Baeto Mogoera heads a New Start site run through a partnership with the NPO, Mosamaria. He manages a team of 24 employees and particularly enjoys the opportunity he has had to build relationships with government and business and network with colleagues in SFH. Baeto holds a National Diploma from Motheo Further Education and Training College.

Nontokozo Ndlovu is a seasoned counsellor. Having worked on the Girls and Boys Town National Hotline and Lifeline’s helpline dealing with sexual and gender-based violence, she joined New Start as an HCT counsellor and later founded the Mabopane site. She has a National Certificate in Marketing Management and a BA Psychology from the University of Johannesburg. She is driven by “knowing that there is an opportunity to change someone’s life for the better”.

Thandeka Sikakane, who joined New Start in 2015, has experience in marketing and health promotion. At Right to Care she coordinated wellness days and HIV testing for corporate clients. She organised summits for Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa and served as Communication and Marketing Programmes Coordinator for the Lutheran Communion in the SADC region. She appreciates “being part of an organisation that is a catalyst of positive change in the health sector”.

Tintswalo Nsiki, who joined New Start in the second half of 2015, is a professional nurse with wide-ranging clinical and management experience. Her four-year spell in psychiatric services built her skills in counselling and individual and family therapy as well as her appreciation of the way psychological factors affect physical health. She has also worked in out-patients departments, delivering integrated services, including HIV and TB programmes. She has a Bachelor of Nursing degree from Wits University and an MPH from the University of Limpopo (Medunsa Campus).

Jane Luvunoserves New Start through our partnership with Thathenda health care. She is a nurse by profession and previously worked for Inkosi Albert Lutuli hospital for several years. She has a qualification in occupational health nursing and has gone on to do several short courses such as Clinical HIV/AIDS management courses.

Mary Gama is a professional nurse and midwife who began delivering MMC services to the community of Witbank in 2012. She was nominated as best MMC manager in the New Start programme in 2013. What keeps her moving forward? “Knowing that I am making an impact in people’s lives . . . and contributing to the overall reduction of new HIV infections in the country.

Millicent Makolawas the first New Start counsellor to rise to the position of manager of an HCT site. Her passion is grooming promising young colleagues to take up positions of responsibility. Milicent has a BA (Health Sciences and Social Services) from the University of South Africa and constantly encourages members of her team to further their studies in order to build their careers.

Maseboge Shongwe gets satisfaction from the performance of her site and the achievements of her staff. She is a health promoter with many years’ experience but is content to step back and assume the management tasks – arranging meetings, writing reports, and coordinating projects . She holds a Diploma in Health Promotion from the University of South Africa and a Diploma in Adult Basic Education and Training from the University of South Africa.

Zama Bosch works for New Start through a partnership with the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU). Before joining PHRU, she worked at the Bloemfontein centre of the medical research organisation, PAREXEL where she managed analysis of clinical data gathered during studies to develop new medicines. Zama has a BSC in Biological Sciences and Statistics from the University of the Free State. She enjoys the challenges of clinical work. My background is not clinical so I had to lift myself up and add to my skills.

Venice Mbowane serves New Start through our partnership with the Perinatal Research Unit (PHRU). She previously worked for Bhubezi AIDS Awareness Programme in Mpumalanga, scaling up the uptake of HIV testing. Initially, Venice she served in PHRU’s Kganyamotsha Adolescent Clinic and then managed fieldwork for a study to measure the impact of mobile HCT and other interventions in reducing HIV infections. She is a social worker by profession with a degree from Venda University of Science and Technology.