In order to maintain independent and unbiased judging of the Eco-Logic Awards, The Enviropaedia appoints a panel of 12 independent, highly respected, environmentally conscious executives from a diverse range of occupations and professions to judge the Eco-Logic Award entries using 7 criteria that are the ‘V.I.R.T.U.E.S’ of Eco-Logic.
In 2018, the Judging panel consisted of:
Manfred Braune
Manfred currently holds the position of Executive Director: Certifications at the Green Building Council South Africa, where he heads up all certification and technical aspects of the organisation since 2010. Manfred’s background is as a professional electrical engineer, having worked at WSP Group for over 10 years designing and project managing the delivery of various large design and construction projects. Manfred started the green building business division at WSP in 2008, where he was a technical director, and was responsible for co-leading the team that achieved the first four Green Star SA certified buildings in South Africa and started the first building energy and thermal computer modelling capability in South Africa. Manfred also sits on the University of Pretoria’s advisory board for the construction economics faculty, and has spoken at various local and international conferences. Manfred has also been involved extensively in supporting other green building councils across the African continent to assist them in establishing certification and education opportunities for green building. Manfred is well connected in the green building industry both locally and globally, where he has engaged extensively with senior staff and leading industry stakeholders of various green building councils across the world.
Selene Brophy
Selene Brophy is the editor of Traveller24 - News24’s official travel platform. For the last 10 years she has helped shape Traveller24’s editorial positioning around responsible tourism as well as showcase the need for protection and conservation of SA’s natural heritage and wildlife – covering key developments across the responsible tourism sector that include the controversial practice of canned lion hunting in South Africa, the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP17) which took place in South Africa as well as the development of guidelines around voluntourism and predator cub petting. She is a firm believer in the power of travel to not only broaden our perspective of the world we live in and the individuals we encounter but to cultivate deeper respect for life overall.
Dr Thommie Burger
Dr Thommie Burger is a professional with executive, strategic and operational experience in a career that spans over 30 years, having held various positions such as Group HR Director, Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer. He has a successful track record of conceptualisation and implementation of financial and cultural turnaround strategies, in leading transformation and coaching interventions, and in human resources development and management strategies. Thommie has also published several articles on HR management and is a professional executive, leadership and business coach. Thommie is currently the CEO of the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (WESSA) an environmental organisation which aims to initiate and support high impact environmental and conservation projects to promote public participation in caring for the Earth.
Maurice Carpede
“Maurice Carpede is an actor, radio and TV presenter and is especially known for having been an anchor and field presenter on SABC 2’s 50|50, the world’s longest running environmental television programme. He also produced a few inserts for the programme under the guidance of fellow Eco-Logic Awards judge and former 50|50 series producer, Charles Moore. Maurice is currently an anchor on Smile 90.4FM’s Drive Time show, where he champions and encourages eco-friendly and environmentally conscious living, through a daily feature on his radio show called “Going Green”. The feature airs daily at 16h10, and as the name suggest, is all about sustainability and the environment. Smile 90.4FM is Cape Town’s fastest growing radio station”.
Yolan Friedmann
Yolan is the CEO of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, one of the largest conservation NGOs in southern Africa. Yolan’s academic qualifications and senior role in many local and international institutions are too many to list in full, however as an indication of how well respected her work and thought leadership is, Yolan is a Director of the Institute of Directors SA, the first female recipient of the SAB Nick Steele environmentalist of the Year Award, the winner of the CEO Most Influential Woman in Business and Environment Award in the Environmental Category, recipient of the 2012 Green Globe Award, a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, a Board member of the Global Compact South Africa, and was a Regional Councillor on the IUCN Council for 4 years.
Janette Horn
Jannette was born and educated in Gauteng. After graduating from the University of Johannesburg (RAU) she joined Anglo American as an environmental consultant and continued her consulting career at various internationally recognized engineering firms for a further 16 years. Whilst specializing in environmental management systems, compliance, training and EIA’s, she was fortunate to work in countries such as Canada, the UK, Nambia, and the United Arab Emirates. In 2010 Jannette moved out of consulting to join the Altron Group as Head of Sustainability. Her role at Altron required her to adopt a holistic approach to the environment and sustainability at a group level. Altron won various sustainability report awards under her guidance. In 2014 Jannette continued her studies at the University of Pretoria to further her knowledge in Integrated Reporting and Sustainability. After returning to consulting for a brief period in 2015, Jannette joined Sun International as their Group Sustainability Manager in 2017. Her role has expanded to also include environmental, health and safety, socio economic development, community engagement and B-BBEE
Kevin James
Kevin is an eco-entrepreneur focused 100% on unlocking green economy opportunities. He is also a sustainability professional with deep experience in strategic corporate sustainability as well as in the development of green, low carbon projects. In 2006 he founded his most current entrepreneurial venture - Global Carbon Exchange (GCX) with two goals in mind: to create commercial value and to make a positive impact at the same time. Kevin is currently the CEO of GCX, a strategic environmental sustainability and project development company that supports the transformation of large, complex organisation across SA into more responsible and valuable entities through the design and implementation of sustainable business programs. Besides his role at GCX and The Green Building Council South Africa, Kevin is also a Director of OptimusBio a leading, homegrown biotech company developing biological solutions across various fields. Kevin has been a weekly guest providing insights on the climate and sustainability feature on Radio 2000 since 2011 In 2018 Kevin joined the new SAFM team with the show now featured during SAFM talk radio drive time time slot.
