THE JUDGES
INTRODUCING THE JUDGES
We are proud to announce the judges of the 2026 South African Loyalty Awards. The judges bring an incredible depth of experience and expertise in the industry to the table. The judging panel consists of 16 seasoned loyalty and CRM professionals whose experience spans across some of South Africa’s leading brands across different industry sectors.
Amanda Cromhout | Awards Judging Chair
Amanda is CEO and Founder of Truth - a global consultancy based in Cape Town. What Amanda loves the most is sharing loyalty expertise and helping others, whether that be through keynote speaking, hosting podcasts and webinars, as Academic Director of Truth’s international loyalty training academy, or through Truth’s consultancy work.
She has recently been recognised as International Loyalty Personality of the Year – 2023 at The International Loyalty Awards.
Amanda is the author of a compelling business-read called Blind Loyalty – 101 loyalty concepts radically simplified. This is a loyalty playbook not-to-be missed.
She is a judge on the Asia-Pacific Loyalty Awards, The International Loyalty Awards and Founder and Judging Chair of The South African Loyalty Awards.
Amanda is passionate about giving back and has founded The Blind Loyalty Trust to aid financially disadvantaged individuals receive the corneal eye-care they may need after suffering a life-changing eye condition in 2022, which left her temporarily blind in her right eye.
Nicholas Bednall
Nicholas is an executive in the Fintech and Digital Media industry, with 25+ years experience. He is a founding judge of the SA loyalty Awards.
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He has been identified as one of the top 25 most influential people in advertising in South Africa (Financial Mail) during his tenure as BBDO Cape Town MD. He has held senior Commercial and Marketing management positions at Tech companies in the media, mobile, loyalty and location software sectors and was a founding Director of South Africa’s most awarded Digital Marketing agency.
He has also served as a judge for the Applied Innovation Institute (Mobile World Congress, Barcelona), the South African Innovation and Technology awards (TT100) and was a board member of the Advertising Communications Association (ACA) in South Africa. Nicholas has a Masters in Digital Marketing from IE Business School, Madrid.
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Ursula Kuni
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Ursula is an Independent Consultant, and was the Chief Data, Analytics, Digital Officer at Hollard Insurance for many years. Ursula has more than 25 years of business experience both as a Strategy consultant with one of the leading international Strategy Consulting firms and in Corporate leadership positions. Her main focus over the past 20 years has been on building Data, Advanced Analytics and Data Science capabilities for major Corporates. She is a strong analytical and strategic thinker with a great delivery track record and a passion for building and leading strong teams that unlock and realise value opportunities.
Areas of core expertise:
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Strategy, Big Data, Advanced Analytics, Data Science, Digital, Loyalty
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Retail, Banking, Credit Cards, Insurance
Candice Goodman
Candice Goodman is currently a Non-Executive Board Member of the Direct Marketing Association, heading up the Assegai Awards working group. Over the last few years, she has been on the Education Committee of the IAB, and has head up Education at the Mobile Marketing Association of SA.
Previously, she was on the MMA Advisory Board as Chairman, and was the DMA’s Direct Marketer of the Year 2016 and the first Certified MMA Mobile Marketer in South Africa.
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She founded mobile marketing technology enabler, Mobitainment, 17 years ago, and has won multiple awards over the past 15 years. Mobitainment earned the coveted title of “#1 Technology Provider in Africa, #4 in EMEA, and #8 globally” from the MMA Global in 2018.
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Wendy Knowler
Wendy Knowler's journalism career spans more than 30 years. For the past two decades, she has specialised in consumer journalism, both in print and on radio.
Her weekly consumer column, In Your Corner, is published on the TimesLive online news site, as well as in Tiso Blackstar print titles the Weekend Post and Daily Dispatch, and she has weekly consumer segments on 702, Cape Talk and East Coast Radio.
Bronwen Rohland
Head of Retail and CPG, Consulting, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) South Africa.
