Conference Co-Chairs

Prof. Maurice Radebe

Prof. Maurice Radebe is the Head and Director of Wits Business School. An experienced energy industry executive, he previously served as Executive Vice President of Sasol Limited, responsible for Sasol’s energy business globally.Prof Radebe started his career with Shell before taking on the role of CEO of Exel Petroleum, the first black-owned oil company in South Africa. Following the merger of Exel with Sasol in 2003, Prof Maurice joined Sasol Oil and spent the following 16 years with Sasol, managing several successful global joint ventures. Prof Radebe was a member of the Sasol Oil board for 14 years, and served as chairman for ten years. Passionate about leadership development, he is also the founder and chairman of the Unleashing Leadership Potential (ULP) Foundation. Prof Radebe holds an MBA from Wits Business School, and a certificate in General Management from Harvard University.

Prof. Helen Duh

Prof. Helen Duh, the current Head of School of Business Sciences at University of the Witwatersrand, researches, develops projects, gets funding, and initiates international and African collaborations in the areas of consumer behaviour, social marketing, transformative consumer research, brand management and electronic marketing. On consumer behaviour, she conducts interdisciplinary research by delving into family, consumer, and social psychology to understand how childhood socio-psychological experiences affect later-life money attitudes, various consumption orientations (e.g., materialism, compulsive buying) and ultimate consumer psychological well-being. She also conducts research on consumer online shopping and decision-making styles related to fashion and retail products.

Conference organizing Committee Co-Chairs

Prof. Mills Soko

Dr. Mills Soko is Professor of International Business and Strategy at Wits Business School (WBS), and also serves as the WBS’s Director of Development and Partnerships. He is a former Director of UCT Graduate School of Business. He is the author of the highly acclaimed book South Africa and the World, and co-author (with Greg Mills and Ray Hartley) of the bestseller The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. He is a research associate of the South African Institute of International Affairs as well as the Institute of Global Dialogue.

Dr. Marike Venter De Villiers

Dr Marike Venter de Villiers is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is a creative-minded individual with a keen interest in consumer psychology and sustainability within the clothing and textiles industry. She completed her PhD in 2016 from the University of the Witwatersrand where she has been teaching and conducting research since 2011. Her passion lies in understanding consumer decision-making and factors that drive pro-environmental behaviour, with the aim of developing a more sustainable circular economy in the fashion industry.Other research interests include sensory marketing, retail management, fashion marketing, social marketing, and emerging markets.