Our Board of Directors

Dr Samantha Govender

Chairperson

Dr Samantha Govender qualified as a Paediatrician and also obtained a Diploma in Child Health from the College of Medicine South Africa. She also obtained her MMed from the University of KZN were she also completed her undergraduate degree in Medicine in 2007. Sam Govender is a Paediatrician based at General Justice Gizenga Mpanza Regional Hospital (previously known as Stanger) in the iLembe Region In KwaZulu Natal. She has a special interest in Paediatric Palliative care and has successfully completed the Post graduate Diploma in Paediatric Palliative Care through UCT in 2017. She is passionate about advocating for palliative care for her patients as well as educating health care workers about the benefits of palliative care with the aim of achieving a good quality of life for their patients.

Dr Mehnaaz Ally

Vice Chairperson

Dr Mehnaaz Akbar Ally is a paediatric palliative care specialist in Gauteng. After completing her undergraduate degree in Medicine from Wits in 2005, she pursued post grad studies in Paediatrics, and then in Paediatric Palliative Care. She successfully completed the post grad diploma through UCT in 2017, with distinction, and consults both in private and public sectors in Gauteng. She heads up the WitsPal Paediatric Palliative Care team at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, and Lambano Sanctuary, which is the only paediatric step down unit / hospice faculty in South Africa. She is passionate about educating fellow healthcare workers about Paediatric pain and has a special interest in neonatal pain / palliation. Of late, she has also taken to running support groups and debriefing workshops for healthcare workers burdened by burnout and compassion fatigue.

Dr Michelle Meiring

Immediate Past Chairperson and Advocacy Lead

Dr Michelle Meiring is a Paediatrician with a special interest in Palliative Care and Chronic Pain Management. She is the Founding Director of Paedspal, an NGO that provides a paediatric palliative care service to public and private patients in Cape Town. Academically she convenes the Post-Graduate Diploma in Paediatric Palliative Medicine at UCT. An active advocate, Dr Meiring chairs PatchSA (the South African Children’s Palliative Care Network) and is engaged in policy making nationally.

Alyssa Ruth de Saldahna

Treasurer

Alyssa obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 2015. She is a member of the South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA). Her present position is as a Finance Manager of EHJ Accounting Services CC. In addition, Alyssa is a Birth Doula and founder of the 1000 Days of Grace Foundation, an NPO established to imporve the level of maternity and infant care in South Africa.

Aimee Kinsley

Secretary

Aimee obtained a Bachelor of Economics degree from Stellenbosch University and spent over 20 years working in the financial services industry  specialising in the retirement fund space. Aimee has worked very closely with Fund trustees and also acted as Deputy Principal Officer for some retirement funds. She is a trustee of a body corporate as well as Treasurer and Public Officer of Patch SA. Aimee became associated with Palliative care when her younger teenage son, Jesse, was diagnosed as terminal. She spent many years working closely with a palliative team trying to make Jesse’s life as comfortable as possible with as much quality of life in challenging circumstances. After Jesse passed away, Aimee and her husband John moved to their farm in Robertson, where they breed horses and enjoy a quieter life. Aimee also provides assistance with the day-to-day administration and finance of the organisation.

Thaaniyah Gydien

Board Member

Thaaniyah is a Speech-Language Pathologist. She received her BsC honors degree through UCT in 2017. She then went on to work in the public sector for 3 years where she was first exposed to palliative care. She started her own practice in 2021 and is very passionate about working in the paediatric palliative population with special interest in safe, quality feeding and optimal communication. She is a clinical educator at UCT and guest lectures on palliative care. Additionally, she consults for Paedspal and Reach for a dream and runs a feeding clinic at Rondebosch Medical Centre once a month. Her passion lies in supporting communication, feeding and empowering patients and caregivers. She is currently completing her Postgraduate diploma in paediatric palliative medicine through UCT.

Melissa Platt

Board Member

Melissa is a Pallitaive Care Coach, and the Co-Founder of Footprints 4 Sam. Melissa is Fred’s wife, Sam’s Mum and a bereaved parent. She is also a palliative coach and a professional consultant now strategically focused on the paediatric healthcare sector. Melissa obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine at UCT (2017, graduating with distinction), a coaching qualification at the Centre of Coaching at UCT Business School (2015), and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Rhodes University (1993). Melissa is passionate about patient and child advocacy, and family-centred healthcare. She is a co-founder of Footprints4Sam. Melissa’s senior management experience has been in heading up teams in sales, marketing and business development for many years. Her consulting, coaching and advocacy work has inspired positive growth, resilience and change in the families, individuals and teams. She has worked with both in the healthcare environment, as well as in the commercial sector.

