Top marketers and supply chain professionals honoured at awards

The awards were adjudicated by professionals across the marketing and supply chain sector, with the winners being selected from almost 60 entries spanning students, entrepreneurs, individuals, organisational teams and emerging talent. 

“The most coveted awards, however, were that of lifetime achievers. We can proudly say that Robin Brozin was awarded the Marketing Lifetime Achievement Award and Lebogang Letsoalo the Supply Chain Lifetime Achievement Award,” says Irene Gregory, CEO of the IMM Institute. 

“Each of these people have demonstrated unwavering commitment to their respected sectors, going the extra mile to advance the relevant industries as well as helping create new leaders.”  

Brozin is co-founder of Nando’s, the South African-based quick-service restaurant chain specialising in Portuguese food which now has more than 1,000 outlets around the world.  

Letsoalo is Executive Director of Sincpoint, a company offering integrated supply chain solutions, and Chairperson of the Board of the African Women in Supply Chain Association. 

The winners in each category were: 

Marketing Student of the Year: 

Sria Roopchand – Roopchand has moved up within Securadoor, a security solutions company, from working in sales to being a marketing assistant and is also a professional actor. She completed a Bachelor of Business Science degree at the IMM Graduate School last year. 

Supply Chain Student of the Year: 

Gugu Nkala – Nkala is a Customs Compliance Consultant who has been working in the supply chain industry since January 2016. She is set to finish a Diploma in Export Management, Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management at the IMM Graduate School next year. 

Emerging Marketer of the Year: 

Liat Madinane – Madinane successfully ran her own company before joining Sauce Advertising as Chief Integration Officer. With postgraduate qualifications in marketing and business administration, she blends academic insight with hands-on experience. 

Marketer of the Year: 

Happy Ngidi – Ngidi has been Chief Marketing Officer at Proudly South African, the country’s official ‘buy local’ advocacy campaign, for almost a decade and is a graduate in PR and communications. A budding author, she is also a motivational speaker. 

Supply Chain Professional of the Year: 

Lethlohonolo Mpshe – Mpshe is the Managing Director of Atarah Solutions, an SME which provides automation systems to the transport sector. He also mentors young entrepreneurs and facilitates business training programmes.  

Corporate Marketing Team of the Year: 

Proudly South African – A campaign that encourages South Africans to buy local products and services. It was established in 2001, born out of a Presidential Job Summit convened by the late former President, Nelson Mandela. 

Entrepreneur of the Year: 

Mitheel Ramdaw – Ramdaw is a data explorer who is passionate about artificial intelligence (AI). He recently led a project to design and implement AI and machine learning models to predict student performance 

In the Supply Chain Corporate Team of the Year category, an honourable mention went to Chery SA, the local subsidiary of a Chinese car manufacturer that has been exporting vehicles globally since 1997. 

“We were impressed with the quality of entries this year and it is clear that South African professionals are advancing the supply chain,” says judge Ronald Mlalazi, a procurement professional and Supply UK Fellow. 

Lethabo Sekhu, co-founder and COO at Credipple, a talent marketplace for creative and digital professionals, and one of the judges adds: “South Africa’s marketing talent is world class and this was clearly evidenced through the quality of nominations we received. It wasn’t an easy task selecting the winners.” 

To find out more about the 2025 Excellence Awards go to the IMM Institute’s Facebook page or LinkedIn page.