Our Team

Dr Willie de Beer

A registered professional electrical and mechanical engineer with 45 years of extensive strategic, managerial and operational experience in all aspects of the electricity utility business.

willie@utilitycoach.co.za

+27 (0) 82 338 0854

Dr. Willie de Beer

Willie has specialist knowledge and experience in respect of business analyses, electricity supply industry reform and the  whole of the electricity distribution business. He is active in Africa in the electricity supply industry (ESI) as a strategic advisor, leadership coach, mentor and training specialist. He is one of the two accredited Smart Grid Navigators in Africa (through Carnegie Mellon University, Washington) and conducted various utility Smart Grid deployment assessments and directed the development of the relevant technology deployment strategies, integrated planning and institutional alignment.

 

During his career he worked for varies municipalities in South Africa over a period of 12 years, worked for Eskom South Africa for 23 years, Electricity Distribution Industry (EDI) Holdings for 7 years and since 2011 he is an energy/electricity sector consultant. During his 7 years at EDI Holdings he served as Chief Operating Officer and also served as a Board member.

 

He is highly respected in the electricity supply industry and the recipient of the 2016 SANEA Energy Award for his outstanding sustained contribution to the enhancement of the South African energy environment. During 2018 he was awarded honorary membership of the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (Southern Africa) in appreciation for long and outstanding service  to the industry. He served as a member of the South African Ministerial Advisory Commission on Energy and during 2018/19 served as a Member of the Advisory Panel to the Minister of CoGTA and the IMTT addressing specific challenges confronting the electricity supply industry in South Africa.

 

Ayanda Noah-large

A registered professional engineer with 27 years of experience in the energy industry in business and operations, infrastructure development, asset management, sales, customer experience and revenue management.

ayanda@utilitycoach.co.za

+27 (0) 83 270 2665

Ayanda Noah

A highly experienced leader in the energy industry, having successfully led a division of over 18,000 employees, as a Group Executive, both in Distribution and Customer Services for over 15 years. Expertise in Training and Development; Infrastructure Development & Management; Operations Management and Budget Management. Recent achievements include introduction of Customer Centricity in Eskom, improvement of technical and safety performance and optimisation of Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Operating Expenditure (OPEX) budgets.

 

Ayanda’s Skills and core competencies include division management & strategic oversight; client and stakeholder outreach; market insights; budget management; negotiation; leadership, collaboration & team building; product & sales development and communication.

 

She held various leadership roles in Eskom across the country in the 27 year-career with the company. Her experience includes being a member of Executive Committee (EXCO) and chairing various EXCO sub-committees. Also served on four boards (ERI, CSIR, SANEA and EAP) as a non- executive member and chaired the Audit & Risk Committee at CSIR.  She received various awards including:

2005 Executive of the Year Runner-Up … ESKOM

2010 Special Award 2010 MW Project … ESKOM

2014 Business Woman of the Year Award Finalist Government Category … Business Woman Association (BWA) 

2017 Africa’s Most Influential Women in Public Enterprises (Country, Regional and Continental Winner) … CEO Global

A registered professional engineer with 38 years of experience in a management and engineering position in the electricity distribution industry (EDI) and the electricity supply industry (ESI).

at@utilitycoach.co.za

+27 (0) 83 679 0606

At van der Merwe

At specialises in utility management, restructuring and transformation and private sector participation programs (PPP). During his career he has served on various Governmental Commissions, workgroups and task teams for the EDI restructuring and transformation, electrification forums, utility supply regulations updates and changes, Electricity act and Regulatory Act amendments, ESI wholesale market reform, and submitted inputs as President of the AMEU (Association of Municipal Undertakings of SA).

 

At was responsible for the corporatization of a municipal electricity utility in creating Centlec Pty (Ltd) and worked as GM for EDI Holdings (for Regional electricity distributor 2 and 5). He served as a board member of the Power Institute of East and Southern Africa (PIESA), and was appointed by the minister to serve for a term (2001 to 2005) on the board of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) as executive board member on the Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) for engineering.

He is also a former chairman of the AMEU Technical Training Committee, the Electricity Supply Committee, and the Electricity Tariff Committee. He is a former member of the Apprentices Training Board for Local Authorities (ATBLA) Accreditation Committee, and a founding member of the Electricity Supply Liaison Committee (ESLC), which is responsible for the development of NRS specifications (electrical engineering) with Eskom and other municipalities. He is also a former executive committee member of the National Electrification Forum (NELF), and a past executive committee member of the South African National Council for Illumination (SANCI). He was also appointed by the Minister of the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) as technical advisor on the EDI Restructuring Committee (EDIRC) on behalf of the South African Local Government Association.

 

An advocate of the High Court of South Africa with over 27 years strategy and business advisory experience in private, public and entrepreneurial organisations.

vera@utilitycoach.co.za

+27 (0) 83 447 3510

Vera Kriel (Adv)

Vera’s expertise is in strategy, operating models,  regulatory and governance, business transformation/turnarounds, and complex programme management and  has represented over 50 clients in the USA, Europe, Asia and across the Africa continent. She is dedicated to sustainability, empowerment and transformation. Her strategy and business improvement projects span various industries  in both the private and public sector. She was commissioned to write a research paper on collaboration for the Presidential Review Committee on State Owned Enterprises and has given  transaction and operational advice on infrastructure development projects in Africa. 

 

During her career she  was an associated director at Deloitte having worked in the South Africa and New York offices. As  a director at Simeka (BSG), now Morvest, she played a key role in the reverse listing and growth of the business. During her tenure as head of corporate strategy and business planning at SAA she led the successful restructuring which saw the airline return to operational profits in 2008.

 

She is an advisory board member for the Department of Management of University of Johannesburg,  was a panelist for Woman in leadership by Nelson Mandela Foundation and Thinktank member on Entrepreneurship for Dr Maponya Institute of Entrepreneurship.  She also served as chairperson of the Revision Court for North-East region during elections, was an assessor in the High Court of South Africa and a Commissioner of the Small Claims Court . She is a previous winner of Business Woman of the Year: Gauteng Province (corporate) from SA Council for Business Woman., semi-finalist: Most Influential Women in Business and Government (MIW) Awards from CEO Magazine and profiled by the  Department of Public Enterprises for woman in government.