Theme: TEDxJohannesburg Countdown

To a better, greener, healthier, thriving, resilient, fairer, cooler, creative future.
TEDxJohannesburg brings you Countdown 2023, an event we’ve designed to spark meaningful conversation and inspire action on climate change. TEDxJohannesburg Countdown 2023 takes place on Thursday, 4 May 2023, at Shepstone Gardens in Houghton, Johannesburg.

Through a lineup of diverse and engaging local and international speakers, TEDxJohannesburg Countdown 2023 (watch Countdown 2021 talks here) will explore how climate change works, how it is affecting our planet, and how it impacts us all. We will delve deep into the efforts already made to address this global challenge and consider what we must do now to make a real difference.

The event will acknowledge Africa’s unique position in the climate discussion – the asymmetric impact of droughts and floods on local communities, the potential role of indigenous knowledge in finding sustainable solutions, and the debate around the shape and form that a just transition must take.

We will hear from scientists, policymakers, activists, business leaders, artists, and writers. Together, they will bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the stage, offering multifaceted perspectives on the climate crisis and the crucial steps we must take to address it.

Expect to leave feeling informed, empowered, and ready to take on the challenge of creating a more sustainable future for all.

W17
24 Cradock Avenue
Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2196
South Africa

Bongiwe Ndondo

Social Justice Strategist

Bongiwe Ndondo is the CEO of Hlanganisa Institute for Development Southern Africa. She has extensive experience in human capital development, governance, social justice, and evaluation science. Her expertise spans training, research, evaluations, advocacy, child protection, social accountability, and sustainable livelihoods. She has worked with stakeholders at national and regional levels and has collaborated with organisations such as the Global Fund Civil Society Principal Recipients.

Bruce Whitfield

Business Journalist, Author

Bruce Whitfield is a multi-award-winning journalist, best-selling author and sought-after speaker. Throughout his career, he has had unparalleled access to titans of industry; mavericks who are changing the game; and brilliant entrepreneurs who reimagine what is possible. This access has provided him with an exceptional perspective of how we can change the future. Today. With over 20 years of working in print, broadcast and digital media, he brings a unique brand of realistic optimism to the murky intersection where business, politics and society collide

Coleen Vogel

Climatologist

Prof. Coleen Vogel is a climatologist and adaptation specialist, researching systemic risk reduction, climate services, and the human dimensions of urban landscapes. She was a Chapter Lead Author for the Africa Chapter of the IPCC 4th Assessment Report and also contributed to the Synthesis Report for Policy Makers. The author team, along with Al Gore, received a Nobel Peace Prize for the 4th Assessment Report. She was also a Chapter Author for Human Security in the 5th IPCC Assessment Report.

Jane Griffiths

Author, Organic Gardening Guru

Jane Griffiths, South Africa's organic gardening expert, has been cultivating organic vegetables, fruits, and herbs in her Johannesburg garden for nearly three decades. In her first book, "Jane's Delicious Garden," she demonstrates how anyone can create a thriving food garden, regardless of space limitations. Her efforts have inspired a vegetable-growing movement in South Africa, resulting in five more best-selling books and thousands of home growers following her lead.

Jesse Naidoo

Conscious Fashion Recyclers

Jesse Naidoo is a social entrepreneur with 20+ years of corporate experience. He founded Clothes to Good (CTG) in 2011. CTG is a clothing recycling company that creates jobs for the unemployed, including people with disabilities. CTG has won multiple awards, such as the Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge, SAB Foundation disability empowerment award, Google Impact Challenge grant, UJ & PWC Social Entrepreneurship Award, WWF Greenovation Award, TOTAL, SAB Foundation and TEVA, and the Vodacom Change the World Award.

Melissa Fourie

Environmental Justice Advocate

Melissa Fourie is a climate justice advocate and environmental lawyer. She has spent more than 20 years working on environmental rights, enforcement, air pollution and climate change. She has been at the forefront of environmental and climate litigation, legal advocacy and defending the rights of environmental activists in South Africa as the executive director of the Centre for Environmental Rights, a non-profit environmental public interest law organisation. As a commissioner on the Presidential Climate Commission, she advises the South African government on climate action and the just transition.

Miles Kubheka

Founder

Miles Kubheka, an entrepreneur and author, created a restaurant with the same name and branding as a fictional one from a famous TV ad campaign. This catapulted him to media stardom and entrepreneurial success. In his keynote speeches, he delivers a message of hope for multinationals and small businesses alike: hire the right people with an entrepreneurial mind-set and build a culture that supports employees to become intrepreneurs.

Nkateko Masinga

Writer, Poet

Nkateko Masinga is an award-winning South African writer and scholar. She is the director of the Internship Program at Africa in Dialogue, as well as the founder and managing director of NSUKU Publishing Consultancy. Nkateko is a graduate of the University of Iowa's 2021 International Writing Program (IWP) and served as the guest editor of a literary supplement comprising work by fellow IWP alumni. In 2022 she was selected by News24 as one of South Africa's 30 Young Mandelas of the Future.

Rendani Maphiswana

Innovation Expert

Dr. Rendani Mamphiswana is an innovation expert and policy scholar with a background in Process Engineering. He is the Head of Research and Innovation at Nafasi Water Technologies in South Africa, leading technology and business innovation commercialization. His research focuses on innovation and industrial policy in the global South, and he advocates for innovation to grow the South African economy. He holds a Ph.D. in Innovation Policy and Management from the University of Johannesburg.

Shameela Soobramoney

Business Leader, Sustainability Advocate

Shameela Soobramoney is the CEO of the National Business Initiative (NBI), which aims to create a sustainable, equitable, and thriving South Africa. She has held senior corporate strategy, finance, operations, and sustainability positions. With her experience as a former chief sustainability officer of the Johannesburg Securities Exchange and an environmental NGO board member, Shameela is passionate about businesses and countries' role in creating a sustainable world while still thriving economically.

Stephen Hobbs

Visual Artist

Hobbs graduated from Wits University with a BAFA, in 1994. He was the curator of the Market Theatre Galleries (1994-2000), Co-Director of the purpose-built Gallery Premises (2004-2008) at the Joburg Theatre. Since 2001 he has co-directed the artist collaborative and public art consultancy – The Trinity Session. Hobbs’ art practice is informed by: architecture and the built environment, art and war, and anatomy and the body and Johannesburg, his hometown, has served as a critical reference point for his artistic insights into the - apartheid city turned African city.

Tammy Greyling

Conscious Fashion Recyclers

Tammy Greyling is an occupational therapist and founder of Pathways-Pretoria. She works to promote the strengths of people with disabilities and their impact on communities. As Operations Director and Occupational Therapist at Clothes to Good, she advocates for asset-based community development, inclusive employment, and social entrepreneurship while creating sustainable opportunities through textile "waste." Her favourite quote is, "If not now, then when; if not me, then who?"

Thomas Ryan-Keogh

Biological Oceanographer

Dr. Thomas Ryan-Keogh is a Senior Researcher at the Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory CSIR. His focus is on how climate change has impacted ocean biogeochemistry and phytoplankton physiology and what these changes mean for humanity and the planet. He moved to South Africa in 2015 after receiving his Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Southampton. He has participated in over 11 research cruises, primarily to the Southern Ocean. He has published over 20 research articles, most recently in the Journal of Science.