Board and management

Our Board commits itself to the highest standards of corporate governance. These standards centre around good corporate governance, business integrity and ethics.

The Board sets the tone and instils a culture of integrity and compliance throughout the Group. Famous Brands’ Board is responsible for governance, setting the strategy and monitoring performance against strategic goals.

The directors are satisfied that Famous Brands complies substantially with the principles and spirit of King IV.

Board of Directors and Executive Management

as at 28 February 2025

Non-executive directors

Christopher Boulle

Christopher Boulle (54)

Independent non-executive Chairman
BCom, LLB, LLM

Chris is a commercial, corporate finance, tax and trust attorney. His expertise includes cross-border transactions, mergers and acquisitions, Black economic empowerment transactions and advising on local and international stock exchange listings. He has over two decades of experience as a non-executive director of listed companies.

Area of expertise
Law, business, governance, strategy, risk and corporate finance.

Alexander Komape Maditse

Alexander (Alex) Komape Maditse (63)

Lead independent director
BProc, LLB, LLM, H.Dip (Company Law)

Alex is an admitted attorney and the CEO of Copper Moon Trading Pty Limited. He serves as a director on the boards and committees of several listed companies. He was previously the Country Manager for Coca-Cola East and Central Africa and the Franchise Operations Director for Coca-Cola SA.

Area of expertise
Law, business, governance, strategy, franchising, management and operations.

Other directorships

  • African Rainbow Minerals Limited
  • The Bidvest Group Limited
  • Murray & Roberts
  • Netcare Limited
Nicolaos (Nik) Halamandaris

Nicolaos (Nik) Halamandaris (51)

Non-executive director
B.Bus Science (Hons)

Nik has extensive food services experience, having served as a franchise partner for many of the Group’s mainstream brands for over 20 years until 2010. He is the executive director of several non-listed property development and construction companies, where he is primarily responsible for strategy and new business development.

Area of expertise
General management, strategy, franchise management, food services and property management.

Busisiwe Mathe

Busisiwe Mathe (46)

Independent non-executive director
BCom (Acc), Higher Diploma in Accounting, CA(SA), Certified Director

Busisiwe was the Africa Cybersecurity and Data Privacy leader and the Chairperson of the South African Governing Board & member of the Africa Governance Board at PwC. She is a qualified chartered accountant, certified director and has expertise as a consultant in risk, audit, digital transformation, cybersecurity and data across different sectors.

Area of expertise
Governance, risk management, financial management, operations and technology, strategy, cybersecurity, data privacy and stakeholder management.

Other directorship

  • MTN Côte d’Ivoire
  • Netcare Limited

Thabo Mosololi

Thabo Mosololi (56)

Independent non-executive director
BCom (Hons), MAP, EDP CA(SA)

Thabo has held several leadership positions, including at Tsogo Sun and Sun International, and has served on the Audit Committee and Board of Edcon Holdings, Telkom and MC Mining Ltd.

Area of expertise
Governance, risk management, financial management, audit and stakeholder engagement.

Other directorships

  • Truworths Limited
  • Pan-African Resources Limited
William Mzimba

William Mzimba (57)

Independent non-executive director
MBA, BA (Hons) Business, Diploma in Datametrics (Computer Science)

William was the CEO of Vodacom Business, a member of the Vodacom Group Executive Committee, and a Board Member of Vodacom South Africa and IoT.NXT as well as the Chairman of Nexio. Prior to that, he was the CEO and Chairman of Accenture in Africa for 12 years.

Area of expertise
Governance, strategy, financial management, stakeholder engagement, management, operations and technology.

Fagmeedah Petersen-Cook

Fagmeedah Petersen-Cook (50)

Independent non-executive director
BBusSc (Actuarial Science), CD(SA)

Fagmeedah currently serves as a non-executive director for a diverse range of companies, where she applies her strategic thinking and well-developed risk understanding. She is a CD(SA) Charterholder, a certified director, and an experienced investment professional. She has held C-suite roles in the public and private sectors. Fagmeedah’s professional career as an actuary spans 27 years.

Area of expertise
General management, actuarial science, risk management, strategy, investments and governance.

Other directorships

  • ABSA Financial Services Group
  • Pepkor
  • Escap
  • Africa Re
  • 3SixtyLife – Curator

  1. Audit and Risk
  2. Investment Committee
  3. Nomination Committee
  4. Remuneration Committee
  5. Social and Ethics

Executive directors and members of Executive Management

Darren Hele

Darren Hele (55)

Chief Executive Officer
Bcom

Darren began his career at Pleasure Foods Limited while completing a BCom. After participating in the management buy-out of Pleasure Foods in 1996, he held executive roles at Whistle Stop and Wimpy before joining Famous Brands in 2003. He was the Managing Director of both Wimpy in SA and Wimpy UK.

Darren was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the franchising division in 2011 and subsequently became the Group’s Chief Operating Officer in 2013. In 2014, Darren assumed the role of CEO of Food Services and was appointed the Group’s CEO in 2016.

Area of expertise
General management, franchise management, marketing, strategy and stakeholder relationships.

Nelisiwe Shiluvana

Nelisiwe Shiluvana (46)

Group Financial Director
BCom (Honours), CA(SA), ACMA, CGMA

Nelisiwe has extensive experience in commerce and consulting. She joined Famous Brands in 2021 as Group Finance Executive.

She was a partner in consulting at a Big four audit firm for six years. Prior to her consulting role, she was a Senior Manager at Telkom SA in statutory reporting and operations finance.

Area of expertise
Financial management and accounting, financial controls, audit and stakeholder management.

Executive Management

Celeste Appollis

Celeste Appollis (54)

Company Secretary and Head of Legal
BA LLB H.Dip. (Company Law)
Derrian Nadauld

Derrian Nadauld (52)

Chief Operating Officer – Leading Brands
NDip Catering Management and
Certificate Marketing Management
Jabulani Mahange

Jabulani Mahange (65)

Group HR Executive
BA, BED (Wits), PDM (Wits), MBL (SA)
Ntando Ndaba

Ntando Ndaba (40)

Group Risk Executive
NDip Internal Audit BTech Degree Internal Audit IEDP (WBS)
Andrew Mundell

Andrew Mundell (57)

Group Executive – Supply Chain
BSc Agric (Hons), MBA (UCT)
Philip Smith

JP Claassen (35)

Group IT Executive
National Certificate: IT Systems Support (SAQA) Certificate in IT Engineering
Microsoft certifications (MCITP, MCSA, MCTS, MCP)