Local Leadership Team

Managing Director for WSP in South Africa
Paul Grota
Paul joined WSP in November 2014, as part of the Parsons Brinkerhoff acquisition, where he was Head of Operations for Africa. After the acquisition, Paul led the integration of WSP and Parsons Brinckerhoff in Africa and has, until recently, been the COO for Power, Industry & Property business units. Paul has over 12 years’ experience in management and has a B.Eng, Mechanical Engineering, University of Johannesburg, and MBA, Business Management, GIBS.

Chief Operating Officer for WSP UK and South Africa
Mathieu du Plooy
Mathieu moved to the UK in January 2022 to take up the role of Chief Operating Officer for the UK and South Africa after leading the African business for 12-years. Mathieu was appointed as chief executive officer of WSP in Africa in 2010 and joined the company in 2007 as head of department for the refrigeration division, before being appointed office director for Building Services.
Savannah Maziya holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the United States of America and an MBA from the United Kingdom.
She is currently the Group CEO of the Bunengi Group based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Bunengi Group is a project development, management and investment company that operates all over the African continent in the infrastructure, natural resources and financial services sectors. This company is the only one of its kind that is women owned and run in Africa.
Savannah has worked in various other industries such as broadcasting, mining and financial services. She has run various businesses that she started and later sold. She has served on various boards such as Rand Water (the largest water utility in Africa), Immigration, National Gambling and Casino Boards, The Construction Industry Development Board, The New School in New York, and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications. She has also served on various listed international mining groups boards, such as Gold one and Uranium one. After South Africa was declared a democratic country in 1994, Savannah also played the role of special advisor to various government ministers.

Executive Director
Nonku Ntshona

Managing Director for Property & Buildings
Michelle Jackson
Michelle joined WSP from Turner & Townsend as Managing Director for Property & Buildings in February 2022. Most recently, Michelle has been leading Turner & Townsend’s Data Centre business, having also led a variety of projects and business units across sectors, including Property, Infrastructure, Oil & Gas and Mining. Michelle also supported the development and management of Turner & Townsend’s regional West African business, as well as successfully managing projects in Mozambique, Nigeria and Ghana.

Head of Internal Communications, UK and Africa
Natalie Lord
Natalie is responsible for internal communications across our UK and Africa business, and in April 2022 took up responsibility for corporate communications in Africa. During her time at WSP she has led internal communications through significant business programmes, including the 2022-24 Growth Strategy launch and the acquisition of Golder.
Natalie holds a BA Hons in Public Relations and has managed communications across a number of industries and sectors, including roles at HSBC, Network Rail – who own, run and develop Britain’s railways, and Domestic & General, one of the UK’s leading insurance providers.

Director Power & Industrial
Dinesh Buldoo
Dinesh is a professional engineer with over 11 years’ experience in the power sector. He has worked primarily in the field of transmission, distribution and renewable energy engineering and has extensive experience in substations, high voltage lines and cables, substation automation and switchgear, including high level and detailed design, construction and commissioning. He also has experience in manufacturing and supply of electrical equipment in substation automation, medium voltage and low voltage switchgear and distribution.

Director, Transport and Infrastructure
Wayne Petersen

Director, Customer Experience & Strategic Growth
Francois van Rensburg

Director Customer Experience & Strategic Growth
Martin Mkhabela
Relevant experience includes greenfields’ project development, brownfields’ project management, operations and maintenance, and public infrastructure management. He worked for the Gauteng Provincial Government as Deputy Director-General for Public Health Infrastructure. In this role, he was responsible for management of large infrastructure budgets and diverse teams of project managers, engineers and maintenance personnel. He has a firm understanding of public sector management of finances, procurement, systems and processes.

HR Director - Middle East & Africa
Caroline Parsons
In addition to her role in Africa, Caroline leads the Shared Services teams for WSP in Africa with a key focus on People and Workplaces disciplines. She is based in Dubai and has worked with WSP since 2005. She is a member of the Global HR Leadership Team and supports on delivering global and regional people strategies. Caroline is passionate about designing workplaces and cultures that are highly engaging and provide a consistently positive workplace experience for employees. She is creative in identifying opportunities and solutions that challenge the status quo and keep WSP as an employer of choice.
Caroline graduated with a 1st class honours in Human Resources in 2002 and completed her Master of Business Administration in 2017 from Warwick University, UK . She is a Chartered member of the Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
Dhiren's previous positions include being Financial Director at DPI Plastics and Wade Walker, before joining WSP. He has a BCom (Hons) in Accounting from University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Director, Environment & Energy
Sean Doel

Director, Property Coastal
Peter Hodgkinson

Director, Transport & Infrastructure
Terence Milne

Divisional Managing Director - Earth and Environment
Dr Ralph Heath
He has successfully built sustainable consulting entities in Africa linked to servicing mining clients. In his role as Managing Director of Golder and Director of the Earth and Environment Business Unit he oversees a wide range of environmental advisory services throughout Africa.