Busi Nkosi

Board Member

Busi Nkosi is a professional nurse and was the Director of Advocacy for the International Children’s Palliative Care Network for 8 years. She is a nurse by profession and spent 20 years working in the South African Department of Health. She practiced as a Midwife for 3 years after qualifying as a midwife. She is also a Primary Health Care Nurse, Nurse Educator, Nurse Manager and Community Health Nurse. Passionate about working with children, she joined the field of children’s palliative care 18 years ago and spent 13 years in a children’s hospice. She worked for the International Children’s Palliative Care Network for 7 years advocating for children’s palliative care at global, regional and local levels. She has conducted training courses in children’s palliative care in various African countries. She has also presented papers on CPC at various international conferences, advocating for children’s palliative care.

Dr Jan du Plessis

Board Member

Prof Jan du Plessis is a lecturer and specialist paediatric oncologist at the Universitas Academic Hospital in Bloemfontein. He obtained his undergraduate degree (MBChB) at the University of the Free State in 1995. Thereafter, he completed his internship at the Bloemfontein Hospital Complex.  His post graduate qualification as a general paediatrician (MMed Paed) was obtained from the University of the Free State in 2003. Dr Du Plessis then continued his studies and obtained his Certificate in Medical Oncology (Paediatrics) from the Colleges of Medicine (SA) in 2006. He then did a 2-year fellowship in Paediatric Haematology/Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation at the Sydney Children’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia. Prof du Plessis did the diploma in palliative care at the University of Cape Town in 2013 and then completed and obtained the MPhil in Palliative Medicine degree from the University of Cape Town in 2016. Currently, Dr Du Plessis acting as the head of Paediatric Oncology and is also a lecturer at the University of the Free State for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical students.  He has a special interest in paediatric palliative care and haemophilia and presently works part time for the South Africa Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance.

Dr Karl-Günter Technau

Board Member

Dr Karl-Günter Technau is medical doctor and HIV Specialist. He is an Associate Professor at Wits University and a medical doctor who currently manages the paediatric HIV clinic at Rahima Moosa, having worked there since 2005. Having pursued a part-academic and part-clinical career he has completed his PhD and MSc(Med) in topics related to maternal and infant HIV diagnosis after initially completing his Diploma in Child Health and Diploma of HIV Management. A large focus of his work has been infant and maternal care and trying to help reduce mortality. His interest has also more recently included adolescent care, palliative care and the field of mental health in patients, families and staff.

Mlulami Nxele

Board Member

Mr Mlulami Nxele is a lawyer who is currently the Head of Legal for a major South African asset manager. He joins the board as a non-executive member. Mlulami holds an LLB degree from Nelson Mandela University and is an admitted attorney of the High Court. He has 12 years’ experience as a legal advisor in the asset management and financial services industry. Mlulami brings a wealth of legal experience to our organisation, which will certainly help to maximise the impact of the PatchSA Board.

Our Staff

Tracy Rawlins

Education and Training Manager

Professional nurse, educator and paediatric palliative care nurse specialist – Tracy is a professional nurse and midwife who has experience working in clinics, doctor’s surgeries, has run a private well baby clinic offering birth education classes as a school nurse and taught at a preschool for 5 years. During this time she undertook home care visits to those diagnosed with terminal illnesses, something she still does. In 2011, after being employed by the local hospice as the clinical manager, she completed the Short Course in Palliative Care for professional nurses (SCPNC) at South Coast Hospice and, realising she had a passion for teaching and empowering caregivers with knowledge and skills, completed her post graduate diploma in nursing education through Potchefstroom university. She worked for HPCA as their travelling tutor and facilitated the SCPNC distance programme in Mpumalanga for 3 years and in 2016 coordinated the SCPNC for HPCA nationally. With a partial bursary from HPCA she went on to study the Post Graduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine at UCT in 2017. Her experience in adult palliative care had laid a foundation of knowledge and skills but her heart and passion has always been in working with babies and children. She had identified a gap and need to offer more specialised care for babies and children with life limiting and life-threatening conditions so chose to complete the paediatric sub-specialty of the diploma. She was appointed as the training coordinator at PatchSA in May 2018. Tracy lives with her husband on a farm in the KZN midlands and has four adult children.

Sue Boucher

Programme & Communications Manager

Sue Boucher is a qualified teacher, an author and has vast experience in digital design and communication. During a teaching career spanning 30 years, she held the posts of Head of Department and Principal and sat on school Management Committees and Governing Bodies. From 2008 she spent 11 years with the International Children’s Palliative Network as their Director of Communications and joined the staff of PatchSA in 2020. She is a published author of numerous children’s story books and has co-authored and authored teaching manuals, textbooks and teaching aids for use at Junior, Senior Primary and High School level.  She wrote the HPCA handbook: Promoting Early Childhood Development within Paediatric Palliative Care and was a contributing author to the Oxford Textbook on Children’s Palliative Care in Africa published in 2009 and A Really Practical Handbook of Children’s Palliative Care in 2015. She is a contributing author to the 3rd edition of the Oxford Textbook on Palliative Care for Children published in 2021. She is the mother of three adult children and lives in the beautiful Assagay Valley in KZN.