Board of Directors
Meg Pahad
Chairperson of the Board of Directors
Lungile Thandeka Moleko
CEO and Business Management Specialist
Director: Project Literacy Investment Holding Company (Pty) Ltd.
Professor Crain Soudien
Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Directors
Caryn Theresa Winter
Non-executive Director Chairperson Finance Sub Committee
Nontsikelelo 'Ntsiki' Adonisi
Non-Executive Director (Marketing Sub-committee)
Justice Johann Kriegler
Co-Director: Project Literacy Investment Holding Company (Pty) Limited
Dumisani Dlamini
Education & HR Specialist
Dorette Visser Parsons
Executive Director (Finance)
Meg Pahad
Chairperson of the Board of Directors
Meg has a BA from Sussex University (1966) and an M Ed from the University of Witwatersrand (1996). She joined the Board of Project Literacy in April 2005 and became its Chair in 2012. She is
convinced that our organisation provides a unique multi-layered solution to South Africa’s literacy crisis, and is passionately committed to supporting its work. Meg taught in the UK where she was active in Teachers Against Racism from 1970-74. From 1975-85 she worked at the World Federation of Trade Unions in Prague. In 1991 she and her children joined her husband when he returned home to South Africa from exile.
She worked at the IEB from 1992-2001, exploring assessment in schooling, adult education, early childhood development and skills training. In 1994 the Gauteng Education and Training Organisations Forum elected her as their chairperson. 1n 1995 Meg was appointed a member of the Ministerial Committee for Development Work on the NQF. In 1999 she chaired the
Department of Education Task Team which set up Umalusi.
In 2000 she was contracted by the ETDP constituency to establish the quality assurance division of the ETDP SETA. From 2001-2004 she managed the Department of Labour (DOL)’s national assessor training project to support learnership implementation and she was an active member of SAQA’s assessor SGB. From 2006-10 Meg was a member of the DOL Task Team which drafted policies for the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.
In 2011 Meg was appointed a member of the panel of the Government Technical Advisory Centre of the National Treasury. She served on the Board of the IEB from 2004-2026.
Meg and her late husband, Essop Pahad, have two children, Amina and Govan, and seven grandchildren.
Lungile Moleko
CEO and Business Management Specialist
Lungile Thandeka Moleko was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Project Literacy in August 2021 after having served on the board as New Business Development Director since 2012. With more than 22 years in the community education sector, she is a seasoned business leader that’s enabling education access for children, youth and adult skills advancement. She also serves as a change and risk manager, pioneering skills that are essential when navigating South Africa’s dynamic civil society education and training environment.
Lungile is a trained Assessor (ETDP SETA) and holds a National Diploma in Information Technology – Business Applications (UNISA) and a BCom in Marketing Management (MANCOSA). She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration Honours (MANCOSA), expected in 2026. She has served in the 7 th administration of the South African National Commission for UNESCO’s Education Sector Committee, appointed by the Ministry of Basic Education.
Under her strategic leadership, Project Literacy has implemented three Independent Development Trust youth and early childhood development training projects under the Run Home to Read banner in partnership with the Expanded Public Works Programme. She and her training team continue to implement Goldfields South Deep Mine’s adult and youth education and training programme, with 3043 unemployed youth and adults trained since 2012. She maintains good donor relations with the Chamberlain Foundation, Hermann Ohlthaver Trust, Sasol Give As You Earn, Fuchs Foundation and
has cultivated new donor collaborations with iThemba Trust, Mafika Engineering SA, Nutun and the Momentum Group CSI. Her marketing team has played a key role in securing a new portfolio of clients including Mossel Bay Municipality, FP & M SETA, Services SETA, Sylvania Metals Limpopo, SD Guthrie International and Tshwane University of Technology.
Following Project Literacy’s 50 th anniversary in 2023, Lungile remains committed to advancing the organisation’s ethos of offering quality education for all, prioritising underserved communities and creating new learning pathways to tackle SA’s legacy illiteracy rates and the youth unemployment scourge.
Professor Crain Soudien
Chairperson of the Board of Directors and Education Specialist
Crain Soudien is a sociologist and an emeritus professor in Education and African Studies at the University of Cape Town, an Honorary Professor at Nelson Mandela University, a Distinguished Visiting
Professor at the University of Johannesburg and the President of Cornerstone Institute. A former Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cape Town and a former Chief Executive Officer at the Human
Sciences Research Council, he is a fellow of the International Academy of Education, the African Academy of Science, a Senior Fellow of NORRAG, Geneva Graduate Institute, a member of the Academy
of Science of South Africa, and a Chen Yidan Visiting Global Fellow at Harvard University. He has published over 260 articles and book chapters and 16 books in the areas of education, culture, history
and social difference. He is an A-rated scientist.
