Our Board

CDF WCape Chairman

Jannie Isaacs

Jannie Isaacs has been involved in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for more than 39 years as an Educator, Lecturer, Manager, and Head of a college. On the 1 March 1997, he took over the reigns as the Rector of the former Cape College, a position he held until the college was merged in September 2002. He took up the post of Principal and Chief Executive Officer of the COLLEGE OF CAPE TOWN on 1 September 2003, a position which he held until he retired on 31 March 2013. Jannie has a strong academic background in Vocational and Professional Education, Training and Development, as well as in Management and Leadership. Since 1 April 2013 he has been an independent consultant providing services to a diverse group of companies and organisations. He has taken a keen interest in Corporate Governance and serves on the Boards of a number of Community and Non-Profit Organisations such as Garden Cities NPC, ASSET Trust, and serves as Chairman of the Boards of Community Development Foundation (CDF WCape); Swiss-South Africa Co-operation Initiative (SSACI);  Rallim Preparatory School; Vrolike Vinkies Educare, and Waumbe Youth Development. He is a member of the Institute of Directors Southern Africa (IoDSA). He is married to Alma, and they have two children, Jonathan and Janelle and three grandchildren, Daniel, Maya and Omar. He takes a keen interest in sport and used to be a regular road runner.

CDF WCape Treasurer

Ernest James

Ernest James graduated in 1975 as one of the first persons of colour with a Bachelor Degree in Building Science at the University of Cape Town. After graduation he was employed as a Construction Quantity Surveyor on multi-million Rand high rise buildings in the Cape Town CBD including the Cape Town Civic Centre and was a member of the project management team responsible for the construction of 6680 dwelling units in the Cape Peninsula. In 1982 he joined the Peninsula Technikon’s Engineering Faculty and held various academic and management posts in the Department of Architecture, Construction and Civil Engineering and was later appointed Associate Dean of the faculty. He initiated the Community Projects Office through which staff assisted communities with infrastructure projects and students could gain valuable practical experience and assist with projects in their own communities. The Cape and Peninsula Technikons were merged to form the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in 2005 and he was appointed Interim Executive Director (Operations) responsible for merging infrastructure services on 6 campuses servicing 30 000 students. With the merger completed, he retired in 2010 and has since been consulting to small businesses and Community based organisations. In his spare time Ernest was involved in community activities. Because of his expertise in managing ‘community” finances he has been the treasurer of 22 organisations and was appointed the treasurer of CDF when it was established. As treasurer he see his role as making management committees constantly aware of their fiduciary responsibilities and accountability, ensure that adequate financial controls are in place, to  report back to donors and funders and to inform the beneficiaries with the aid of simple presentation methodologies of the financial status of the organisation as reflected in the audited statements and with it assures them that there were no corruption, unplanned spending and that the funds were used for the aims and objectives of the organisations.

CDF WCape Board member

Dee Cranswick

Dee Cranswick is an Advocate who earned her BA LLB degree at the University of Cape Town. Dee has been assisting employers and employees for over 30 years as a labour lawyer, mediator and facilitator. She has strong negotiation skills and is well-known in Cape Town and Johannesburg as being totally committed to a cause in which she believes. Having been involved in precedent setting cases, Dee has become passionate about establishing fairness and balance in the workplace, so as to assist parties to avoid the “pain” of litigation. She is actively involved in relationship building and BBBEE in the workplace and has earned the respect of employees and employers alike in establishing real solutions that provide maximum results for her clients. In addition to her legal career, Dee has been appointed as a trustee to the board of the Community Development Foundation Western Cape, and The Ithemba Broad-Based Ownership Trust. Dee is the Director and CEO of Velisa Africa Academy, specialised IT skills training organisation for youth development and also the current managing member of I.R Insights cc. She currently chairs St Francis Tourism, operates her guesthouse, Cycads on Sea, in St Francis and is involved in the business forum and job creation initiatives.

CDF WCape Board member

Henry Williams

Previous Board

Vivian Kleynhans

Trustee

2013 – 2020

Our Staff

Cheryldene Hector

Volunteer: EPWP Administrator

Primary Roles of CDF WCape