Prof Gubela Mji

Gubela Mji (PhD) is a Professor at Stellenbosch University and the Director of the Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies. She also chairs the African Network for Evidence- to- Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) and the President for the Association for the Physically Disabled for the Cape Town Region. She has published academic papers in leading journals, chapters, and a book in acclaimed leading publishers. She also has delivered keynote presentations at prestigious international conferences. She has been invited to participate in dialogue and decision making by national, regional, and international leading decision makers in the development of indigenous, international, and global health and rehabilitation frameworks. She supports provincial and national government in key decision making that relate to disability and rehabilitation policies. She gives advice in the development of models of best practice for disability and rehabilitation both at local and regional arenas and consult with the UN, WHO and NGO agencies for the development of programmes that advance the lives of person with disabilities.

Hillary Lane

Hillary Lane has been the coordinator of AfriNEAD for the last 9 years. Her life has been about this journey of life, about putting one foot in front of the other; no mean feat when you have been born with Cerebral Palsy, your parents having been told you might never walk, only to start walking when you were four and a half years old, but before that, rolling or ‘bunny hopping’ on my knees to start my journey!

Right from the start I have been on a ‘journey’ of discovery! I have walked in my parent’s footsteps, followed their example and guidance; following a spiritual path both Christian and then Eastern. I have walked in the mountains of South Africa; I have walked in the great Cathedrals of England and Florence along the sands in New Zealand. Europe and America; along the corridors of school, down the aisle, around the nursery, the New York marathon, into the office and home again and then some more!!!

Mr ‘Andrew’ Kudakwashe ‘AK’ Dube

Mr AK Dube’s background is in Business Studies with an MBA from Business School Netherlands. He has over thirty-five years’ experience in disability, human rights and development work within Africa and internationally. He is presently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Africa Disability Alliance (ADA).

He is a Member: African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and Working Group on Older Persons and Persons with disabilities and of the Presidential Working Group on Disability (PWGD)-South Africa.

He was appointed by Minister of Justice and Correctional Services in South Africa to and chairs the Advisory Committee: Domestication of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), South Africa being implemented by the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC).
AK has several memberships of professional and business bodies including the Institute of Business Advisors and a Business Panel of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

He has expertise and experience of drafting/ domesticating treaties/ policies/ legislation and strategies. He is an experienced primary and secondary researcher; and provides a service mix that includes participatory planning, management of, and resource mobilisation for, development programmes across all sectors. He has authored and co-edited several books and articles.

Mr Anthony Ghillino

Anthony Ghillino is the current Chairperson of the Western Cape Network on Disability and General Manager of the QuadPara Association Western Cape.  In earlier years Anthony was a talented cricketer, representing his province at age-group level until, almost 30 years ago and at the age of 16, a motor vehicle accident resulted in Anthony dislocating and compressing the 4th vertebrae of his spinal cord. The result was a severed spinal cord, medically  diagnosed as a  C4 quadriplegic, the injury left Anthony paralysed from the neck down.

Driving his motorised wheelchair with his chin and using voice-activated software to operate his computer, Anthony has slowly developed himself, including a management course at Cape Peninsula University of Technology and various disability sector specific courses, workshops and training opportunities. Anthony has risen through the structures of the disability sector to the point where he today plays a leading role in the sector in the Western Cape. He is employed in the position of General Manager of the QuadPara Association Western Cape, an organisation of wheelchair users that strive to improve the lives of and fight for the rights of quadriplegics and paraplegics. Anthony is in his 2nd term as Chair of the Western Cape Network on Disability and is also the current vice-chair of the QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA). Anthony has served on various boards and committees in the sector, including chairing the Facility Board of the Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre for a number of years. Improving access to health care and transport  for  people with disabilities are 2 particular areas that Anthony is passionate about, but raising awareness about disability in the community and working on the ground with those most in need is what he enjoys most about his job.

