President and Executive Committee
SAIA KZN comprises of the President and Executive committee, as well as Committee Heads and general members. The Executive committee and Committee Heads meet at the Institute on the first Friday of every month. All members are invited to get involved and participate in a committee by contacting one of the committee chairs. There are always exciting projects and programmes in the pipeline that could benefit from your participation!
Executive Committee
President: Prakasen Govender
Vice-President: Dr Viloshin Govender
Immediate Past President: Monique Gillespie
Professional Practice Sub-committee: Patrick Mawesana
Finance Chair: Jodi- Davids Harber
Regional Committee
| Prakasen Govender | President |
| Dr. Viloshin Govender | Vice President, Education & CPD Subcommittee Chair |
| Monique Gillespie | Immediate Past President, Heritage & Cultural Identity Subcommittee Chair |
| Patrick Mawesana | Professional Practice Committee Chair |
| Jodi Davids- Harber | Finance Chair |
| George Elphick | Media & Journal Subcommittee Chair |
| Sandy Naiker | Habitat Subcommittee Chair |
| Bongeka Mnguni | Women in Architecture Subcommittee Chair |
| Mandisa Pepeta | Professional Practice Sub-committee |
| Sikhumbuzo Mtembu | Habitat Subcommittee |
| Pat Smith | Professional Practice Committee |
Prakasen Govender
Prakasen (or Prak as he is known by) attended University of Natal and qualified as an Architect in 1993. He worked in a number of practices in and around Durban before entering academia in 1996, the same year he started PGA Architects. He left academia in 2003 to go into practice full time. PGA has gone on to grow significantly, with Prak at the helm engaging in a broad array of projects across the country. Prak is a committed mentor and serves as adirector of the 160 Bulwer Rd Company
Dr Viloshin Govender
Viloshin Govender is a lecturer in Architecture at the School of Built Environment and Development Studies at UKZN. His research involves working with underprivileged communities, especially those in informal settlements, using drone technologies and community collaboration to create solutions that form a bottom-up approach. He is also an Architect with research interests that include resilient cities, building adaptability, and how insurgency affects city planning. Viloshin has completed a Ph.d based on Adaptive Reuse architecture as a response to insurgency and decay
Monique Gillespie
Monique Gillespie graduated from UKZN (then UND) and has actively practiced architecture for over 30 years. She is the founder and principal of a small but busy practice based in Durban North that has a portfolio of projects spanning a wide range of building typologies and sizes. Monique’s fields of interest lie in best practice models, sustainability and the environment, heritage, professionalism and the growth of the profession through mentorship. Monique has served the SAIA KZN regional committee since 2018 and is the current president of SAIA KZN and vice president of SAIA National. She brings a commitment to service and a willingness to bring meaningful change and support to the profession.
Jodi-Davids Harber
Jodi Davids- Harber is Partner and Managing Director of TJ Architects Durban. Qualifying from UKZN in 2006 she’s since built experience leading a diverse range of public and private sector projects and is skilled in directing multi-disciplinary teams to deliver complex projects with precision, creativity, and impact. In addition to her architectural qualifications, she is also experienced in managing construction contracts and holds additional credentials in project management and property development.
Jodi is a vocal and champion for women’s representation and advancement in the construction and property sector and actively advocates for inclusivity in design and leadership in her roles as KZN Women’s Property Network Chair, student mentor and external examiner.
Patrick Mawesana
Patrick Mawesana is a seasoned professional architect and certified mediator with over two decades of experience steering complex public and private developments. He is an Associate Member of the Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) and has extensive experience in managing JBCC, NEC, and GCC construction contracts. Patrick’s diverse credentials include qualifications in architecture, a Diploma in Project Management, and an Advanced Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the University of Pretoria and Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa.
George Elphick
George Elphick, founding and managing director of EPA, has gained broad national recognition as a practicing Architect. He has been involved in all of EPA’s award winning projects across numerous countries on the African continent . Together with his partners, George is committed to evolving the practice’s language of design to create sustainable, contextual and thought provoking architecture. With considerable experience of directing complex projects both large and small, in South Africa and abroad, George has brought innovative, rational and clear design and practice leadership to EPA’s high profile projects.
Sandy Naiker
Sandy Naiker is an accomplished architect with considerable contributions in the making of innovative contemporary public buildings promoting contextually responsive and sustainable architecture during her tenure with the eThekwini Metro’s Architecture office. She continues this ethos as creator of living spaces, advocating for radical changes in architectural design thinking and land use policy toward brand new models- for this day- for human habitation.
She is inspired by the idea of creating architecture that may be more spontaneous, more flexible, more natural, more artful,more spiritual.
Sandy is a part-time lecturer within the 4th year Architecture Design programme at the University of Kwazulu Natal and has been involved in Interior Design student reviews on an ad hoc basis. She has previously chaired the SAIA-KZN’s Habitat Sub-Committee, promoting awareness and member participation in public engagement processes relating to the City’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and land-use policies. Currently Sandy facilitates selected events under the SAIA-KZN’s Women in Architecture programme.
Bongeka Mnguni
Bongeka Mnguni is a Professional Architect who completed both her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at UKZN. She currently serves as the Chairperson of Women in Architecture and Transformation at SAIA KZN — a role she regards as an extension of her purpose to advocate for the voices of the unheard.
She has dedicated several years to mentoring aspiring architects, having served as a Mentor at UKZN, and as both a Mentor and Lecturer at the Durban University of Technology. Bongeka also mentors emerging women developers through the South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners’ Aspiring Women Developers Programme.
Sikhumbuzo Mtembu
Sikhumbuzo Mtembu is a managing director of Simarc. He has more than 10 years’ experience as a practitioner, and has been an active member of the SAIA KZN Regional Committee for 8 years including presidency for two terms. In 2014 he was elected young architects leader for region 5 of the International Union of Architects.
Mtembu’s main field of work is transportation, primarily, railway stations. He has vast experience in medico legal reports for the State Attorney which prioritises universal accessibility to persons with injuries suffered at the hands of state employees. As a Council Member from SAIA at the Africa Union of Architects he headed the green building portfolio
Pat Smith
Pat Smith’s career started with Stafford Assoc Architects as a Technologist, he then enrolled at UKZN. During varsity studies he attained a bursary with Transnet where he worked for ten years after graduation. In 2002 Pat joined Dean Walker and established Walker Smith Architects. Dean subsequently left for Australia when Pat then took over the practice completely.
The practice has been blessed with a huge variety of projects both small and very large. Projects include, houses, schools, offices, shopping centres, retail, tertiary education facilities, commercial interiors, housing schemes, industrial, urban design, sports facilities, specialization in churches and control rooms.
Pat has served on the heritage committee, he has chaired the Practice committee and is a past president of SAIA KZN.
During the last few years, he has served as the SAIA KZN representative on the Building Industry Forum for KZN and the Good Practice Committee as well as on the Architectural Voluntary Association collaborative.
Pat would like to continue these endeavours and pursue these relationships on behalf of SAIA KZN and assist on the Practice Committee.