It is my pleasure to introduce to you the members of the recently formed ISCT Governing Body, who were able to convene for the first time at our recent Directors’ and Governors’ meeting. I am very pleased to have this body of people sitting alongside the school management and in a position to support the various governance and management structures of the school. There is a balance in the membership of the Governing Body between parents and independent outsiders who have no specific ties to the school and are here only to serve its best interests.
Kascha Reed, ISCT School Principal
The members of a Governing Body are as follows:
Mark Horner – Chair of the Board:
Mark has a PhD in physics from the University of Cape Town and is now the CEO of Siyavula Education, an educational technology company focused on high school mathematics and the sciences. His mission is to champion a love of maths and science – particularly for learners across Africa and not just for his two boys who attend ISCT. He was previously the Open and Collaborative Resources Fellow at the Shuttleworth Foundation.
Mongana Tau:
Adv Mongana Tau is an experienced educationist who has experience as a teacher, principal and university lecturer. He also has managerial experience in government and Parliament where he served in various senior management positions. He also served in various positions in school governing bodies as vice chairperson and chairperson. His highest qualifications are Masters degree in Economics and LLM in Commercial law. He is an Advocate of the High Court. He believes that good school governance has potential to create a conducive effective teaching and learning. Potential to enhance accountability, cooperation, trust and confidence among the stakeholders within the school community.
Courage Karenyi:
Courage has been a parent at ISCT since January 2015 with 3 children at the school. He graduated as an architect from the University of Cape Town and is currently practising as a project manager. He is the Managing Director of a Project and Construction Management Consulting firm in Cape Town, Atarah Projects, where they are involved in projects across the African continent. His passion is to change people’s lives by shaping the urban landscape through architectural developments he is involved in.
Neville Yoland Vaughan Ontong:
Neville is the Principal of King’s School Goodwood as well as the Regional Chair of SAHISA South West Region, SAHISA National EXCO member, ISASA Transformation and Diversity committee member, and serves on the ISASA National EXCO team. He was born and raised in Kimberley and now lives in Cape Town with his family. He holds several degrees in education and leadership and has done research in Multicultural Education, Democracy in Education, and curriculum planning and development as well as holding a diploma in Theology from WITS.
Mahesh Cooper:
Mahesh has been a parent at ISCT since January 2019. He is currently involved in fintech start-ups as well as serving as a non-executive director of an educational non-profit organization. He was previously COO at Perpetua Investment Managers and prior to that, an executive director at Allan Gray.
Jeremy Main:
Jeremy holds an MSc in Environmental and Geographical Science (Climatology) from the University of Cape Town and has been a parent at ISCT since 2015. Jeremy is currently the Computing Infrastructure group lead at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the organisation that constructed the MeerKAT Radio Telescope. SARAO represents South Africa and is responsible for hosting the global mega-science project Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Mid frequency radio telescope for which construction recently commenced. Jeremy is also a Director at tech start-up Tsolo.io which is developing peta-scale digital storage systems.
Mirah Ranchod:
Mirah holds an LLB degree and is practising general legal practitioner at Erasmus Ranchod and Associates (“ERA”) based in Cape Town central. This is a general legal practice giving her experience to various fields of law. She has also been a parent at ISCT since 2021. Mirah is currently the managing partner at ERA, a guest lecturer and a presiding officer from time to time. She has won the first runner up award in 2022 at theWOZA Women in Law Awards for best in thought leaders, innovation and academia. Mirah is also a main trustee of the Sando Bursary Trust which awards tertiary education bursaries to deserving previously disadvantaged students.
Jim Baggot:
Jim holds a B.Sc. (Manchester) and a attained his Doctorate in Philosophy from Oxford University. A consummate professional with extensive business management, marketing, and competence development experience with almost 20 years’ experience as an independent management consultant and trainer working with commercial enterprises and not-for-profits. Jim gained invaluable experience as an academic scientist and tenured university lecturer in prestigious academic institutions and world-class business enterprises, including Oxford University and Stanford University, and has written several books related to science, philosophy, and history and was awarded the Glaxo prize for science writing in 1992 and the Italian Cosmos prize in 2020. His books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages.
Angeli Arora:
Angeli has been a parent at ISCT since January 2016. She graduated from Oxford University and is currently a senior corporate partner at global law firm, Dentons (heading up their Africa private equity practice). She is an advocate for inclusivity, including the advancement of women. She believes education plays a critical role in empowering communities and bringing about equal opportunities.
