THE TEAM

Samantha brings diverse experience from her entrepreneurial career from Aircraft Interior Refurbishment to discovering Mumbo Island on Lake Malawi whilst on a kayaking expedition and starting Kayak Africa. Aswell as extensive travel and adventure, one of which was her 5 month journey in Namibia which included a 120km walk through the Namib desert from where Oryx brand originated.

20 000 Drums NPO ‘Transformation through Celebration’ followed implementing traditional African workshops and training for 30 000 youth in rural communities across South Africa. Her Desert Salt adventure started by packing bags on her dining room table. She has a 14 year old son Kiran.

Ian is joint CEO of Evolve Capital*, a business started with his brother Garth in 2013. Ian is also CEO of Portfolio Media, one of the leading tourism marketing businesses in SA. Amongst others, Portfolio Media owns the well-known brand, Portfolio Collection.

Ian is a qualified chartered accountant, who brings 23 years of entrepreneurial experience in running and growing businesses. He has been involved in entrepreneurship facilitation since 2005, working both with larger groups and one-on-one, mostly with the common theme of how to grow a one-person business into a larger, thriving entity.

Garth is joint CEO of Evolve Capital* and prior to starting Evolve Capital, he was head of Old Mutual Private Equity and a member of a successful team for 10 years. Over this time this team developed a strong track record, invested in 23 transactions and exited 15, including landmark private equity deals such as PEP and Life Healthcare.

Garth is currently a board member and chairs the investment committee of Life Healthcare, an Alsi 40 listed company and has been a member of this board for over 9 years. He has also served on the boards and committees of Metro Cash & Carry, Air Liquid, Tourvest and Libstar.

Prior to joining OMPE Garth was a founder member of African Harvest, a listed financial services company, where he was a member of their private equity and corporate finance teams.

Deshalan has enjoyed a varied career in industries which include FMCG, nutrition, die-casting, automotive electronics, consumer electronics, chemicals and renewable energy. He has headed departments for international manufacturing organizations such as Cargill, Samsung Electronics, PFK Electronics and Rheinmetall Denel Munition. While at Samsung Electronics, Deshalan gained full training in Seoul South Korea. He is highly skilled in business systems and has worked on multiple implementations of ERP systems which include SAP and Odoo. In his most recent position he headed operations at Balancell Energy, a start-up and was instrumental in streamlining the supply chain & heading the business systems project which saw the company grow 20 times in turnover within a 2 year period.

Shafiek is responsible for overseeing procurement, creditors and logistics. What Shafiek enjoys most about his job and being good at it, is being in direct contact with the suppliers/customers, whom he considers to be an integral part of the company.

Shafiek puts others above himself and is always concerned if his neighbours have food on their table. He is responsible for his 78-year-old father. He also has a brother with Dementia whom he provides for. He would love to go to the Holy city, Makkah and Madina one day, but for now a week away with no cell phone in the Wilderness would be a bonus.

Debbie does Debtors is her pet name at Oryx.  She strives to keep all Oryx customers  happy and stocked up. Responsible for orders, invoicing and collecting monies from clients.

Debbie has a passion for  classic, choral music. Loves going to opera performances and sings in a choir.  She has a passion for sport especially tennis. A huge fan of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

A mother of two and a very proud grandmother of a grandson. Loves travelling and experiencing different cuisines. Very proud Oryx teammate when she see’s Oryx products being used in restaurants wherever she travels .

Debbie loves walking , jogging and  taking her dog for walks. Her dream is to  see a happy, unified and healthy nation grow AND to see Oryx in all restaurants around the world.

Jacques joined the Oryx family as their Key Accounts Manager, coming from the Shoprite Checkers group where he was a sales representative for 5 years. In 2017 at Checkers Food Services he received the award for highest growth and 2018 award for best Sales Representative.  Jacques’s main passion is to work with people, combining their needs with the company’s. Before Sales and Marketing Jacques was a professional golf teacher, he has finished his PGA Golf course in 2011 and worked with beginner and elite golfers. Jacques’s wife is also in sales and they have a son and a daughter.