Keen to contribute to the development of his community, Anthony is a Rotarian, however he remains at his happiest when he is spending time with his family and friends, close to the ocean or watching cricket at his 2nd home, Newlands Cricket Ground.

Dr Marcia Lyner-Cleophas

Dr Marcia Lyner-Cleophas is the head of the Disability Unit at Stellenbosch University. She started up the Unit in 2007 and this year, it is 13 years old. Prior to this, she worked specifically as an educational psychologist at the Centre for Student Counselling and Development, Division for Student Affairs. For the 6th AfriNEAD conference, she  is the chairperson of the planning committee. She has worked as an educational psychologist in a special school for hearing impaired and Deaf students  in Khayelitsha as well as taught English in high school in Cape Town. She hails from a family where her sister had a disability – cerebral palsy. Her vision is to create a universally accessible world for all people, for real inclusion and acceptance of  our  shared humanity and varying abilities and talents. Marcia describes herself as vibrant, compassionate, dedicated and an old-soul. She expressed what COVID-19 as “Ever-changing”.

Dr Lieketseng Ned

Dr Lieketseng Ned is an Occupational Therapist (BSc OT, UWC) with an MPhil in Disability Studies (UCT) and a PhD in Health Sciences Rehabilitation (SU).

She is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Disability & Rehabilitation Studies within the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University. She convenes the Post Graduate Diploma in Disability and Rehabilitation and the short course portfolio. Her research interests are critical disability studies and community integration, community-based rehabilitation, Indigenous knowledges and methodologies, and decolonial health and education.

Marguerite Schneider

Marguerite Schneider (PhD) is a retired associate professor of the Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, University of Cape Town. Her early career was in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology before moving into broader social science research focusing on disability studies and mental health. She is currently leading the South African work on the STRiDE project which looks at strengthening responses to dementia in developing countries. She has published on disability measurement, the intersection of disability, poverty and social protection, and in mental health and dementia. She has been and is currently an active member of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics since 2002 and is the co-chair of the Mental Health measures workgroup.

Arne H Eide

Arne H Eide is Chief Scientist at SINTEF Technology and Society, Norway, Professor at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology, and previously Guest Professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He has more than 20 years of experience in research on disability and poverty, social participation, community-based rehabilitation and studies on living conditions in low-income countries, mostly in Africa, but also in the Middle East and in Asia. Eide has been engaged in Expert Committees on Disability statistics, Disability and Development and on Provision of assistive technology to low-income contexts by United Nations and World Health Organisation. He has published widely in the field of disability research and has contributed to the World Report on Disability as well as the 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report. Arne described himself as flexible, goal-oriented, professional, experienced and patient. HE expressed COVID-19 as “Loss”.

Leslie Swartz

Leslie Swartz is a clinical psychologist and he holds a PhD in Psychology from University of Cape Town and a PhD in English from Stellenbosch University. He is a professor of psychology at Stellenbosch. His work focusses on mental health and disability rights and access. Leslie was founding editor-in-chief of African Journal of Disability and is currently editor-in-chief of South African Journal of Science. He has received a number of awards for his work, including the Academy of Science of South Africa Science-for-Society Gold Medal. He served as Lead Research Partner for the Southern African Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) Research Programme. Apart from being a prolific academic author and editor (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1741-5897), Leslie also writes for more popular audiences. His first memoir, Able- Bodied (Zebra Press, 2011) explores disability politics and issues in southern Africa, and his more recent memoir, How I Lost My Mother (Wits University Press, 2021) deals in part with care issues and exploitation of care work in southern Africa.

Mzolisi Ka-Toni

Mzolisi Ka-Ka-Ntoni is a Disability practitioner and activist with a wide range of experience in disability, community and organisational development. A seasoned trainer, Facilitator, Director, and part time lecturer/educator.To Mzolisi Education should stress learning more than teaching. Where possible animators should create a learning situation where adults can discover answers and solutions for themselves COVID-19 meant Quarantined to Mzolisi.

