Our Team

The SassensTeam's key differentiator is their exposure to entrepreneurial environments, specifically with supporting business owners in building their businesses, often from humble beginnings.

The only way for smaller businesses to outcompete more established businesses, is to have talented people who are passionately aligned to a bold vision that will allow them to fully utilize their capabilities. Our talent management approach is based on our insight into the challenges that growing businesses face on the way to becoming corporate entities. By combining this with extensive executive search and targeted recruitment skills, we provide a unique talent management perspective and product set.

Jackie Mathebula

Director and Shareholder - Sassens Executive Evolutions (SEE)

Over the past 20 years, Jackie’s career in various organisations in the both the Public and Private Sectors, has uniquely prepared him to live his passion for Executive Talent Management. He has extensive experience at Executive Level in manufacturing, mining, mining services, retail, as well as financial and professional services. His has a conviction that Talent Management is the main source of competitive advantage for leading organisations based on his experience helping entrepreneurs to build substantive listed enterprises from humble beginnings. His role as a Director and Shareholder of Sassens Executive Evolutions (SEE) is to ensure that its partners have the top talent they require to compete effectively within the sectors in which they operate.

As a seasoned entrepreneur his business interests include: Diesel Power Group – a subsidiary of Buildmax Limited; Harmoserve (Pty) Ltd, an Investment holdings company that provides B-BBEE equity partnership solutions. Ndlandlamuka Holdings (Pty) Ltd; IVE Investments (Pty) Ltd; Vibration (Pty) Ltd. He holds equity stakes in Aurik Enterprise Development (Pty) Ltd; Ntswalo (Pty) Ltd; and Human Resources Empowerment Group (Pty) Ltd. Jackie is also a Partner and Principal at Transcend Capital, a specialist corporate finance company focusing on advisory and implementation of B-BBEE ownership transactions. Jackie has held Executive Leadership Positions in companies such as Edcon (Pty) Ltd; Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited; Gensec Bank, Sanlam (and now Sanlam Capital Markets); Gold Fields Limited; and Iscor Limited (which unbundled into Exxaro Resources, Kumba Iron Ore, and ArcelorMittal South Africa.)

He holds an MBA (University of Pretoria); Master of Management, HR (University of the Witwatersrand, WBS); Certificate Programme in Leadership Development - CPLD (University of the Witwatersrand, WBS); Diploma in Labour Law (GIMT); B Admin Honours (University of South Africa); B Admin (University of Limpopo).

jackie.mathebula@sassens.co.za

Thabiso Riba

Managing Director

Thabiso is a founding member of Sassens Executive Evolutions (SEE) and has been a Shareholder since July 2016. He always had an entrepreneurial dream and a desire to be part of something that would be a market disruptor in the recruitment industry. After a 5-year stint with Assessment Technologies International , he got and seized the opportunity to finally fulfil his long-held desire by leading a team that acquired the 27-year-old search business of Assessment Technologies International. This culminated in the birth of SEE, a more technologically enabled entity. This was followed by 5 long years of ‘heavy-lifting” by the team in ensuring that all the solid “building blocks” were in place before the official launch of SEE in 2020. As a result, Thabiso was appointed the Managing Director of SEE in January 2020. His focus has been to strategically partner with Executives and Boards in identifying and placing high-caliber and right-fit individuals that can enhance + their businesses’ strategic growth and/or restructuring objectives. Typically, these would be private equity, listed and unlisted clients in FMCG/Retail, Logistics, Financial Services, Quick Service Restaurant, Engineering and Construction industries. Most of his clients are predominantly in South Africa and some parts of the SADEC region.

He has been in the recruitment industry for over 14 years and his journey began at Pinpoint One Human Resources. He joined the company straight after completing his human resources studies at the University of Johannesburg. It is here where he “cut his teeth” on assisting Executives and Boards both in Public and Private sectors on their strategic talent acquisition and retention needs. Subsequently, he joined McDonalds and Company – a global entity and subsidiary of Prime People (listed on the London Stock Exchange). He consulted to clients in property, engineering, and construction industries mainly across Southern and East Africa.

thabisor@sassens.co.za

Bianca Mnkandla

Operations Executive

After graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand with a BA (Law) degree, Bianca decided to change her career focus to a people centric profession. She joined a Japanese import and export company, rapidly progressing through the ranks to managerial level. She then joined Assessment Technologies International where she held numerous managerial positions including Office Manager and Executive Researcher.

In 2016, Bianca was appointed Operations Executive of Sassens Executive Evolutions (SEE). Here her expertise has been put to excellent use and includes driving key recruitment initiatives with senior management in mid-sized entrepreneurial businesses, listed enterprises and blue chip companies. This involves aligning recruitment strategies with the overall business strategy, as well as comprehensive talent mapping to facilitate effective talent calibration and succession planning.

biancam@sassens.co.za

Daniel Mahwai

Executive Head: Professional Services

After successfully completing 3 years of his LLB degree at the University of the Witwatersrand, Daniel decided to complete his studies part time. He joined Assessment Technologies International in 2009 Head of Research. He restructured the department, recruited a new team and introduced a number of process innovations which enhanced the productivity dramatically. Looking to challenge his own boundaries, he moved into a consultant role. As a Senior Consultant he has completed executive level assignments across a broad spectrum of industries and functions.

In 2016 Daniel was promoted to the Executive Head: Professional Services in Sassens Executive Evolutions (SEE). His role is to ensure that client needs are fully met by the team of consultants and researchers

danielm@sassens.co.za