Tuks alumni are achievers in every sector. This edition showcases some of the recent appointments of alumni to high-level positions in industries ranging from fashion to food to information to education to innovation. Read more about the achievements of your fellow alumni in this section.

• The speaker of Overstrand municipality, Anton Coetsee (LLM, 2014), one of the longest serving councillors has been a councillor in various capacities since 1998. He recently obtained a master’s degree in law at the University of Pretoria. His LLM dissertation titled, ‘An evaluation of the role and functioning of an appeal authority created in terms of section 62 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000’, was the result of four years of research.
• Millie Hlongwane (BA, MA Population Studies) together with her husband Sidney, are the proud owners of four boutiques – Millie B and Siasa – in Bloemfontein and Bethlehem. She pursued her passion for clothes and fashion since 2001 by selling clothes from the boot of her car.
• Melissa Willis (BCom) has been appointed marketing manager for the Provantage Media Group’s ProActive and Airports Ads divisions. After completing her studies she moved to London where she started her career at Samsung Electronics. Back in South Africa she took up a position at Beyond Payments at Standard Bank and later worked for McNabs.
• Rian Breed (MEng Electronic Engineering, 2004) has been appointed as chief information officer at Open Learning Holdings. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Stellenbosch.
• Maureen Manyama-Matome (BCom(Hons)), 2003; MBA, 2008; Laureate recipient 2012) has been appointed to the board of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited as an independent non-executive director. She is a CA(SA) and the current financial director of the Airports Company of South Africa.
• Owen Viljoen (BEng, MBA) has been appointed as the new managing executive of Scooters Pizza. He joined Gilbey’s in Johannesburg in 1994 as manager of industrial engineering for Africa. He also worked for Coca-Cola in the UAE, Vietnam and China. He was chief operating officer of KFC for the past four years.
• Prof Rita Barnard (BA, 1976) has been a lecturer in English at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the USA’s Ivy League universities, for the past 24 years. Prof Barnard is the editor of The Cambridge companion to Nelson Mandela, 12 essays by academics from across the globe. She recently visited South Africa to launch the book. Her book, Apartheid and beyond: South African writers and the politics of place, was published in 2007.