Tsitsi Chataika

Prof Tsitsi Chataika is the Associate Professor, Inclusive Education and Disability Studies in the Department of Educational Foundations, University of Zimbabwe. She is also a visiting scholar at the University of Sheffield (UK) at the ‘ihuman Centre’, and The University of Witwatersrand (South Africa). Her research interests are in disability inclusion and inclusive education. She is a United Nations Disability Expert Panel Team Member. Prof Chataika’s many publications include the 2019 Outstanding Global Taylor & Francis Award Winner in the Social Sciences, ‘The Routledge Handbook of Disability Activism’, which is co-edited. She is the AfriNEAD’s country working group coordinator in Zimbabwe

Anthony Edusei

Professor Anthony Kwaku Edusei is a Professor in Health Promotion, Education and Disability in the School of Public Health, KNUST, Ghana, where he has served as the Vice Dean, and Head of the Department of Health Promotion and Disability Studies. He has previously been the Head of the Department of Community Health in the School of Medical Sciences on two occasions. He was the architect and played a key role in the establishment of the Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies (CEDRES) at KNUST, where both graduate and undergraduate students are trained in Disability, Rehabilitation and Development. He holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry (Kumasi), MSc. Applied Human Nutrition (Nairobi), MPH (Liverpool) and PhD Human Nutrition (Ghana). He has worked at KNUST for over 26 years, serving in various capacities in realizing its mandate as a university. Currently he is the Coordinator for the Office of Persons with Disability at KNUST, seeing to the full implementation of the university’s Disability Policy, which he contributed in developing. He served in the Ghana National Committee that drafted the Inclusive Education Policy document, and currently serves on the National Steering Committee seeing to its implementation nationwide. He has participated in many national and international conferences at which he made presentations. He has 45 publications covering a wide range of public health disciplines, including Disability, in high impact and peer reviewed journals. He is a recipient of NUFFIC, Swiss and Commonwealth Fellowships for Professional Development.

Nondwe Mlenzana

Nondwe Bongokazi Mlenzana, PT, Masters, PhD.  Dr. Mlenzana is an Associate Professor at the University of the Western Cape, in the Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences. Currently she is the undergraduate and post-graduate lecturer of the Physiotherapy Department at the University of the Western Cape.  Her experience and interest focuses on the Process of Care of patients at the Rehabilitation Centres in the Western Cape. She developed a Rehabilitation Model that would be presented to the Department of Health as a model for the implementation of Rehabilitation Services. In addition, she has a strong focus on disability issues and identification of gaps within delivery of services at different levels of health care. Nondwe describes herself as passionate, loving, caring, laidback and approachable. She expressed COVID-19 as “Content”.

Gillian Moses

Gillian Moses a Social Worker by profession. She has a BSoc Science Social Development Honours 1999. She also did Senior Management Certificate 2015 and an Advance Health Management Diploma Rape Crisis Counselling Course. She completed Public Relations Diploma, Research Certificate, HIV and AIDs Peer Educator/Counsellor.  In 2019, she graduated with a Post Graduate Diploma in Disability Studies (UCT). Since 2014- till present,  National Programmes Manager/Acting CEO  – DPSA Managers Nationally & Management of DPSA Provincial.

Chioma Ohajunwa

Dr Ohajunwa is a Postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Rehabilitation Studies at Stellenbosch University. Her research interests are in the areas of, Health, wellbeing and Spirituality, Policy development and Indigenous Knowledge systems, disability education, transformation and transculturality. Chioma is the Vice president, Bhabhisana NGO Board, Chair – Advancing Disability Inclusive Research in Africa (ADIRA) Working Groups PhD Programme and a board member of African Network for Evidence-to-Action on Disability (AfriNEAD). Chioma describes herself as compassionate, lifelong learner. Optimistic, motivated and determined. She expressed COVID-19 as a “Curveball”.

