Our Leadership Team

Derek Thomas

Chairman

 

Derek is the Chairman of Transnova and a shareholder through the 51% acquisition of Transnova by Letsema Holdings in 2019. Derek is the current CEO of Letsema, a leading independent, black-owned diversified investment group that was founded by Isaac Shongwe in 1996. Derek is an experienced manager, consultant, and strategist and has served on multiple boards as a director and chairman, including two publicly listed companies. 

Eric Gower-Winter

CEO and Co-Founder

 

As the former CEO of Barloworld Logistics Africa, Eric boasts extensive leadership and management skills with over 30 years’ experience in the supply chain and logistics industry. Eric has been closely involved with the redesign and implementation of some of South Africa’s largest Supply Chain networks. Eric is passionate about the design, implementation and management of transportation management solutions and believes that technology has a huge role to play in optimising transport networks.

Carsten Schubert

Director and Co-Founder

 

Carsten is an experienced supply chain professional with over 20 years’ experience in the transport and logistics industry. He has a deep knowledge and understanding of transport optimisation having been closely involved in a number of leading Transport Management Systems (TMS) implementations across various industry sectors for clients that include Illovo Sugar, PPC Cement, Corobrik, Nike, Unilever, TWK Agri, Mars and Tiger Brands.

Neil Larkens

Director and Co-Founder

 

Neil has over 20 years of experience in project management and solution implementations in the supply chain and logistics industry. Neil has been closely involved in the implementation of a number of Transport Management Systems across various industry groups. Neil’s primary role at Transnova is to lead the Solution Enablement team in solution design and implementation of client solutions. Neil is also responsible for product development and relationship management with key technology partners.

Mpume Nkosi

Director

 

Mpume is a director of Transnova and leads and oversees the development of new strategic commercial opportunities for both Transnova and the Letsema Group. She has worked across multiple business areas, ranging from operations management to sales strategy and customer success for organisations in Africa, Europe and the United States. Mpume graduated with a BA Hons in Political Science from Wesleyan University (US) and holds an international MBA from the IE Business School.

Katlego Tlale

Director

 

As Chief Financial Officer at Transnova, Katlego manages the Group’s finances across its different divisions and acquisitions, in concert with other members of the executive team. He plays an active role in the strategy and operations of Transnova.

Eric Gower-Winter

CEO and Co-Founder

As the former CEO of Barloworld Logistics Africa, Eric boasts extensive leadership and management skills with over 30 years’ experience in the supply chain and logistics industry. Eric has been closely involved with the redesign and implementation of some of South Africa’s largest Supply Chain networks. Eric is passionate about the design, implementation and management of transportation management solutions and believes that technology has a huge role to play in optimising transport networks.

Carsten Schubert

Director and Co-Founder

Carsten is an experienced supply chain professional with over 20 years’ experience in the transport and logistics industry. He has a deep knowledge and understanding of transport optimisation having been closely involved in a number of leading Transport Management Systems (TMS) implementations across various industry sectors for clients that include Illovo Sugar, PPC Cement, Corobrik, Nike, Unilever, TWK Agri, Mars and Tiger Brands.

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Neil Larkens

Director and Co-Founder

Neil has over 20 years of experience in project management and solution implementations in the supply chain and logistics industry. Neil has been closely involved in the implementation of a number of Transport Management Systems across various industry groups. Neil’s primary role at Transnova is to lead the Solution Enablement team in solution design and implementation of client solutions. Neil is also responsible for product development and relationship management with key technology partners.

Mpume Nkosi

Director

Mpume is a director of Transnova and leads and oversees the development of new strategic commercial opportunities for both Transnova and the Letsema Group. She has worked across multiple business areas, ranging from operations management to sales strategy and customer success for organisations in Africa, Europe and the United States. Mpume graduated with a BA Hons in Political Science from Wesleyan University (US) and holds an international MBA from the IE Business School.

Mo Malie 

Chief Technology Officer

Mo brings 20 years of IT and business leadership in both large-scale global business as well as mid-size environments across a mix of industries (FMCG, Logistics, Finance and Telecoms). Mo has been closely involved in process re-engineering and large systems rollouts both locally and internationally. Mo specializes in the delivery of complex, multi-functional, cross-enterprise solutions and is excited about the logistics integration and optimisation opportunities being driven by increasingly available connectivity, expanding adoption of open standards and the scale and flexibility offered by cloud computing. 

Phila Mahintsho

Group Executive: Finance

Phila is a qualified Chartered Accountant and completed her Accounting Science degree and post-graduate Diploma in Accountancy at the University of Witwatersrand. She is currently completing her MBA at Wits Business School. Phila started her career at Mazars as a trainee accountant where she managed audits in different industries, both listed and unlisted companies. She then moved to manufacturing companies, Nissan, Otis Elevator Company, and Eaton. She has worked in different areas in finance, for different markets in Africa, and has been involved in expansion, transformation, and digitalisation projects in these organisations.

Ahmed Abdool 

Group Executive: Supply Chain Advisory 

Ahmed is an astute Supply Chain and Finance Leader with over 30 years’ experience providing bespoke business solutions to blue chip companies within the FMCG & Telecoms sectors. He is a highly experienced supply chain leader and has spent most of his distinguished career at companies like Unilever developing solutions across the breadth of the supply chain, including manufacturing, operations, logistics, planning, control and analytics across the African continent. Currently managing the Telecoms and Consulting portfolios at Transnova, Ahmed has strong business acumen with deep insights into managed solutions that reduce complexities, costs and enhance revenue and profitability.