Sibonelo G Mbanjwa
Sibonelo G Mbanjwa is the Director: Climate Change Adaptation-Natural Resources at the National Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa since January 2014. His areas of responsibility include: leading the processes to develop the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for South Africa which will be used as the National Adaptation Plan for the country for the purpose conformance to South Africa’s global commitment made through the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, leading the process in partnership with South African Weather Service (SAWS) to develop the National Framework for Climate Services which will be critical in generating scientific evidence to inform climate change adaptation measures and inform South Africa’s vision for a transition toward a climate resilient society and providing advisory and technical support to natural resources sector departments. He has been involved in environmental related work since 2000 as Junior Researcher at Rhodes University, and since 2002 he held various position in government within the same field practice which includes (Senior) Environment Officer in Gauteng Province, Divisional Manager: Development Impact Management in North West Province, Deputy Director: Environmental Quality Management in the Northern Cape province. He a founding and former Board member of the Environmental Assessment Practitioners Association of South Africa (EAPASA) and is member of South African Chapter for International Association for Impact Assessment. He holds the following degrees three masters’ degrees which include Master of Business Administration (Rhodes), Master of Environmental Management (UFS) and Master of Education (Rhodes) and three honours degrees which include Hons BSc in Environmental Monitoring and Modelling and Hons BSc Botany (UNISA) and Hons Bachelor of Education (UKZN).He has been involved in environmental, waste management, air quality management and climate change policy development and implementation since 2002.
Charles Moore
Charles Moore is an award-winning environmental filmmaker producing documentaries and television inserts for local and international TV networks. He has been the Series Producer on the SABC2 environmental programme 50|50, the producer of a series on the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development as well the COPPUCINO series of interviews at COP17 for the Cambridge University of Sustainability Leadership.
Thabang Phoku
Thabang Phoku is a Strategy and Competitive Intelligence Professional. She is currently working for Santam in the Strategy and Sustainability unit, which is responsible for amongst other activities the integration of Environmental, Social and Governance perspective into the strategy of the business. Thabang started her career as a Management Consultant where she worked with various private and public institutions to develop, implement and monitor strategic plans. She has degrees Genetics & Human Physiology, Development Studies and is currently an MBA candidate at the University of Cape Town - Graduate School of Business.
Ndvihuho Raphulu
Ndivhuho Raphulu heads up the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA), the resource efficiency and cleaner production programme of the Department of Trade and Industry (the DTI), hosted by the CSIR, with offices in Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. He oversees the NCPC-SA’s efforts to promote the implementation of Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) methodologies to assist industry to lower costs through reduced energy, water and materials usage, and waste management. Ndivhuho holds degrees in Environmental Science, Environmental Management and Developmental Studies. Prior to joining NCPC-SA he was Senior Sustainability Advisor at national power utility, Eskom. He plays a leading role in various national forums as well as on the continent and internationally, and is currently President of the African Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ARSCP), and Chairman of the EU and African Union Partnership on Sustainable Consumption and Production. He also co-chairs the Steering Committee of the African Regional Eco-labelling Project, and serves on the Executive Committee of RECPnet, the worldwide UNIDO and UNEP resource efficiency and cleaner production forum. He is non-executive director of various social and sporting organisations, a trustee of Desmond Tutu Diversity Trust and founder and member of the board of trustees of the Proclaiming Life Church in Centurion.
Anthony Stroebel
Anthony Stroebel is the newly appointed GM of Real Estate Services for Pam Golding Properties (Pty) Ltd and previously held the position of Group Marketing Director, for the esteemed company, since the year 2000. He is currently responsible for integrating a ‘green agenda’ into the future of Residential property in South Africa, this as a long-term brand dimension of the Pam Golding brand. His vision is to drive green consciousness in the domestic environment, thereby facilitating the inclusion of green credentials in the valuation of residential property. He schooled at Woodridge College in Port Elizabeth and currently holds a degree in Bachelor of Commerce (UCT), as well as Diplomas in Public Relations and Marketing (Damelin College).
Joanne Yawitch
Joanne Yawitch has been the Chief Executive Officer of the National Business Initiative (NBI) since March 2011, having previously been Deputy Director General for Climate Change in the Department of Environmental Affairs with responsibility for Environmental Quality and Protection, as well as for the Department’s Climate Change work. She worked for the Gauteng Department of Environment from 1997 to 2004 and prior to that was Special Adviser to the then Minister of Land Affairs. Joanne is currently the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of South African National Parks and is a Director of the National Research Foundation. Joanne's expertise lies within business and sustainability, business and government collaboration, climate change and climate change negotiations.