About us
Protecting today.
Inspiring tomorrow.
Who we are, what we do, and why the Association for Communication & Advertising is important.
Our mission
We believe in the power of creative leadership to drive sustainable change.
Our governing regulations
We are the change we want to see. We therefore support the concept of self-regulation in advertising, and abide by the Advertising Regulatory Board Code which seeks to regulate advertising in the public interest.
The Association for Communication & Advertising is represented on relevant ARB committees and is actively involved in ongoing revisions to the code.
The ACA enforces self-regulation, and is steadfast in its promise to:
- promote agency and professional transformation in order to remove barriers that may prevent access for disadvantaged groupings
- discourage dishonest and undesirable practices in advertising and related fields of activity, and to promote self-regulation of advertising standards
- state commonly accepted practice in the profession, so that both advertisers and agencies are aware of their respective rights and obligations
- encourage fair remuneration for advertising and communications agencies
- be an advocate of advertising and freedom of commercial speech.
Meet our board
The future of advertising and communications is in safe hands
The Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) South Africa is pleased to announce the new Board of Directors for the 2024/25 fiscal year.
The industry leaders responsible for overseeing the ACA’s commitment to the marketing and communication industry’s transformation, self-regulation, ethics promotion, advocacy, and global guidance, among others, for members, were elected at the 77th Annual General Meeting, held on May 22, 2024.
Sharleen James, Managing Director at Accenture Song, will serve as the Chair, with Luca Gallarelli, Group CEO of TBWA/South Africa, elected as Vice-Chair.
The Exco comprises Brenda Khumalo, Managing Director of Lobengula Advertising; Wayne Naidoo, CEO of DUKE Advertising; and Gillian Rightford, Executive Director of the ACA.
The newly elected Board is as follows:
Sharleen James
Chair Person
Director
Accenture Song
Luca Gallarelli
Vice Chair
®
Brenda Khumalo
Executive Committee
Co-Founder & Managing Director Lobengula Advertising
Wayne Naidoo
Executive Committee
Chief Executive Officer
Duke Advertising
Gillian Rightford
Executive Director
Association for
Communication & Advertising
Thabang Skwambane
ACA Lead MAC Sector Charter
Adeshia Singh
Managing Director
Alison Deeb
Group Chief Executive Officer
Metropolitan Republic
Andrew Brand
Chief Executive Officer
Ninety9cents Advertising & Communications
Derek Coles
President
McCann Joburg
Gareth Leck
Group Chief Executive Officer
Joe Public United
Haydn Townsend
EMEA Agency Chief Growth Officer
Accenture
Jarred Cinman
Chief Executive Officer
VML South Africa
Kagiso Musi
Group Managing Director
Meta Media
Karabo Denalane
Chief Executive Officer
TBWA Hunt\Lascaris
Koo Govender
Chief Executive Officer
Publicis Groupe
Leo Manne
Managing Director
Net#work BBDO
Mpume Ngobese
Managing Director
Joe Public United
Musa Kalenga
Group Chief Executive Officer
The Brave Group
Pete Case
CEO & Creative Chairman
Ogilvy South Africa
Preetesh Sewraj
Chief Executive Officer
The Loeries
Roxana Ravjee
Chief Executive Officer
Dentsu
Sarah Dexter
Chief Executive Officer
MullenLowe South Africa
Tebogo Skwambane
WPP
Country Manager
Meet our executive committee
Sharleen James
Vice Chair
Managing Director
Accenture Song
Luca Gallarelli
Vice Chair
®
Brenda Khumalo
Executive Committee
Co-Founder & Managing Director Lobengula Advertising
Wayne Naidoo
Executive Committee
Chief Executive Officer
DUKE Advertising
Gillian Rightford
Executive Director
Association for
Communication & Advertising
Thabang Skwambane
Chairman
Group CEO for Nahana Communications Group
Meet our secretariat
Your go-to place for advice and consultation
Gillian Rightford
Executive Director
Association for Communication & Advertising
Melanie Platt
Executive Assistant to CEO
Association for Communication & Advertising
Sharon Bergmann
Financial Manager
Association for Communication & Advertising
Ashogan Subban
Assistant Accountant
Association for Communication & Advertising
Sne Khumalo
Senior Marketing Project Manager
Association for Communication & Advertising
The ACA code of conduct is a shared vision.
We are committed
to the transformation of the industry. After all, the future of our profession will be shaped by our actions today. Members are therefore expected to adhere to the ACA Transformation Charter and to comply with directives by the ACA to effect the principles and philosophy of the Charter.
We support
freedom of commercial speech and advertising for products and services that are legally sold, as long as such advertisements are legal, decent, honest, truthful and not harmful or misleading.
We believe
in healthy competition among our members, such as is appropriate in a free market economic system, but seek to ensure that competitive activity is at all times ethical.
We accept
that it is impossible to formulate precise rules to regulate a diverse and dynamic industry and therefore undertake to observe not only the letter but also the spirit of the General Principles and Code of Conduct.
We ask
that transgressions of the letter and/or spirit of these principles and code by members of the ACA be reported and dealt with in terms of the ACA Memorandum and Articles.