Callista Kahonde

Dr Callista Kahonde is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, Stellenbosch University. She completed a PhD in Disability Studies in 2017 from the University of Cape Town. Dr Kahonde is a passionate advocate and researcher with main interests in care, community and family living for people with intellectual disabilities. She is involved in life skills and sexuality training of adults with intellectual disabilities, families, and service providers. She has published several peer reviewed articles and three book chapters mostly on intellectual disability, sexuality, and lifelong family care. Currently, she is working on a project exploring innovative ways for sexuality education and ease of communication of sexual abuse and risk by persons with intellectual disabilities. Calista describes herself as reflective and attentive to detail. She expressed COVID-19 as “Change”.

Prof Mac MacLachlan

Malcolm MacLachlan is the Clinical Lead for Disability Services in the Irish Health Service and Professor of Psychology and Social Inclusion , Maynooth University. Since 2014 he has served as Research and Innovation Coordinator for WHO’s Assistive Technology Programme (GATE)and from 2014 – 2019 he was the knowledge Management Lead for the United Nations Partnership for the Rights of Persons with Disability.

Sr. Frances Emily Owusu-Ansah

Sr. Frances Emily Owusu-Ansah (PhD) is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Behavioural Sciences at the School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST); and currently serving as the Head of the Department. Trained in Canada (BA, Psychology, STFX) and the United States of America (MSc, Community & Clinical Psychology, FAMU), she obtained a doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2002 (FSU) and returned to Ghana where she lives and serves in several institutional and national roles including hospital (KATH) governing board membership.  Her research focus and interests include subjective wellbeing, perceptions of control, adult psychotherapy issues, disability and indigenous knowledge systems. 

Nora Groce

Professor Nora Ellen Groce is the Chair and Director of the International Disability Research Centre at University College London. She is a medical anthropologist, working in global health and international development, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations and persons with disabilities. Professor Groce served on the faculties of Harvard (1983-1990) and helped found and direct the Global Health Program at Yale University (1990-2008) before joining University College London in 2008, as the Leonard Cheshire Chair. She has published extensively and serves as an advisor for a number of UN agencies, governments, non-governmental organisations and disabled peoples organisations.

Marlene Le Roux

As the current Artscape CEO, my passion is not simply to use Arts and Culture to empower and enable disadvantaged groups but to make a difference in another human being’s life. I am a driven person with a Masters of Philosophy in Disability Studies from UCT and an Honorary Doctorate in Education from CPUT. I completed many tertiary programmes, like the Women in Leadership Programme at the UCT Graduate School of Business. I obtained my Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education as well as a Higher Diploma in Education at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). I also have a Diploma in Senior Management obtained at the University of Stellenbosch. 

Awards include the Fair Saturday Award, awarded in Bilbao, Spain as an advocate for human rights, The Commonwealth’s Point of Light Award, In recognition of exceptional service promoting disability rights, signed by Her Majesty The Queen of England (February 2018); Western Cape Provincial Government Awards: Ministerial Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts and Disability (2017 and 2018); The Desmond Tutu Legendary Award (2001) and the Shoprite/Checkers Woman of the Year – Art Category (1998), among others. 

Professional associations and involvement currently include the following: Council member of the University of Cape Town (UCT) – (current); Chairperson of the Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuur Vereniging (ATKV) – (current); Chairperson of Chrysalis Youth Academy (2014 – current); Stellenbosch Women Alumnae Network (SWAN), the initiative brings women graduates together through mentorship programmes, leadership training and round-table discussions.  Member of the International Advisory Board of Africa Open Institute (AOI) – (current); Co-founder of WAND (Women’s Achievement Network for Disability) 

Publications include: Conceptualizing and editing a book on women with disability titled “Look at Me”. Compiled a book called “Place in the Sun” about the icons of Mitchell’s Plain and conceptualized and edited a book titled “Wellington se Klopse”.