Duduzile Mabaso (Facilitator) holds a Master’s Degree in Political Sciences from Wits University. She is a regulatory and policy specialist, the founder and director of Her Pride Foundation, a youth representative on the AISA board, but most importantly, a servant at heart.

Genevieve Quintal is the Media and Communications Officer at Amnesty International South Africa. An award-winning journalist with over 16 years of experience, she has a strong focus on political reporting. Before joining Amnesty International, Genevieve was the Political Editor at Business Day, where she also contributed to Financial Mail. Prior to that, she was a senior political writer at News24 and began her journalism career at the South African Press Association. In 2017, she was part of the Tiso Blackstar (now Arena Holdings) team that won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award for print news, recognized for their groundbreaking reporting on state capture and the leaked Gupta emails.

Nkanyiso Mtolo is a Regional Campaigner at Amnesty International East and Southern Africa, leading efforts to protect civic space, support human rights defenders, and promote accountability in Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini. His work focuses on advocating for justice, documenting human rights violations, and amplifying voices at risk. Before joining Amnesty International, he worked at the United Nations OHCHR, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the Constitutional Literacy and Service Initiative, and the Legal Resources Centre, gaining extensive experience in human rights monitoring, legal advocacy, and public interest litigation. Nkanyiso has played a key role in defending human rights defenders in the region, including campaigning for justice in Eswatini following the assassination of human rights lawyer, Thulani Maseko. In Lesotho, he has worked on protecting journalists and advocating for accountability in detention facilities. His broader work includes advocacy on media freedom, corporate accountability, and the protection of activists across Southern Africa.

Motsidisi Rankwe(Tsidi) is currently studying a Bachelor of Social Science Honours in Sociology at the University of Pretoria. Her current work focuses on transients and backrooms in the township. She has volunteered with Amnesty International South Africa for 3 years and has served as the Transformation Officer, Chairperson and current Secretary General of the University of Pretoria chapter. She is passionate about knowledge acquisition and spends her free time reading and writing poetry and short stories.

Hopewell Radebe is the former News Editor at City Press Newspaper and has been a media activist for over 20 years. He served in the South African National Editors’ Forum executive council and was previously the body’s secretary-general. He holds a BA degree from Unisa, Honours in Journalism from Wits University and the Postgraduate Diploma in Economics Journalism (PGDip EJ) from Rhodes University. He also served as the communications manager for the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) between 2014 and 2016. Previously, he covered courts, politics and business news for the newspapers, The Star, The Citizen, and Business Day.