Board announcement

Cannons announces Board of Directors

Over the past 24 months we have been engaging in a process of transferring the governance of the school from the Cannons Creek School Trust to a more representative Cannons Creek Non Profit Company. We are pleased to report that we have now also received our Non Profit Organisation status; and the assets of the School have been transferred from the Trust to the NPC.


In light of this, a new Governance structure for Cannons Creek has been established, and we thank parents for their nominations received in this process. The NPC Board of Directors includes five independent members, four representatives from the Cannons Creek Parents’ Association and three ex-officio members being the Executive Principal, Primary School Principal, and Finance Manager.

Mr Jan de Waal: Chairperson (Independent)

Mr de Waal is currently retired and has served as Chairperson of the Cannons Creek Transitional Board from January 2022. Jan will continue as Chairperson on the Cannons Creek NPC Board. Jan started teaching in 1979. He taught at Wynberg Boys’ High, Rhodes High, Simonstown School, Sweet Valley and Somerset College. Jan held the position of School Principal over 27 years at Simonstown, Sweet Valley, Somerset College and Wynberg Boys’ High.

Prof Caroline Ncube (Independent)

Prof Ncube is a Professor in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Cape
Town. Caroline previously practised as an attorney, notary public and conveyancer.
Caroline has conducted staff-related disciplinary proceedings for educational institutions and
served as a proctor at university student disciplinary proceedings. She has also advised
school governing bodies on HR related matters. One of Caroline’s sons was a pupil in the High School.

Mr Neville Ontong (Independent)

Mr Ontong is the Principal of King’s School Goodwood. Neville is also the SW Regional Chair
of the SAHISA (Southern African Heads of Independent Schools Association) ; and is a
member of the SAHISA National EXCO, the ISASA (Independent Schools Association of
Southern Africa) Transformation and Diversity committee and the ISASA National Council.
Neville holds the following qualifications:
● PTC [Primary Teachers Certificate]. Perseverance College of Education in Kimberley
● HDE IV [ Higher Diploma in Education. Four-year diploma] Roggebaai College of
● Education for Further Training
● B Tech in Educational Management [CPUT]
● M Tech Edu Management – focus on Multi-Cultural Education, Democracy in
● Education, Curriculum planning and development [part time]
● Public leadership [POLS ]through USB
● WITS LDP
● Diploma in Theology
● FAMSA – Family Counselling

Mr Rowan Williams-Short (Independent)

Mr Williams-Short is employed with Vunani Fund Managers. Rowan is a portfolio manager,
managing pension fund assets and unit trusts. He has lectured mathematical statistics at UCT
and at UBC in Canada. Rowan was lead examiner for the CFA Institute in America for several
years. Rowan served on a finance committee at Cannons Creek from 2010-2011. His daughter attended Cannons Creek from Grade 1 to Grade 12, and was Head Prefect in
2011.

Adv Paul White (Independent)

Adv White has been self-employed as an advocate and as a member of the Cape Bar since
July 1998. Prior to joining the Bar he was employed by the Department of Justice as a Public
Prosecutor and thereafter practised as an attorney with Herold Gie Attorneys. Last year Paul
represented Cannons Creek in a litigation matter. Paul has lived in Pinelands for the past 23 years. His elder son, James, is a past pupil of Cannons Creek.

Mrs Ayesha Kaplen (CCPA Committee)

Mrs Kaplen is a management consultant with more than 20 years’ experience, consulting on
public sector transformation matters. Ayesha has volunteered her assistance to Cannons Creek since 2018 serving on the Strategic Committee, chairing the Interim Parents’ Association and driving the establishment of the Cannons Creek Parents’ Association. She has also served as a member of the Transitional Board. Ayesha’s daughters are currently in Grade 8 and Grade 3.

Mr Tajudin Parkar (CCPA)

Mr Parkar currently works at Old Mutual Life Assurance Company SA. Tajudin has held several positions in the retirement fund industry spanning actuarial and benefit consulting, investment marketing, the provision of life insurance retirement solutions and as a retirement fund Trustee. Tajudin holds post-graduate qualifications in actuarial science and financial planning from University of Cape Town and University of Stellenbosch respectively. He is a member of the Actuarial Society of South Africa and a Certified Financial Planner of the Financial Planning Institute of South Africa. Tajudin’s eldest daughter attended Cannons Creek from Grade R to Grade 12, and was Head Prefect in 2019. Currently, he has a daughter in Grade 11 and a son in Grade 2 both of whom have attended the school since Grade RR.

Mr Rushdy Parker (CCPA)

Mr Parker is employed at Ruben Reddy Architects (Pty) Ltd. Rushdy is a professionally registered architect with over 19 years Design and Construction Supervision experience in large scale building projects in the residential, commercial and education sectors. Until now, he has been assisting Cannons Creek in an ad hoc advisory capacity and assisting with local authority approvals. Rushdy has children currently in Grades 3 and 2.

Mrs Shelly Stamatiadis (CCPA Committee Chair)

Mrs Stamatiadis currently works at HOPE Cape Town Trust. She has over 30 years’ experience as a stakeholder engagement specialist across the disciplines of Marketing, Public Relations, Strategic and Crisis Communications, Media Relations, Brand Building, Eventing, Fundraising and Sponsorship management. Shelly has been a class representative, previously served on the Strategic Committee and Interim Parents’ Association and is the Chairperson of the Cannons Creek Parents’ Association. Shelly has a daughter in Grade 9 and twins in Grade 5.

Mr Angus Morton (Ex-Officio – Executive Principal)

Mr Morton has spent the largest part of his career in the independent school sector. Angus
was a founding staff member of Somerset College in 1997. As a Deputy Head, he oversaw
the academic and pastoral programmes of the High School. Angus left Somerset College at
the end of 2006 and spent two years teaching at The Leys School in Cambridge, United
Kingdom. On his return to South Africa in 2009, he joined Elkanah House High School as the
Head of the Physical Sciences department. In 2020 he was appointed Head of Elkanah
House High School. Angus joined Cannons Creek as the Executive Principal in 2023.

Mrs Tracy Wahl (Ex-Officio – PS Principal)

Mrs Wahl trained as a teacher in Foundation Phase and Pre-Primary Education. Tracy has
been teaching since 1987 at both Public and Independent Schools, where she held
management positions. Tracy was actively involved in the sports programme as well as
music and productions in all her years of teaching. Tracy was appointed as a Grade 6 Class Teacher and Deputy Principal at Cannons Creek in 2014. In 2018 she took over the Headship from Mrs Booth on her retirement. Tracy is passionate about teaching through innovative and holistic methods. She stays abreast of current trends by attending educational conferences both online and in person. She is an avid reader and encourages our children to read daily. Tracy is a member of the ISASA SW regional committee and Chair of the Small Schools Forum for our region.

Mr Jacques Soine (Ex-Officio – Finance Mgr)

Mr Soine is a Finance and Business Management professional with experience across diverse industries including construction, packaging, corporate education, and public health in the non-profit sector. He is a Master of Commerce graduate, experienced at adapting to and managing change through organisational phases of growth, restructuring and down-sizing. Jacques is a strategic thinker who is able to add value at the Executive Committee and Board level. He enjoys adding measurable value through advanced data analytics and modelling to support better decisions for organisational growth and sustainability, upholding effective internal controls to support operational outcomes, and facilitating integration across functional teams for strategic alignment and collaboration around shared objectives. Jacques joined Cannons Creek at the beginning of December 2022.

Read more about Cannons Creek, here.