Meet MasterDrive’s MANCO

Read our MANCO team’s biographies and put a face to the name of some of the team members you regularly interact with. Get to know the team leading the growth and development at MasterDrive.

Eugene Herbert

Eugene Herbert

Chief Executive Officer

Eugene has been at the helm as MasterDrive has helped drivers improve their standards of driving for more than 20 years. He serves on the board of a number of NPOs as well.

His thorough understanding of why people drive the way they do, allows Eugene to help drivers avoid these negative habits. A philosophy that Eugene believes in is that if every driver dedicated themselves to driving responsibly, we could reduce both road fatalities and use South Africa’s resources for more constructive purposes.

Lauren Hawthorn

Lauren Hawthorn

Commercial Director

Lauren spent the majority of her working career with the MasterDrive family. Over the past two decades she accumulated experience in positions varying from technical support and human resources to operations management.

Currently, in the role of Commercial Director she devotes her time and expertise to the further development of MasterDrive in support of its commitment to road safety.

Nishani Chetty

Nishani Chetty

Sales & Marketing Director

Nishani joined MasterDrive in 2019 and is instrumental in developing the Marketing Department. She is passionate about working with clients, driving operational results, risk-management and has a keen interest in road safety. Nishani believes in building and maintaining relationships through a strong commitment to work ethics and collaboration.

In her role, she focuses on operational results and strategy. Nishani is a change-agile leader, ensuring that ‘change-thinking’ is contagious throughout the organisation. With a background in insurance, Nishani’s appreciation for road safety goes beyond her natural affinity for risk-management and sales. Whether selling driver training solutions, planning events or mentoring her team, focusing on human benefit that transcends both personal and business lives is what makes her role rewarding.

Venessa Jackson

Venessa Jackson

Director Administrational Support

Venessa has been part of the MasterDrive family for almost three decades. Her responsibilities include MasterTrucker division as well as the ProfiDrive contract. Venessa is now also leading the business support department, a role she looks forward to.

Over the years Venessa has filled many different and diverse roles within the organisation. Venessa is passionate and driven within her roles at MasterDrive and works tirelessly in the drive to ensure our highways and bi-ways are safer for all.

Derek Kirkby

Derek Kirkby

Training Director

Before joining the MasterDrive team in 2009, Derek had his own K53 driving school for many years. During this time, he started to expand his skill set and became an advanced driving instructor, initially freelancing for some of the OEMs before becoming an instructor with MasterDrive, specialising in defensive driving and 4×4. Since then, he expanded his experience to include all aspects of advanced roadcraft training – from bikes to busses to trucks.

Currently, his portfolio at MasterDrive is in training material development and implementation.

Motebang Mokoena

Motebang Mokoena

Operations Director

Motebang has been part of the MasterDrive family for almost a decade now, starting as an instructor due to his passion to share information that will make for safer roads.

Currently in his role, Motebang manages and is the point of contact with all of MasterDrive’s instructors, nationally. Motebang is an avid car-enthusiast belonging to numerous car clubs.

Eugene (Gino) Nourse

Eugene (Gino) Nourse

Coastal Brand Manager

Gino boasts 29 years of corporate experience within the sales environment with a large portion of that at management level. A substantial part of his experience was gained internationally, which he incorporates into his approach to growth within MasterDrive.

After joining MasterDrive. in 2018 as Branch Manager of the Cape Town operation, he has since grown the into the role of Coastal Brand Manager. Gino is responsible for all aspects of MasterDrive’s coastal business, which incorporates Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal. He also heads up the newly launched division, MasterDrive Hi-Performance.

Julian Gertzen

Julian Gertzen

Sales Manager
Felicia Naidoo

Felicia Naidoo

Finance Manager