HealthTech Connect 2026

Dr. Viank Bahadur is a visionary leader in Digital Health and CEO & Co-Founder of AMD HealthTech. A medical doctor by training, he combines clinical expertise with advanced technological capability to design scalable, future-ready healthcare solutions that transform health systems globally.

Tsitsi Primrose Marote is a Senior Software Engineer at Bash and Co-Founder & CEO of Guardian Health and Guardian Health Medical Practices. She leverages technology, data, and healthcare innovation to improve access to quality healthcare, with a strong focus on underserved communities.

Dr. Maureen Tshabalala is a public health practitioner with over 20 years of experience in global and public health, with emphasis on Science of Improvement (SOI) and Health Systems Strengthening (HSS).

Dr Ntuthuko Bhengu is the founder of Alchemy Health Technologies, a health policy advisor and director of companies. Alchemy, a health data management company, provides advisory services to medical schemes, corporations and regulators on funding and delivery of health services.

HealthTech innovator, entrepreneur, author, and Founder & CEO of Dolme Innovations, a technology company focused on building integrated digital healthcare infrastructure across Africa.

Dr. Yaseen Khan is a South African medical doctor and technology entrepreneur. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of EMGuidance (Essential Medical Guidance), the largest digital platform used by healthcare professionals in South Africa. EMGuidance provides locally relevant clinical decision support, professional development, and clinical workflow solutions across the healthcare ecosystem.

Strategic Partner and Co-Founder of Respocare, dedicated to advancing healthcare through innovation, strategic partnerships, and sustainable business growth. With a passion for building purpose-driven healthcare solutions, his focus is on identifying opportunities that improve patient outcomes, strengthen healthcare systems, and create lasting value across the industry.

Nabeela Cassim is a healthcare strategist with over a decade of experience spanning managed care, health economics, and value-based care, she has designed system-shaping innovations in public and private settings. Nabeela served on the B20 South Africa Social Inclusion Task Force and sits on the PMB Advisory Committee of the Council for Medical Schemes.

Boitumelo Vusani Mudumela is a clinical nephrology technologist by profession and a renal healthcare leader with nearly 20 years in South Africa’s renal care sector. She is Clinical Director of Renal Complex, operates dialysis practices, and leads community-based kidney screening in underserved communities to detect chronic kidney disease early.

Anton van Schalkwyk was involved with claims at Medical Scheme level from 2010-2014. He became intensively involved with coding from 2014, including CPT4, MDCM and ICD-10. In 2018 he became Clinical Coding Specialist at the South African Medical Association and in 2022-2025 Head of Clinical Coding at SAMA. He joined Insight Health Solutions as Clinical Coding Specialist. He is an AAPC trained coder with a passion for coding training and the enhancement that AI will bring to clinical coding in South Africa.

Co-founder and COO of CipherGenix, a healthcare AI security company developing Project Heimdall, a hardware-isolated architecture designed to protect deployed clinical AI models from adversarial attacks, data poisoning, model theft, and inference-layer tampering. Siyethaba also serves as COO of Gauteng AI Community, where Siyethaba helps build pathways for African AI founders, developers, and technology partners through founder development, education, and ecosystem partnerships. Through this work, Siyethaba focuses on helping healthcare and technology leaders adopt AI with stronger patient-safety, security, governance, and commercial-readiness foundations.

Nomfundo leads strategic account management and contributes to executive-level business growth. With over 20 years of experience in healthcare, she has held leadership positions across the pharmaceutical, medical device, and digital health sectors. She recently completed her MSc in Bioethics & Health Law, focusing her thesis on the ethical implications of adopting value-based healthcare in Africa. She also just completed her Value-Based Healthcare Black Belt Certification from the Value-Based Health Care Center Europe. 

A serial entrepreneur with a strong background in primary health care focusing on manufacturing, business development, and developing IT/Digital marketing initiatives and business development in this space. with over 30 years experience in the health care industry covering private health care, public sector and non-governmental organisations across the SADC region.

Advisor to the Office of the CEO on AI in Healthcare, guiding the ethical and responsible adoption of AI with a strong focus on patient rights, data integrity, regulatory oversight, and clinician empowerment in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

Dr Phasha is a specialist Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in private practice, based in Parktown, Johannesburg. She provides comprehensive, personalised healthcare to women across all stages of life, from adolescence through menopause and beyond. She obtained her undergraduate medical degree from MEDUNSA, now known as Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, before completing her specialist training at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), where she qualified as a specialist in 2015. From 2016 to 2018, Dr Phasha worked at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, where she served the community while contributing to the training and development of medical students within the Wits academic circuit. In 2018, she established her private practice, with a strong focus on delivering compassionate, evidence-based and patient-centred care. Having been raised by teachers, Dr Phasha remains passionate about education and continues to support Wits University’s undergraduate medical training programme. Beyond medicine, Dr Phasha is an avid marathon runner, reflecting her commitment to discipline, endurance and a balanced approach to life.

Dr Mhlengi Vella Ncube, PhD is a public health and health policy expert whose work sits at the intersection of healthcare policy, research, innovation and health-system transformation. He currently serves as Head of the Unit for Health Policy and Research at the South African Medical Association (SAMA), where he contributes to policy analysis, evidence generation and strategic engagement on issues shaping the future of healthcare in South Africa. His expertise spans health policy, universal health coverage, healthcare financing, health systems strengthening, digital health and evidence-informed healthcare. He has contributed to national and international health-policy discussions, including work examining the implementation of South Africa’s National Health Insurance reforms and the broader challenges facing healthcare delivery and health-system sustainability. Dr Ncube has also developed a strong focus on the role of technology and artificial intelligence in healthcare. Through SAMA’s work on AI, he has contributed to discussions around the opportunities and challenges associated with AI adoption, including ethics, regulation, data privacy, infrastructure and responsible implementation. More recently, he played a key role in the SAMA Health Summit 2026, designing and co-facilitating discussions on the development of a National Electronic Health Record, bringing together perspectives on interoperability, patient-centred digital systems, cybersecurity, health data and technology-enabled care. With a strong commitment to evidence-based policy and healthcare innovation, Dr Ncube is particularly interested in how AI, digital health, health data and emerging technologies can be responsibly integrated into healthcare systems to improve access, quality, efficiency and equity. His work reflects a broader commitment to ensuring that technological advancement remains patient-centred, ethically governed and aligned with the realities of healthcare delivery in South Africa and across the African continent.