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She has over 30 years of experience gained in the Retail and CPG Sector covering Business Strategy, Information Technology, Supply Chain, Human Resources, Store Operations, Marketing, Customer Experience, Customer Analytics and Loyalty Programmes.
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As a previous CMO of a large FMCG retailer she was responsible for the marketing strategy and plan, which included Corporate Communications, Brand, Product Offers, Loyalty, Customer Insights, Digital and Online Shopping. She also led the team that designed, developed and implemented the very successful Smart Shopper loyalty programme that was launched in 2011.
Nick Chambers
Nick is Managing Director of Mobile Loyalty Technologies Limited. Experienced in providing consulting & technology in all aspects of consumer loyalty and payments from strategy and planning through technical implementation.
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An expert in digital customer engagement he has over a decade of experience in consumer & enterprise internet technology working closely with leading merchant, service & point-of-sale providers.
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Nick is also a Partner at the Customer Strategy Network which brings together the worlds’ leading independent practitioners, consultants and academics in customer advocacy & retention strategy. Our collective focus is on the enhancement of global best practice in customer value engineering
Kaveer Maharaj
Kaveer is a seasoned loyalty and consumer professional, with a demonstrated history of working across major brands in the last 13 years, within media, retail, financial services, telecommunication and F&B industries. He has specialised in loyalty proposition development and implementation using consumer behaviour and incentive principles to design bespoke and innovative programmes.
Kaveer is currently based in Dubai and involved in launching programmes across multiple Middle Eastern markets; however he still keeps an eye on loyalty trends in South Africa, where he spent most of his career. At the core, he believes in driving emotional transactions through shared value behavioural change programmes and looks to change the way we think about the purpose of Loyalty.
Fionna Ronnie
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With over 15+ years of digital experience, predominantly focused on marrying business strategy with execution, building and growing omnichannel capabilities, launching new digital products and customer experiences, Fionna believes that to be effective in a digital-driven era, one needs experience and vision.
Experience to ask the right questions, vision to adapt to change and solve problems, whilst laying foundations for the future.
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Varsha Ramesar
Varsha is a progressive and imaginative leader serving as the Head of Data Tesserai, a Mettus Company. With an ardent passion for data and a dual role as a professional career and relationship coach, she brings over two decades of profound expertise in Information and Technology.
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Her rich experience spans diverse industries, including financial services and eCommerce, across regions such as Gauteng, Western Cape, Kwazulu-Natal, and Europe. Varsha's core focus revolves around extracting value from data by facilitating data monetization and fostering localized skills development.
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Her journey in the data landscape encompasses various functions - from data integration, design, architecture, to analytics and machine learning. Commencing as a developer, Varsha's trajectory led her to ascend into leadership roles across a spectrum of organizations.
Vuyo Henda
Vuyo is an accomplished marketing executive, passionate about building powerful brands.
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She has built an impressive local and international track record including working in the global team for Knorr in Unilever while based in the UK. Other notable career milestones include leadership roles in the Southern Africa business most notably being appointed as the Business Unit Director for the Nutrition division in 2021. Her passion for food has been a golden thread in her marketing journey which led to Vuyo joining the Spur Corporation as Chief Marketing Office for the leading South African restaurant franchise business.
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A passionate advocate for women, she mentors young women from marginalized backgrounds. Her work with a local non-profit led to recognition as a Positive Role Model at the Gender Mainstream Awards in 2022.
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Leanne Papaioannou
With over 23 years in loyalty strategy development, she has extensive experience in this field and is deeply passionate about every aspect of a business that impacts customer loyalty and drives better commercial outcomes for her clients.
Leanne is an internationally renowned customer loyalty professional who has helped countless forward-thinking companies achieve new heights by adopting her customer-centric B2C & B2B loyalty strategies. Her strengths lie in innovative strategic thinking, exceptional leadership skills and an ability to work with company Boards to deliver commercially successful, award-winning loyalty strategies.
