The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) has announced the winners of the 2025 President’s Awards.

The winner of the prestigious IT Personality of the Year award is Matt Putman, Co-Founder and CEO of iKhokha - one of the first Fintech companies to be launched in Africa, which is being acquired by Nedbank in an approximate R1.65bn deal.

Louise van der Bank, an IITPSA Pr.CIO and CIO of AfriSam, has been named Visionary CIO of the Year in recognition of her approach to redefining the role of CIO as a catalyst for digital innovation, business transformation and sustainable growth.  

Dr. Mohammed Haroon Rashid Ansari, Director (VP) – Digital Transformation & Business Excellence at WNS Global Services (Part of Capgemini) has won the Technology Excellence Award, which celebrates exceptional or innovative use of information technology.

The new Woman in IT Excellence Award, which recognises an individual who demonstrates professional excellence, ethical leadership, mentorship, and commitment to transforming the ICT sector, particularly in promoting the visibility and participation of women, has been awarded to Senele Goba, Founding Director of 4IR Innovations and past President of the IITPSA.

The non-profit Leva Foundation has won the Social Responsibility/Community Award. Known for its development projects such as Tangible unplugged coding, the Leva Foundation under co-founder and CEO Ryan le Roux has had over a decade of impact in Africa, Europe, Indonesia and South Korea.

Tanaka Dhliwayo, Founder and CEO at Tanie Codes Org, has won the Dynamism in ICT Youth award category. This award is for a person under the age of 25 years who has demonstrated exceptional potential or achievement in ICT over the past two to five years, or who has the characteristics of an inspirational role model for young people. Dhliwayo is a software developer, IT tutor and tech advocate who founded the non-profit Tanie Codes in Soweto to introduce girls to computer programming, robotics and essential digital skills.

Kurai Masocha, Founder and CEO of Tech Oasis Systems and Chair of the IITPSA Innovation Special Interest Group, is the winner of the 2025 IITPSA Member Ambassador Award category, while Prof Lynn Futcher has been recognised with an IITPSA Fellowship award and John Singh, IITPSA Vice President and Chairperson of the IITPSA Blockchain and Crypto SIG, has received a Distinguished Service award.

Congratulating the winners, IITPSA President Pearl Pasi said this year’s awards theme ‘Excellence in an AI-driven world’ was a topical one because of the impacts of AI. “In under three years, AI has become a massive transformational force that nobody can ignore. AI, Generative AI, Agentic AI and any future AI technologies are becoming the new drivers of systems, businesses and even daily life. But revolutionary technology can come with risks and in the case of AI, the technology has evolved too fast for solid guardrails, with standardised ethical and governance frameworks, to be put in place,” she said. 

“At the moment, the onus is on individuals - largely those of us who work in the IT sector - to build, deploy and manage AI in a responsible, secure and ethical manner. We have to think a few steps ahead nowadays - mastering AI, identifying AI use cases that add value to the business, and doing so in a way that doesn’t expose the business to risk. It’s not easy to achieve excellence in an environment that changes almost daily because of AI. But some professionals - like this year’s winners - are shining examples of the multitaskers, visionaries and technology leaders achieving excellence in an AI-driven world.”

Empowering Women in IT 

Pasi noted that the new Women in IT Excellence Award, which was introduced this year, aims to recognise individuals who demonstrate professional excellence, ethical leadership, mentorship, and commitment to transforming the ICT sector, particularly in promoting the visibility and participation of women. 

“It’s about people who help drive transformation and serve as role models for girls and young women wanting to work in the IT sector,” she said.

This is in line with the IITPSA’s stepped-up focus on empowering women in IT. “We believe the gender gap in our industry has been a problem for too long, therefore our Women in IT (WIIT) chapter has also been revitalised and is more active than ever before, to encourage girls to enter the IT profession and empower women working in IT,” Pasi said.