The people behind Mandla.
Mandla is our WhatsApp chat agent and the name on the door, the helpful friend who knows the rules. These are the people who built him and who stand behind every payslip. We started AskMandla because more than a million people work in South Africa’s homes, and nothing, not the government portals, not the payroll industry, was ever built for them or their employers.
The AskMandla teamThe team
Peter Adolphs
Co-founder and CEO.
Janine Kane-Berman
Co-founder and Chief Legal Officer. The labour-law depth behind every contract and answer.
Ean Barnard
Chief Growth Officer. Growth, brand and partnerships.
Given Mashaba
Customer Success. The person who steps in when a chat needs a human.
Stephan Schoeman
Head of Engineering. Builds and runs the platform behind Mandla.
Board and advisors
The non-executive directors who guide strategy and fundraising alongside the team.
Sam Clarke
Non-Executive Director. Strategy, fundraising and technical input.
Roger Kane-Berman
Non-Executive Director. Strategy and fundraising.
Why we built it
Janine, our co-founder, employs a nanny in her own home. AskMandla is the service she wanted for her own family: the contract, the UIF and COIDA admin, the payslips, done properly and without the headache.
When we say we use this ourselves, we mean it.
Janine Kane-Berman, our co-founder, with her family and their nanny
Who is Mandla, then?
Mandla is the WhatsApp chat agent you talk to, built by this team, watched by this team, and backed by real people whenever a conversation needs one. When you see Pete on social media and Mandla on this site, that’s the same company: the founders out front, and Mandla doing the daily work in the chat.