Dumisani Dlamini
Education and HR Specialist
Dumisani is a seasoned consultant in Human Resource Development, specialising in Labour Law. With extensive experience across education, training, and development in both public and private sectors, he has collaborated with communities, non-profit organisations, and municipalities.
Dumisani joined our Board in June 2016. He holds a Diploma in Education from the University of Witwatersrand, earned through Promat College, where he served as president of the Student Representative Council. He was awarded the Overseas Development Agency (ODA) Scholarship from 1991 to 1993 and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) Scholarship from 1994 to 1996, which enabled him to complete his BEd at Avondale College of Higher Education in Australia.
His professional journey includes a role at the Independent Examinations Board (IEB), where he managed projects and trained educators in assessment and quality assurance. He also contributed to the Assessment Institute Africa, a semi-independent organisation focused on providing assessment and policy solutions to the private sector.
In 1999, Dumisani became the Head of the Human Resources consulting division at KNC & Associates, where he led skills development assignments and advised organisations on training and development. He furthered his expertise by completing an advanced Diploma in Labour Law at the University of Johannesburg in 2001. In 2002, he co-founded Nantso Holdings (Pty) Ltd, initially as a network of Black professional consultants, and served as its Managing Director. Nantso is a fully-fledged Black-owned management consulting firm based in Johannesburg.
Dumisani has also contributed as a board member of the IEB and Funda Afrika, both education-focused non-profit organisations.
Dorette Visser Parsons
Executive DIrector (Finance)
Dorette is a professional accountant, tax, business rescue practitioner and B-BBEE consultant. She was appointed to the board in February 2007 as a non-executive director. Since 2020, Dorette has been serving as Project Literacy’s Consultant Executive Accountant.
Dorette Visser Parsons is also practicing under Accurate Accounts and Tax Pro Consulting. Dorette, the owner, is a registered accountant and with the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) and registered Tax Practitioner. She is qualified to offer financial management, accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, taxation, business registrations, independent reviews and financial statement services to individuals and SMMEs.
With 20+ years’ experience she offers financial management, accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, taxation and related services to individuals and SMMEs. As a qualified business rescue practitioner and B-BBEE consultant she offers specialised services to the business sector.
Nontsikelelo 'Ntsiki' Adonisi
Non-Executive Director (Marketing Sub-Committee)
Ntsiki is an admitted attorney, conveyancer and notary. She is currently a director in Ensafrica’s Natural Resources and Environment Department. She was appointed to Board of Directors: June 2015.
Ntsiki was General Counsel of a gold mining company. Her experience covers a range of areas, including mergers and acquisitions, conducting corporate, property and mining due diligences, compiling mining titles reports, managing litigation matters, assisting with stakeholder engagements, including regulatory advice in regard to compliance with the mining legislation; advising in regard to the integrity,
security of tenure and variation of mining titles, including drafting of the section 11 and 102 applications; handling appeals, objections and judicial review applications preparing of legal opinions, and attending to the registration of mining titles. Ntsiki has acted for a wide range of mining companies in all mineral commodity sectors, including the base and precious metals, coal, rare earths, sand, as well as
diamond sectors. Ntsiki is a mother of two beautiful daughters.
Judge Johann Kriegler
Co-director on Project Literacy Investment Holding
Retired Judge: Constitutional Court of South Africa. Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission whose task it was to deliver South Africa’s first democratic elections. Board member of the Centre for Human Rights. He was a Founder Trustee of the Project Literacy Trust Fund from 1986 until it was dissolved in February 2013. Currently Judge Kriegler and Lungile Moleko are the Directors of Project Literacy Investment Holding Company (Pty) Limited.
Caryn Theresa Winter
Non-executive chairperson finance sub-committee
Caryn is the CFO of the SA SME Fund. She is a dynamic, commercially focused Chartered Accountant with a wide range of experience gained both in South Africa and abroad. She has worked for14 years in a variety of senior posts. She is the Chairperson of the Finance Sub-Committee, and she joined the Board in May 2023. In addition to being a CA, Caryn has a B Com (Hons) from the University of Natal and a Bachelor of Accounting Science from UNISA.