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Zandile Manana
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Zandile is a Customer Business Development Director at Unilever. Prior to his return to the consumer-packaged goods industry, he managed the Thank U program from June 2018 to September 2020 as the Divisional Executive responsible for Rewards at EDCON and under his leadership the program saw improved member engagement following its enhanced value proposition.
One of his keen interests is in Behavioral Science and he has participated in several conferences on the topic. He holds a BCOM from Rhodes University and an MBA from GIBS.
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Pieter Twine
More than 40 years of experience in the retail industry as a Retail Specialist, General Manager, Coach, Mentor, Loyalty, and Strategic CSI professional, together with a strong interest in Human Behaviour Economics and the "why" customers respond to brands, gives Pieter the unique ability to create propositions that deliver sustainable results.
His education includes a degree in Social Sciences and a Diploma in Advance Executive Management, and he is a qualified Integral Coach (UCT -GSB).
Pieter has led the development of non-traditional Loyalty programmes in South Africa and Africa, including the biggest community-based Loyalty Programme MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet from 1999 to 2024.
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Mateboho Malope
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After having started her Vodacom journey six years ago, during which time she launched the South African Telco industry’s biggest and first behavioural loyalty program, she has embarked on yet another exciting mission to scale the VodaBucks Rewards Programme across all Vodacom Group markets. In her new role as the Managing Executive for Group Loyalty, she is responsible for delivering on the ambition of connecting for a better future and enabling a digital society through a universal and versatile loyalty platform, as the ultimate value driver.
Prior to joining Vodacom, Mateboho held notable senior positions, each move being motivated by her drive to diversify her portfolio. These positions that all facilitated her strong attributes of a generalist, include that of CFO of Mobile Money at MTN SA, Divisional Manager of Partner Relations and Commercial for the Discovery Vitality Loyalty Programme, and Country Finance Manager at General Electrics.
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Nokwanda Khumalo
Nokwanda is the General Manager: Mobility and Convenience at bp Southern Africa (bpSA). She is an experienced retail leader with a demonstrated history of working in the oil and energy industry and in fast moving consumer goods.
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Her leadership experience encompasses all aspects of Brand, Customer Marketing and Category Management, Project Management, Convenience Retail, Channel Management, Business Development and Business Strategy.
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Nyeleti Sue-Angel Nkuna
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Nyeleti Sue-Angel Nkuna is a customer loyalty strategist who helps brands transform relationships into long-term value. She holds a BA (Honors) in Film and Television and an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand, with electives in International Business and Strategy at Copenhagen Business School.
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Her career spans advertising, television, and consulting, where she has designed customer engagement strategies that align customer needs with business outcomes for leading brands across industries such as automotive, healthcare, and consumer goods. From South Africa to Denmark, Nyeleti has applied her expertise internationally, demonstrating adaptability while collaborating with renowned organizations including Ogilvy & Mather, Deloitte Digital, VML, and the LEGO Group.
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Nyeleti also serves as Vice President & Head of Secretariat at ProWoc – Professional Women of Color in Denmark, championing inclusive, purpose-driven networking that supports career progression. She is a seasoned moderator and presenter, skilled in leading engaging, dynamic discussions with audiences of all sizes.
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The judging will be processed in 3 stages:
1) Shortlisting process for all entries:
Each entry will be evaluated and the top 10 entries per category will be shortlisted.
2) Remote judging process for shortlisted entries:
All judges are involved in the remote judging process and will judge each shortlisted nominee independently. The individual shortlisted nominees will be measured and judged against the evaluation criteria for each category.
3) Judging panel process:
The judges will gather at a central meeting point, to discuss their shortlist assessment and will share their individual scoring.
PLEASE NOTE: We take confidentiality very seriously. No judge will have access to any information submitted by brands if they have not signed the code of conduct. The judges also need to declare any conflict of interest before reviewing any of the details within the submissions.