obtaining approval from the relevant credit committees, and drafting and implementing their commercial property finance risk management policies.

He has a proven track record of being a part of legal teams advising some of the largest commercial and residential property developers and REITs in South Africa over the last few years.

Jacques’ work in the field of law consists of all aspects of real estate work, including conveyancing, property finance, commercial property developments, renewable energy project developments (infrastructure and development), sectional title schemes, retirement villages, mergers and acquisitions.

Yusuf Mowlana holds a Bachelor of Business Science and is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst. He is currently responsible for all property funds at Prudential Investment Managers. Additionally, Yusuf co-manages the Prudential Equity Fund and the institutional general equity funds for South African and Namibian clients.

Mowlana spent the first five and half years of his investment career at Allan Gray, covering companies across various sectors, before joining Prudential in October 2018. Prior to that, he worked at Deloitte, where he completed his articles.

Darren Wilder is currently the CEO at Fairvest Property Holdings Limited and has over 30 years’ experience in all aspects of the property industry. His various portfolios include Asset Management, Property Management, Leasing, Property Development and Management. He worked for Seeff Properties in various positions from 1991 until 1997. In 1997 he was appointed to the board of the then JSE-listed company, Capital Alliance Properties, and was a participant in its management buy-out. Wilder was part of the team that listed Spearhead Property group on the JSE and was appointed COO in 1999. Darren’s work experience also includes National Leasing Director for Madison Properties, Business Development Director of the V&A Waterfront and a Consultant to the Chief Executive Officer of the V&A Waterfront.