Who We Are

FRED PLATT (Sam's Dad)
Trustee

Fred, Melissa’s husband and Sam’s Dad, has a Bachelor of Arts from Wits University and a Master of Business Administration from Brunel University. Fred, began his career in human resources management in 1990 at Fram Footwear (a division of Conshu Holdings Limited) and progressed to HR director. He represented Conshu on the South African Breweries human resources committee before joining Safic in 1997. He moved rapidly through the corporate ranks serving as operations director in 1998, managing director in 2000 and finally group managing director for Safic in 2003. His vision for the organisation facilitated the strategic acquisition of Marley Flooring in 2004 and the consolidation of the various companies into Accéntuate Limited, which culminated in the listing on the AltX of the JSE in 2006. Fred serves on the board of several companies and charities and is a member of the Institute of Directors. His passion around healthcare started with the building of a hospital, and was compounded after spending fifteen and half months at Sam’s ICU bedside.

MELISSA PLATT (Sam's Mum)
Trustee

Melissa is Fred’s wife, Sam’s Mum and a bereaved parent. She is also a palliative coach and a professional consultant now strategically focused on the paediatric healthcare sector. Melissa obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine at UCT (2017, graduating with distinction), a coaching qualification at the Centre of Coaching at UCT Business School (2015), and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Rhodes University (1993). Melissa is passionate about patient and child advocacy, and family-centred healthcare. She is a co-founder of Footprints4Sam. Melissa's senior management experience has been in heading up teams in sales, marketing and business development for many years. Her consulting, coaching and advocacy work has inspired positive growth, resilience and change in the families, individuals and teams. She has worked with both in the healthcare environment, as well as in the commercial sector.

DINEO MOLEFE CA (SA)
Trustee

Dineo Molefe has been the CFO of MTNSA, a subsidiary of MTN Group since November 2020.

Prior to MTNSA, she was first CFO then MD of T-Systems South Africa, part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, from 2016 to 2020. She has many years of very successful corporate career, 12 of those in executive and board level leadership roles.

As a Board member in numerous listed and unlisted entities, she possesses valuable experience of operating at a strategic level and chairing board committees. Some of the Boards and Audit Committees she has served on as an independent non-executive include Thebe Investment Corporation, Clientele Limited, Accentuate, Safripol, Road Accident Fund and Spur Corporation Limited, some of which she was chairperson of the Audit Committee.

In her career, Dineo has also owned a food and clothing retail franchise business with two business partners not long after qualifying as a CA (SA). This further added to her experience in business management, operations and financial planning and execution.

Education

She completed her first degree at UNISA, then obtained her Honours in Accounting and later qualified as a Chartered Accountant (CA) SA in 2003. After obtaining a Masters’ Degree in International Accounting from the University of Johannesburg in 2010, she went on to complete an Advanced Management Programme from Wharton Business School, Pennsylvania in 2012.

Skills development and contributions to society

Dineo is a passionate advocate for skills development for young people and personally does coaching and mentoring. She often speaks at various events on the topics of leadership, women advancement and gender equality. She previously served as a trustee of the Thebe Foundation, which seeks to empower the community through education. She has been featured in numerous publications that profile successful women.

Accolades

• Winner 2018: Gender Mainstreaming Awards - Positive Role Model.
• Winner 2020: South African Professionals Awards - Professional of the Year Award in the Digital Industry Class of the Commerce, Law and Management Category.

KELLY ROBINSON
Trustee

Kelly Robinson graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1996 with a BPharm degree, and obtained her Masters degree in Clinical Pharmacy in 2003. She completed her internship and community service as well as her clinical rotations at Baragwanath Hospital. She is Board Certified in Functional Medicine with the IFM in the USA, and has a Diploma in Life Coaching. Kelly has owned and managed Tyrone Pharmacy – a highly successful independent retail pharmacy - in Parkview Johannesburg for the past 21 years and has extensive experience in Community Pharmacy.

Kelly is a tireless advocate for community health and patient access to quality healthcare. In 2005 she opened a cross subsidised Community Clinic and Medical Practice, which she continues to own and manage. In 2006 Kelly took on a business partner, so that she could spend more time with her family and take on more pro-bono work. She has done extensive lecturing on Community Healthcare, Tuberculosis, and First Aid, has set up First Aid protocols and facilities at schools, businesses, and community centres in and around Johannesburg. She participates in fundraising for numerous charities. Kelly believes strongly in education, and upliftment, and is involved in mentorship and training. She is a Pharmacist Tutor, and has trained more than 15 pharmacist assistants, both level 1 and 2. She continues to train her pharmacists and run CPD courses. Kelly opened a retail shoe shop in 2014, specialising in therapeutic footwear. In 2017 she opened a medical consulting practice with 3 other Medical Professionals to offer Functional Medicine consultations.

She continues to oversee and be hands on in her businesses. Kelly is happily married to Sean, and has two sons, James (18) and Luke (15). She enjoys reading, knitting/crocheting, walking and loves to travel.

MITCH MORRISON
Trustee

After completing his articles, Mitchell immediately co-founded the firm, Fullard Mayer Morrison Inc., together with William Fullard and Richard Mayer in 1999. He is one of the original directors in this firm. Mitchell has built up a substantial commercial practice with a special focus on the areas of Mergers and Acquisitions, Commercial Agreements, Corporate Law and Competition Law. He advises a broad range of clients, from JSE listed companies to medium sized businesses, to industry associations. Mitchell also provides practical commercial advice in the areas of Taxation and Regulatory Compliance. Mitchell is a registered tax practitioner. He is able to offer commercial experience tailored to suit the needs of large and small enterprises as well as new commercial ventures. In addition to strong technical legal ability, Mitchell is highly numerate and has training in accounting and financial management. Having majored in Economics, he has built up his commercial practice and experience off a sound financial platform. Mitchell has practical experience in reading and interpreting annual financial statements and integrated reports of companies. As such, Mitchell’s clients often seek commercial and strategic advice and input from him in addition to legal advice. He is also a co-founder and trustee of the Tshepo Trust, a charitable educational trust (also having PBO (s10(1)(c)(n) status) addressing the needs of underprivileged, promising and deserving individuals furthering their tertiary education. Mitchell, himself a father of two, has great admiration for Fred and Melissa and what they have achieved and how they choose to honour their son. I am grateful to be a very small part of their journey and to apply some of my legal skills in a meaningful way.

SOPHIÉ-MARIÉ VAN GARDEREN
Trustee

Sophie Marie graduated with a Masters of Commerce and has been awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1999 . She began her career at RMB Asset Management as a junior analyst and worked her way up to fulfilling the role of senior investment professional, doing equity research and co-managing various unit trusts. During this time, these funds won a number of awards. After moving to Cape Town she joined Argon Asset Management, where she served a dual role as both equity analyst and co-manager of all the equity funds under management. More recently she joined Truffle Asset Management in a similar capacity. Sophie has been a friend of Sam’s parents for many years, and has a keen interest in helping kids in need.