The OUTsurance Executive Committee

The OUTsurance Executive Committee is made up of a diverse group of highly experienced, qualified and passionate individuals whose contributions consistently push the company forward. Get to know our OUTstanding Executive Team. 
Danie Matthee
Chief Executive Officer

Danie joined OUTsurance in 2002 as a sales advisor, rapidly working his way up through the ranks. He was appointed to the EXCO in 2005 as the company’s Head of Sales. With over 20 years’ experience in the insurance industry, he was appointed as Chief Executive Officer for OUTsurance and OUTsurance Life in 2017. Prior to this, Danie was Chief Executive Officer at Youi Insurance in Australia (2011 – 2017), a subsidiary of the OUTsurance Holdings Group and currently also serves as an Executive Director on the OUTsurance and OUTsurance Life Boards and Non-Executive Director of the South African Insurance Association (SAIA).

Qualifications

Dip (Financial Management)
Dip (Labour Law)

Micky Maharaj
Chief Operating Officer - Claims and Assessing Services

Micky joined OUTsurance in 2004 where he started his career as a claims assessor. Micky moved through the business occupying various leadership roles in various areas from Claims Contact Centre; Legal Recoveries and Liabilities to Specialised Claims Services. Micky is currently the Chief Operating Officer overseeing all Claims across the products that OUTsurance offers. Micky also oversees the operations of OUTsurance Namibia and serves on their Board as Executive Director. Micky started serving on the OUTsurance EXCO from 1 September 2017.  

Qualifications

B.Proc (Law)
MBA

Keneiloe Selamolela
Chief Transformation Officer

Keneiloe joined OUTsurance in 2006 as the Head of Learning and Development and joined the EXCO in March 2007. In this position, she managed the delivery of training and development initiatives for all employees. She serves in the HR Committee of the INSETA. In 2017, Keneiloe was appointed as the Chief Transformation Officer for OUTsurance and in this role she is responsible for driving the group’s transformation objectives, including BBBEE and Diversity and Inclusion programmes.

Qualifications

MBA
PGDip (Business Administration)
Dip (Human Resources Management)
Advanced Programme in Organizational Development
B.A. (Social Work)

Wilbur Smith
Chief Operating Officer - Sales and services

Wilbur has been at OUTsurance since 2002 where he started his career as a sales advisor. He steadily worked his way up through the ranks and was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer for Sales and Customer services in 2014. Wilbur has extensive experience in the management of large groups of staff in Personal, Business and Life across Sales, Client Care, Retention, Claims and Legal. Wilbur was appointed to EXCO in 2016.

Qualifications

GIBS Dip (Business Management)

Jan Hofmeyr
Chief Financial Officer

Jan joined OUTsurance in 2007 as the Executive Assistant to the founder and CEO, Willem Roos. In 2008 Jan joined EXCO when he was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of the OUTsurance Group, the position he currently holds. Jan oversees the South African and Australasian finance functions and the various investment and capital management activities of the Group and is also responsible for the Group’s non-organic growth and investment initiatives.

Qualifications

B.Acc. (Hons)
Chartered Accountant (SA)

Suren Naidoo
Chief People Officer

Suren joined OUTsurance in 2002 as the Human Resources Manager and was appointed onto the company’s EXCO in 2005. In 2017, Suren became the Chief People Officer, assuming full responsibility for HR and all training functions. Suren has also been actively involved in the Transformation and Human Capital work streams at SAIA. 

Qualifications

B.A. (Hons)(Social Science)
Dip (Human Resources)
Dip (Industrial Relations)

Jason Kay
Chief Information Officer

Jason has over 20 years’ experience in IT having developed solutions and formulated technology strategies throughout his career. Jason’s experience has been primarily focused within the financial and professional service sectors, with executive roles in companies that form part of a larger multinational network. Jason joined OUTsurance in 2022 as the CIO and is focused on leveraging technology resources to ensure that OUTsurance remain industry leaders.  

Qualifications

B.Com (Information Systems; Corporate Finance)
GIBS MMR

Lynette Bischoff
Group Chief Risk Officer and Head of Compliance

Lynette joined the OUTsurance group in 2003 as Head of Procurement. Since then she has served the OUTsurance Group in various roles across the Claims, Procurement and Compliance functions. Lynette also served as a Chief Operating Officer of one of the subsidiaries for three years before she was appointed to the OUTsurance EXCO team in August 2010 as the Group Chief Risk Officer and Head of Compliance for the Southern African and Australasian entities. Lynette currently serves as an alternate director of the South African Insurance Association (SAIA).

Qualifications

B.A. (Law)
Dip (Insurance AIISA)
GIBS Women in Insurance Management Development Programme

Riyaad Loonat
Chief Operating Officer - OUTsurance Brokers

Riyaad joined the OUTsurance EXCO team as the Chief Operating Officer of Face-to-Face Distribution in September 2017. With more than 16 years of experience in the financial services industry across the African continent, Riyaad has held several executive and senior positions in companies such as Barclays Africa, First National Bank, Nedbank and Standard Bank. Riyaad is a strong advocate for continuous improvement, passionate about excellent delivery and the provision of first-class customer service.

Qualifications

B.Proc. (Law)
Admitted Attorney
Dip (Global Strategy and Innovation)

Natasha Kawulesar
Chief Client Relations Officer

Natasha joined OUTsurance in 2004. She has worked her way up through the ranks, holding an array of leadership positions in the Claims and Legal departments. She assumed her position as Head of Client Relations in 2011 and was appointed to EXCO in September 2017.

Qualifications

LLB (Law)
Admitted Attorney

Carl Louw
Chief Marketing Officer

Carl joined OUTsurance as Chief Marketing Officer in May 2019, after a successful track record at some of South Africa’s top financial services companies. This includes heading up the Online and Mobile Banking channels and related services at the Absa Banking Group, and Executive Head at Telesure Investment Holdings. There, he lead functions such as Group Marketing, Digital Platforms and Services, the Hippo.co.za Business Unit and Call Centre Sales. Carl is a passionate strategic thinker with the managerial and operational skills to see innovative big thinking come to fruition.

Qualifications

B.Com (University of Johannesburg)
IEP (INSEAD Business School)

Thato Legong
Chief Operating Officer

Thato joined OUTsurance in 2004 starting his career as a claims advisor and worked his way up the ranks within the claims space gaining 19 years of experience running claims operations in Short-term, Commercial and Pet insurance. He was appointed as Head of Claims and Legal Services in 2017 and then Chief Operating Officer of OUTsurance Shared Services in 2023, servicing clients in the UK, Australia and Ireland. 

Qualifications

MBA Candidate
PDBA (Wits Business School) 
MAP (Wits Business School)

Chizelle Steyn
Executive Assistant to the CEO

In 2015, Chizelle embarked on her professional journey, commencing as an Actuarial graduate at TUKS. In 2019, she made a transition to OUTsurance, having accumulated valuable experience at Deloitte in the healthcare industry. During her tenure at OUTsurance, her primary focus was on Operational Analytics within the OUTsurance Business channel. Chizelle thrives in collaborative environments and is profoundly passionate about working with people, consistently delivering results that contribute to the greater good.

Qualifications

BSc Actuarial and Financial Mathematics