iab SA board
Haydn Townsend >
IAB SA Chairman
I am an empowered, cross-functional marketing and advertising professional with over 25 years’ experience.
Over those years I have skilled myself up across all the key marketing and communication areas, including Marketing Management, Sales, Advertising, Activations, Sponsorship and Digital Marketing.
Full CV available at
@https://www.visualcv.com/haydn-townsend
Claire Cobbledick >
IAB SA Vice Chair
Claire Cobbledick is currently the Director-GM of Gumtree South Africa, the largest resale site in South Africa and among the top most-trafficked websites in the country.
She started working at Gumtree in 2014, as Head of Marketing, and soon moved into the role of Head of Core, a strategic role overseeing the activity across numerous competencies and departments, before assuming her current role in 2018 and becoming the first female GM to lead the company.
Claire has extensive experience in the marketing and advertising industry, including as the former Managing Director of The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town and as a marketing manager for Red Bull South Africa.
Claire is passionate about the digital world and advancing the industry, but she is especially interested in the people behind the technology. A Cape Town native and proud mom of two boys, she believes in embracing balance, maintaining excellence and working together to reach the impossible.
Fahmeeda Cassim-Surtee >
IAB SA Board Member
Fahmeeda is the CEO of DStv Media Sales, a globally recognised and award-winning media sales organisation specialising in consumer and B2B advertising across the various DStv platforms and channels. DStv Media Sales offers brands unique opportunities to increase their reach and exposure, and impact Sub-Saharan Africa
Fahmeeda is a seasoned media expert, having bagged multiple qualifications in Media Management, Strategic Marketing, Business Management and Digital Transformation. She has been with the MultiChoice Group business since 1998. Before her tenure with the group, Fahmeeda worked as a sports journalist.
"I love what I do. I don’t treat it as a job. It’s integrated into my life. I enjoy the opportunity to influence people and create change. "
Cassim-Surtee lives by the motto, ‘I can do anything even if it scares me.’
Some of her notable achievements include:
Media Owner Legend: The MOST Awards 2019
Media Owner Shepherd Award: The MOST Awards 2021
Nominee for SA Woman of the Year
SA Business Woman of the Year
·Co-Authoring a book for 2010 World Cup and
First Woman in South Africa to apply for a boxing licence
Zunaid Parker >
IAB SA Chairman
I am an empowered, cross-functional marketing and advertising professional with over 25 years’ experience.
Over those years I have skilled myself up across all the key marketing and communication areas, including Marketing Management, Sales, Advertising, Activations, Sponsorship and Digital Marketing.
Full CV available at
@https://www.visualcv.com/haydn-townsend
Mpume Ngobese >
IAB SA Board Member
Mpume’s impressive portfolio includes working on some of South Africa's most iconic brands such as Nedbank, British American Tobacco, and South African Breweries' corporate brand. Her experience spans a diverse range of categories including financial services, media, biotechnology, petrochemicals, and travel. She has served on the judges’ panels of some of the most prestigious awards in the industry including the IAB’s own Bookmark Awards.
Mpume is a board member of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), where she has a seat on both their Transformation Portfolio Committee and South African Effie Awards Committee, which enables further collaboration between the bureaus. Mpume’s remit as IAB SA Executive Director will involve representing imperative agency requirements on the board, including digital agency and services definitions, as well as using her passion for both digital transformation, as well as transformation through education and the current structures in places to support the transformation journey in our industry.
She started working at Gumtree in 2014, as Head of Marketing, and soon moved into the role of Head of Core, a strategic role overseeing the activity across numerous competencies and departments, before assuming her current role in 2018 and becoming the first female GM to lead the company.
Claire has extensive experience in the marketing and advertising industry, including as the former Managing Director of The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town and as a marketing manager for Red Bull South Africa.
Claire is passionate about the digital world and advancing the industry, but she is especially interested in the people behind the technology. A Cape Town native and proud mom of two boys, she believes in embracing balance, maintaining excellence and working together to reach the impossible.
