Contributors

Lebo Madiba has headed up three public relations agencies in her career.
She has close on 15 years experience working as a communications professional and has been involved in providing strategic counsel , government relations and reputation management services to some of the country’s blue chip companies.
Her earlier posts include that of Communications Specialist for FNB Internet Banking. Lebo has been paramount to the conceptualisation and implementation of some of SA’s most memorable campaigns for clients such as Faritec, Bonitas Medical Fund, National Empowerment Fund, Grindrod Bank, Novo Nordisk, UBS and Ericsson South Africa amongst others.
Lebo brings considerable experience and a broad network of media and business contacts maintained through her career. She offers clients a rare mix of business and media insight which ensures that she is able to offer strategy that resonates both with client’s business objectives and media agendas.
She was recognised by the Mail & Guardian Newspaper in 2007 as one of “100 Young South Africans you must Take to Lunch” , has judged the annual ADmag Awards which recognise excellence in magazine publishing and is a regular guest lecturer at the University of Pretoria.

Robyn believes in giving her clients exceptional service. Beyond only offering a fast turn-around time in response to her clients’ needs, she works closely with her clients to evaluate all the options at their disposal to reach the best possible commercial solution. She enjoys the fact that owning a boutique practice allows her to have the flexibility to provide a specialised service to her clients.

Robyn has a strong background in insolvency law, forged through having worked at Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs for 5 years in their insolvency, business rescue and debt recovery unit. Acting for liquidators of several large companies in liquidation has given her experience in a broad range of insolvency-related work pertaining to South African companies and in cross-border insolvencies.

In representing creditors of companies in liquidation, Robyn has formulated proofs of claim, perfected securities and instituted liquidation proceedings on various bases. She has also formulated and lodged objections to liquidation and distribution accounts and instituted review proceedings on behalf of both creditors of companies in liquidation, and for liquidators.

Robyn’s training in a large law firm has taught her how to deal with complex and difficult problems and transactions. As a niche practitioner, she is able to put this training into practice in a way that adds value to each client without the attendant costs and constraints of a large law firm.

In addition to her insolvency experience, Robyn has experience in general commercial drafting and advising. She gained this experience through being seconded as a legal advisor into the Corporate and Transactional Banking division of one of South Africa’s largest banks. Robyn has experience in drafting a wide range of agreements, including services agreements, share holder agreements and sale of business agreements. She has assisted clients in the formulating of empowerment structures.

Robyn is dedicated to maintaining an environment where the pursuit of excellence, team work and service encourages staff to be the best they can be. She believes in a consistent investment in the talents and energies of her people. The on-going training and mentoring of attorneys and her staff is a non-negotiable aspect of the culture at Robyn Hey & Associates.

Born in Johannesburg in the mid-1950’s and growing up during the apartheid years, exposure to matters of separation and all sorts of ‘isms’ inevitably played a big role in Anna-Mari’ Pieterse's life-long inquiry into matters of the Self (and self-actualization) and the Other as it is found in subjects such as Psychology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Religious Studies, African World View, Quantum Physics and Meta-physics, and the attainment of her BA degree in Counseling Psychology with a focus on Religious Studies at the University of South-Africa (UNISA).

Anna-Mari's doer-dreamer nature has taken her down many exciting and creative roads, with her destiny crystallizing in the emerging concept of Oneness, or uBuntu as it is known and lived in Africa.

Anna--Mari has been the volunteer National Coordinator of Humanity's Team South-Africa - a global spiritual grassroots movement focused on awakening the world to oneness/the Spirit of uBuntu - since 2005. Apart from her dream to awaken the idea of uBuntu locally, it has also been her dream that the world would receive and appreciate uBuntu as Africa's ancient gift of oneness.

Anna-Mari was the Global Oneness Project Leader (2008) for Humanity's Team; responsible for the launch and establishment of the Global Oneness Declaration, (by now supported by more than 75 000 people including world and thought leaders, celebrities, and authors such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Father John Keating,Yoko Ono, and Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury to name a few). She is also honored to have been involved with Humanity's Team's 2009 Spiritual Leadership Award for Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Anna-Mari also played a pioneering role in the initial call for the call for a South-African uBuntu/Oneness Day (Chair of the National uBuntu Day Action Group in 2010) and continues to do so until the goal is achieved.

MOST RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS THAT TICKLE HER TOES: Coordination of and participation in the uBuntu Panel that formed part of the Global Oneness Tele-Summit during the celebrations of the Second Global Oneness Day on 24 October 2011 - a FIRST for uBuntu in a global forum of this kind. Anna-Mari was also successful in assuring the participation of the South-African Permanent Representative to the United Nations in a UN Panel discussion (The Leading Edge of the United Nations) during the events of the day, with Ambassador Baso Sangqu highlighting the significance and role of uBuntu in world peace and sustainability.

Anna-Mari feels absolutely blessed to have crossed paths with the Egyptian/Ethiopian Goddess Ma'at through her studies of, inquiry into, and intimate involvement with the uBuntu.

