Team – Connecting Capital

Stephan van der Walt

Managing Director

CV and Credentials

B.Com Acc (cum laude), B.Com Acc (Hons) (cum laude), CA (SA) JSE Approved Executive
Stephan is a co-founder of the Pallidus Group. He began his career in corporate finance in 2005 after spending four years in the banking and capital markets division of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Stephan has advised on numerous mergers and acquisitions, BEE transactions, corporate restructurings, equity and debt raisings, venture capital raisings and rights issues, and has an in-depth knowledge of the accounting, legal, tax and regulatory environment that impacts on transactions.

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JD Symington

Executive Director and Head of Corporate Finance

CV and Credentials

B.Acc, B.Acc (Hons), CA (SA) JSE Approved Executive

JD is a co-founder of the Pallidus Group. He began his career in investment banking and corporate finance at Nedbank investment banking. JD has advised on numerous mergers & acquisitions, restructurings, BEE Transactions, capital raises, listings, delistings and other corporate actions in amongst others South Africa, Namibia, Australia and Europe. He has an in-depth and specialised knowledge of accounting, tax, exchange control, competition legislations, listings requirements and other regulatory implications impacting on corporate actions and transactions.

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Rolandi van der Westhuizen

Chief Operating Officer

CV and Credentials

B.Com Acc, B. Com Acc (Hons), M.Phil (Acc Sciences)(cum laude), CA(SA)
Rolandi qualified as a chartered accountant after completing her articles with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Her clients included various pension and provident funds. She continued her career in the financial industry and was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of one of the largest asset managers in Africa, where she gained valuable industry experience. During her time there, she also served on the boards and/or audit committees of various companies. Prior to joining Pallidus Capital, Rolandi was employed in the academic environment, specialising in financial accounting. Rolandi serves as a director on the board of certain companies within the Pallidus Group, as well as on the board of the 12J Association of South Africa.

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Petra van der Linde

Chief Financial Officer

CV and Credentials

B.Com Acc, B.Com Acc (Hons), CA(SA), CFA

Petra is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst, and completed her articles at KPMG. Subsequently she joined a Multi-Family Office in Singapore as an Asset Manager, managing the portfolios of several high net-worth families across all asset classes. Upon returning to South Africa, she joined a large engineering group as the Group CFO, before starting a consulting company providing outsourced CFO services. Petra joined the Pallidus team in January 2024.

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Robyn van Heerden

Head of Legal

CV and Credentials

LLB (cum laude), LLM Mercantile Law
Robyn was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 2009 after completing her articles at Gildenhuys Malatji Inc. She was subsequently appointed as an associate at the firm, practicing in its general and commercial litigation department. She obtained her master’s degree in mercantile law with the University of Pretoria, with a focus on competition law, consumer protection and law of contracts. Robyn joined AFGRI as in-house counsel and worked there for nine years, during which her team won the African Legal Awards Legal Department of the Year (Small Team) four times. Before joining Pallidus in 2020, Robyn moved to Philafrica Foods Group as head of legal in 2017 where she oversaw global legal, compliance and company secretary functions.

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Kabelo Moja

Ascension: CEO

CV and Credentials

LLB, LLM
Kabelo is a qualified and admitted attorney of the High Court of the Republic of South Africa. In his prior position at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Kabelo was principally involved in the structuring of commercial and private equity transactions, negotiating and preparation of transaction agreements, and the provision of legal advisory services within the unlisted and listed investments space. Before the PIC, Kabelo gained valuable experience at the National Treasury of South Africa, Absa Bank Limited and at Hogan Lovells South Africa. He has dealt with corporate restructurings, mergers, corporate finance, litigation, a host of debt, equity and mezzanine funding and private equity across a diverse range of industries. Kabelo is also a member of the SAVCA board of directors

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Lufuno Makhari

Palamo: CEO

CV and Credentials

Lufuno Makhari is an experienced dealmaker and investment manager with experience across multiple sectors.

Lufuno began his investment banking experience with Nedbank Capital . Following his time on Nedbank’s Global Commodity Finance desk, Lufuno joined Phembani Group’s investment team in 2012, led by Phuthuma Nhleko, where he was involved in managing transactions across a wide range of sectors. Since Phembani, Lufuno has founded and managed a number of investment vehicles with broad exposure to the South African market.

Lufuno is an experienced investment manager and entrepreneur who is passionate about value creation and unlocking opportunities and has served on several investee company boards.

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If you would like to join our dynamic team…

Stephan van der Walt

CV and Credentials

JD Symington

CV and Credentials

Rolandi van der Westhuizen

CV and Credentials

Petra van der Linde

CV and Credentials

Robyn van Heerden

CV and Credentials

Kabelo Moja

CV and Credentials

Lufuno Makhari

CV and Credentials

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