Board Members

Mr Theunis Oosthuizen is a practicing Attorney as sole practitioner at Oosthuizen’s (JHB) Attorneys. Served as city Counsellor of City of Johannesburg from 1987 to 2000 where he also served on a number of committees as member and also as Chairperson. He is a trustee of a number of family trusts and director of a number of Companies including property holding Companies. Served as committee member or Trustee with Johannesburg 2nd Municipal Fund, Bursary & Loans Committee UJ, Witwatersrand Agricultural Society, Central Witwatersrand.

Mr Franz Gmeiner attained his B.Com Accounting (Hons) and qualified as one of the top ten students in the Chartered Accountants examination in 1983. During his accountancy career, he became a partner in Cohen and Gmeiner Accountants, which he led to become one of the largest auditing firms in South Africa. He founded a property Company in 1991, which has grown into the current Orion Real Estate Limited. During 1999 he took over the Hotel operations of Hotel Devonshire and since then the Orion Hotels division has built up a portfolio of 6 hotels. He is a member of several clubs and organisations and holds numerous Directorships and Trusteeships. As of 13 December 2019, he also holds the position of non-executive Chairman of New Frontier Properties Ltd, which is dual listed on the Alternative Exchange of the JSE and the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.

Nellis qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1984 after B. Comm and Hons B . Comm degrees. He completed his articles and worked as an audit manager with Ernst ( Arthur ) Young. He also successfully passed the CIMA and ILPA ( Now CFP) board exams. After a short career in the Academics at the North West University, (was Associate Professor – Accounting and Audit Department), he is in public practice as a Registered Auditor since 1992 in the Vaal Triangle where he also resides. Married to Kitty ( 36 years) and has two children, both qualified CA (SA) ‘s and 3 grandchildren.

Mr Delani Mthembu holds BA Honours HRD (UJ) and MSc Leadership and Innovation (UKZN) degrees. He has also completed a postgraduate certificate in Coaching from Middlesex University (UK) and Masters Level Accreditation by EMCC and WABC. Currently he is a PhD candidate at the University of KZN. He has memberships to various Business Organisations and is lecturing part time at various universities. Mr Mthembu has served as Chief Executive Officer and Board member to a number of private and public Organisations.

Dr. Antoinette de Villiers is the Chief Executive Officer of Orion Hotels and Resorts, and also a director of Orion Business Solutions. She completed her doctorate in Nursing Science in 1993 at Rand Afrikaans University. She is a Master Executive Coach and has extensive Coaching experience on Executive Committee and Board level. She has been Coaching for over fourteen years and has established an internal Coaching Programme for the Orion Group, where seventeen Teams are being Coached on a monthly basis. Dr. Antoinette de Villiers and a partner, have a Business Partner relationship with an LPL (Learning Performance Link), as well as the ETDP SETA, where they have established a Coaching Academy. She specialises in Team Coaching and has been Coaching internal and external Teams in organisations for more than 26 years.

Completed his B. Comm Acc. and B. Compt Hons CTA degrees in 1992 and is a member of the South African Institute of Professional Accountants. Held various senior financial and managerial positions within listed companies in the Mining, Engineering, FMCG, and Business Support Services sectors. Gained extensive experience in business mergers and restructures, refinancing/recapitalisation, strategising, and was involved in starting up new business divisions in various geographical areas of South Africa. Managing businesses and financial departments have always been an integral part of his responsibilities. Giving something back in life is important to him and he has been and still is actively involved in a few governing bodies and welfare organisations.

Mrs NR Buckley completed her BCom Undergraduate degree in 2012 followed by her Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing in 2013. She worked for the Orion group from 2014 to 2019 in the marketing department as Brand Manager of the hotel division and the Project manager for Stay Now Pay Later. Today, Nadia helps other companies with their marketing and social media. She also works in film and TV as a makeup artist. Her variety of skills and experience bring creative and strategic thinking to the business.

Ms IA Gmeiner has completed her B.Comm in Law and Accounting in 2013, and her Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 2016. Ms IA Gmeiner gained a certificate (with distinction) in Imports, Exports & Logistics. She currently works as an Inside Sales Manager at TecEx

After graduating from Wits University, Michelle joined Price Waterhouse in the audit division where she remained for seven years. In 1994, she joined a new joint venture with FirstCorp Merchant Bank and started her corporate finance career, doing her first acquisition of the Bergers Group Limited shell and reverse listing. Following FirstCorp’s restructure in 1995, she took over the business, forming Kingfisher Corporate and Executive Proprietary Limited, providing corporate finance and listing services to entrepreneurial businesses.

After the birth of her first child in 2001, Michelle joined the Arcay group and started the sponsor business within Arcay. Thereafter, she took over the running of the company secretarial business, which primarily serviced listed companies. She was later allocated a shareholding in both these businesses. In 2013, Michelle was part of a team that did a management buyout of the controlling interest of various subsidiaries, leading to the formation of Arbor Capital. In October 2019, the Arbor Capital group restructured and the listing business and company secretarial business were reacquired by Michelle, keeping the team intact, and leading to the rebranding of the two businesses as AcaciaCap Advisors and Light Consulting.