The Right Reverend Dr. Johannes Thomas Seoka, a distinguished figure with a rich legacy in advocacy and leadership, was born in 1948 in KwaZulu-Natal.

A dedicated Anglican leader, he has played a leading role in efforts to reconcile different sections of the worldwide Anglican community on issues of human sexuality, same sex unions and the ordination of gay clergy. As a Deputy Chairperson of Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA), he played an important role in encouraging debate between the Episcopal Church of America (ECUSA) and CAPA, on the same issue.

With a vast array of roles, including serving as the first black Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pretoria and founding the Bench Marks Foundation of Southern Africa, he brings a profound commitment to fostering positive change in both the religious and corporate realms.
Dr. Seoka’s has championed corporate responsibility and ethical mining practices that notably include shaping global corporate behaviour and promoting collaborative dialogue including participation in the writing of the “Principles for global corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks for measuring Business Performance” in 2003, which became a global tool for evaluating corporation’s behaviour and conduct. His insightful contributions continue to impact various domains, shaping discussions on climate, minerals, and development. This was evident in his intervention in the 2012 Marikana massacre of rock drillers who were on strike for living wage.

He is Chairperson of the CDT Foundation, founding chairperson of both Bench Marks Foundation of Southern Africa for corporate Social Responsibility (BeFSA) and the Justice for Miners campaign which is seeking compensation for the miners who died from TB and silicosis.

Joanne holds a PhD in Public Law from the University of Cape Town. The title of her study is “Women’s legal consciousness in a poor urban community: Finding order in and around the law”. She has been involved with SCAT since 1998 when she was employed as a fieldworker/trainer which was followed by a series of promotions to senior fieldworker/researcher in 2000, field manager in 2002 and communications director in 2004, before being appointed SCAT Director in 2006. Joanne took time out to do her Masters in Social Planning and Administration in 2011 with her thesis focusing on the “Financial sustainability of the non-profit sector in South Africa. At the request of the SCAT board she returned to SCAT in 2016 in order to bring stability to the organisation, which had experienced a number of leadership changes and significant funding losses. She is deeply committed to social justice and gender equality in South Africa.

Trenton Elsley is Executive Director of the Labour Research Service (LRS), established in 1986 as a non-profit labour service organisation. The LRS specialises in research, dialogue-building and developmental projects with the broad aim of strengthening civil society and a particular focus on the world of the work.

Trenton has a long-standing interest in social dialogue and corporate governance, with a specific interest in South African multinational companies with operational footprints in Africa. He is preoccupied with efforts to deepen thinking and practice that assesses the contribution made by multinationals to the value created across the whole of the economic, social and environmental context within which these companies operate.

Rod Bulman holds a BCom (UNISA), an MSocSci (Natal) and a PGCE (London).

After training as a teacher of Economics at the Institute of Education at the University of London, Rod taught at Estcourt High School for 5 years, before resigning to take an appointment (1980-1990), as Registrar of the Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa an ecumenical training institution in Imbali, Pietermaritzburg, preparing clergy for the mainline Protestant churches.

Between 1990 and 1995 he served as Executive Governor of Epworth School, which consists of a high, primary and pre-primary schools of Methodist foundation, in Pietermaritzburg.

In 1996 Rod founded Phelamanga, of which he is now an emeritus member.  Phelamanga is a consultancy which specialises in public participation and environmental policy, development and planning.

He has served on numerous committee and Boards and is currently a member of the boards of both Ditikeni and Church Land Programme.