Anna-Mari aims to release her first book on uBuntu early 2012 and has founded THE WAY OF MA'AT, a business aimed at bringing home the heart of uBuntu, through a variety of products and services that inspire and inform. This includes stationery, gifts, educational and life-style products, public speaking, workshops, blogging, etc that highlights Ma'at (which is LOVE) as the foundation of the values and principles that uBuntu is said to be based upon.

Apart from her keen interest in African World View, Cosmology, Indigenous Knowledge, Myth, Mystery, Symbols and the Psyche, Anna-Mari is known to be dedicated to her life-task, as the ‘disc-jockey’ of her family, and as a self-made chef and an excellent host.

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Advocate for Spirit/uBuntu, researcher, philosopher, and humble student of African Philosophy of uBuntu, African Worldview and Cosmology, pioneer, and author of her first book on uBuntu.

Over the last five years Donna McCallum, the Fairy Godmother has helped over 10 000 individuals in South Africa, Europe and the USA to realize their dreams and goals and has helped small and big companies like Nedbank, Mica Hardware, Estee Lauder, Sun International etc. align their teams and start getting the results that they want. Her inspiring talks, workshops and online training programs leave audiences enthralled, able to Dream Big and then just do it!

Her success led to her being approached by South Africa’s largest publisher to write a book – “The Fairy Godmother’s Guide to Getting What you Want” which is available in stores throughout South Africa.

In 2007/8 she amused South Africans by doing her crazy Fairy Godmother Antics every Saturday with Kevin Fine on 5fm. She also spreads her Fairy Dust by MC-ing events.

In 2009 Donna was nominated by the Mail and Guardian as one of the 300 most influential young South Africans.

Prior to being a Fairy Godmother, Donna McCallum was a successful entrepreneur who has started, run and sold a number of successful businesses in both Marketing and IT.

Hi, my name is Sherree-Lee Kruger and I founded Little Peoples Theme Parties in 2006. I had been in the corporate industry for 13 years and I focused mainly on corporate
events. In 2006 I left the corporate world and after having children of my own I decided to start an events company but soon veered into children’s theme parties. I started doing
parties for kids on weekends and built it up with success within a year.

Soon I realized that there was a huge gap in the market for party related services within South Africa. I also realized that working moms do not have the time or energy to still
run around after work to find goodies for their kids parties, never the less, have any party ideas or even the know how on where to start planning a kids party!

I decided to reinvent the brand image and the name and now we are trading as the successful SUPAKIDS! It was crazy, the demand for our services was so great, I simply could not be
in 5 different places all at once and then decided it was time to offer the opportunity to other ladies! After sucessfully becoming one of the largest kids party companies in South Africa, we launched our sister division SUPACAKES.

Supacakes offers the same opportunity to become a home baker, selling the most fabulous cakes, bakes and treats! The brand is still young but we already have 6 branches and growing. if you would like to see our brand, visit www.supacakes.co.za

Our mission is to become one of the largest party providers in South Africa, but still keeping it as affordable for the client as possible. We already boast a number of
successful agencies Nationwide and we have become a household name in South Africa.

Supakids has been recognised by Pasella many times where we constantly host inserts and fun ideas for kids parties. We have also been hosted on KTV, Your Family Magazine and Raising Kids magazine to name a few for our stunning work! It makes me very proud to know that Supakids is a successful venture for all who have already joined our brand!

Without the amazing ladies on my team, we could not have taken it from strength to strength.

I am Italian by birth, but I’m passionately South African. I used to dance professionally for a contemporary dance company in Johannesburg, having had a ballet-trained background. I still managed to study, obtaining a BA in languages and a BA Hons cum laude at the University of Port Elizabeth. I got married to my childhood sweetheart, had my daughter Lia, now 21, and got divorced at the age of 40.
I had not been working since my daughter was born, becoming a full-time Mom, but in the face of adversity, I had to find a way to earn a living and to regain my self-respect. I started doing publicity for a ballet company called Ballet Theatre Afrikan and learned the ropes the tough way....making millions of mistakes and taking each knock as a learning curve. When the Lotto withdrew its funding, I perceived the closed-door as a window of opportunity and started doing some PR work for lifestyle-based clients in the beauty, fashion, entertainment and travel industries. My love for creative writing was revived as I wrote all my press releases which were almost always published without editing.
I remarried last year (I had my beautiful son, Luke, in 2005 at the age of 45) and this year completed an internationally certified 200hour Yoga Teacher’s Training course with my daughter. I am currently editing for Butler magazine (restaurant and hospitality industry) and have had three articles published this year in the Live Out Loud magazine. I have also been privileged to give something back for all my blessings, in being able to do pro bono publicity for the Quads 4 Quads event (still ongoing: from 29 Sept to 9 Oct) for QASA, the Quadriplegic and Paraplegic Association of SA.
I love the Spice 4 Life website and regularly look forward to reading its diverse content. I was excited to be able to contribute last month in the form of a competition for the readers, the prize being a bush getaway to Ezingweni Bush Lodge and Day Spa. I have been invited to review a few resorts in the Quirimba Archipelago off the coast of Mozambique in January next year, so perhaps the Spice 4 Life readers will be able to benefit from my experiences. Other contributions would include networking, women in business, IT news, profiles on interesting people and more travel destinations...as well as the benefits of practising yoga!