Q C A van Breda – Executive Chairman
Prof Eng Technician, CPFA

Quentin began his career as a trainee draftsman in 1970, progressing to design draftsman and section leader by 1974. He joined Potain SA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Potain France, in 1975 as a draftsman/production controller. The Potain agency was given to Triplejay Equipment later that year when the French owned parent company disinvested from South Africa. Quentin remained with Triplejay as a production engineer for four years thereafter.

In 1980, Quentin was promoted to Triplejay’s head office where he was employed as the product manager for the Potain agency until 1982.

In 1982, Quentin established SA French, taking over the sole distribution for Potain in South Africa. In 2002, he furthered his professional engineering qualifications and in 2004 completed a certificate programme in finance and administration at Wits Business School. 

W van Breda – Operations Director
LLB, LLM

Warwick completed his legal qualifications at the University of Stellenbosch in 2004, going on to work within the profession for three years in, amongst others, the corporate finance department of Clifford Chance in London (UK). He joined SA French as its general manager and legal adviser in February 2007, having worked part-time at the company during educational vacations for over ten years. Warwick has recently taken on the position of operations director at SA French. 

R Erasmus – Financial Director

Riaan completed his studies at the University of Potchefstroom in 2005 and thereafter joined KPMG Inc. where he completed his training as a Chartered Accountant. Riaan held the position of audit manager in financial services and real estate at KPMG Inc. prior to joining SA French.

W M Matlala – Director

Mmetja was appointed to the board on 1 October 2007 by The SAF Economic Empowerment Trust. She joined SA French in 2004 and currently holds the position of rental administration co-ordinator. She became an employee representative to the SA French empowerment initiative in 2006, and was appointed as a trustee of The SAF Economic Empowerment Trust in 2006. Mmetja is the operational liaison between the SA French tower crane operators and management. She is trained on the Pastel accounting system and VIP Payroll and is responsible for wages and billing of rentals.

J M Poluta – Non-executive
CA (SA)

John was appointed to the board as a non-executive director on 1 October 2007. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant after completing his articles at Deloitte & Touche. He then worked as an investment analyst for six years at Barnard Jacobs Mellet and JP Morgan. John co-founded Mowana Investments in 2004.

J Fizelle - Non-executive
HDipPrACC, BCom

Joe was appointed to the board as a non-executive director on I July 2009. He holds a HDipPrAcc from UCD Dublin – Smurfit Graduate Business School and a BCom from National University of Ireland Galway. He worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Standard Bank –Corporate Finance, JPMorgan Chase and he is currently an executive director of Mowana Investments. Joe has extensive asset management, private equity and capital raising experience.