Oupa Monamodi >
IAB SA Board Member
Dr. Monamodi is a Non-Executive Director of a number of companies, and also serves as Chairman of the Board in four (4) of these companies, including: Y&R, Mindshare, Volcano Advertising and Native VML.
He is the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Uthingo Management (Pty) Ltd, the first South African National Lottery operator. He assisted in the launch of the Lottery between 1999 and 2000. He was part of, and later led, the team that grew the business to more than R4 Billion per year, until the end of the first lottery licence on 31 March 2007.
Claudelle Naidoo >
IAB SA Board Member
Claudelle Naidoo currently serves as Managing Director of MediaCom South Africa and fills the Research seat on the IAB SA Executive Board. She previously headed the IAB SA Research Council, where she spearheaded the council’s objectives of aggregating, collating and creating research to equip and inform the industry, enabling it to thrive in the digital economy.
With more than two decades of experience in the Media, Marketing, Research & Advertising industries, Claudelle is passionate about data analytics, consumer research, and using her deep-rooted African landscape insights to drive innovation and add value to brands on the continent. Her extensive portfolio includes clients spanning multiple industries, including Telecoms, Entertainment, Health, Motoring, and SMEs. In her current role as Managing Director at MediaCom, her primary focus is on elevating the client experience to drive best practice, performance, and ultimately, ROI.
Her acumen and expertise stand her in good stead to serve alongside her fellow other board members as they work together to guide South Africa’s digital media and marketing industries towards the future.
Chris Borain >
IAB SA Board Member: Treasurer
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Chris' career has been spent working across all media types - including radio, TV, print and a newswire agency startup - but always with an emphasis on the informational opportunities afforded by digital media.
He twice served on the Management Committee of the Online Publishers Association (OPA - the precursor to the DMMA and IAB), and on his return to South Africa re-joined the now-called IAB SA Publishing Council before standing as Chairman of the IAB Board of Directors, where he served for 3 years. Chris remains on the IAB SA Board as an Executive Member.
Chris has worked for and across most of the media groups in SA and is currently the Head of Digital for United Stations.
Yaron Assabi >
IAB SA Non Executive Board Member
Yaron Assabi is an entrepreneur with a passion for ICT. He founded the Digital Solutions Group in 1998, which focuses on relationship marketing solutions using multi-channel commerce
It was recognised as a Top Technology 100 enterprise in 2005/2006/2007 and won several innovation awards. Yaron also founded BroadBrand in 2012 to assist MNO’s, publishers, developers and brands with their mobile marketing and mobile advertising. He has served as the ICT strategist for the Nelson Mandela Foundation. He was recently appointed chairman Mobile Marketing Association of South Africa and was nominated as a non-executive director to the Board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau SA.
Songezo Ralarala >
IAB SA Non Executive Board Member
Songezo is currently the Global Head of Legal for Multichoice Group’s (MCG) Connected Video Division. This is the division which holds all of MCG’s global digital platforms namely Showmax, DStv App and Box Office. Highly skilled, experienced and qualified Head of Legal and admitted attorney with 12 years’ experience providing world class legal advisory services to companies in the media, telecommunications, technology and legal regulatory sectors.
Previously the General Counsel / General Manager for Legal & Regulatory Affairs at Media24, which is part of the Naspers Group, Songezo served on various related boards. Previous roles have included being the Executive: Regulatory Affairs and Government Relations at Telkom and Case Manager at the Competition Tribunal of South Africa.
An admitted attorney of the High Court with extensive exposure to the private and corporate sector as General Counsel. Songezo has a commendable track record and competencies in competition law, managing legal and regulatory issues, commercial law, legal compliance, corporate governance, legal writing, drafting of contracts and enterprise risk management.
Justin Langeveld
IAB SA Board Member
General Manager, Media 24