OUR TEAM

Ryan Hartslief
As co-founder and managing director, Ryan shares the responsibility for driving the strategic leadership and commercial success of The Affinity Group.

Ryan proudly served his articles at BDO and is a qualified and registered Chartered Accountant. He has over 10 years corporate sector experience in auditing, accounting, financial services, software development and business process outsourcing.

His commercial expertise and industry experience in business systems analysis, business process solutions, call center operations and client services development were achieved during his time served as Group Chief Operations Officer and Director of the Upstream Group of companies, having provided services to the likes of Woolworths Financial Services, MR Price Money, RCS, Direct Axis, Capfin, Truworths and The Foschini Group.

Ryan is married with two children, is a self-professed coffee and food aficionado who is passionate about sports of any kind.

Andrew served his articles at BDO in Durban and in 2015 became the Group Chief Financial Officer of the Upstream group of companies.

As the co-founder of the Affinity Group, he is responsible for the financial management and investment success of the business. He has extensive industry sector experience in all financial, investment and risk-based services of business process outsourcing and in the contact centre environment.

Andrew has always lived in Durban, is married and has two children and enjoys playing golf and indoor soccer.

Andrew Portmann
Jared Laljit

MARK NICOLSON

Chief Operations Officer
BSC & LLB

Mark began his career in law completing his articles in Johannesburg, before being admitted as an Attorney. Mark became the COO of Infinity Brands in 2015 where he was responsible for planning and directing operations to improve productivity and efficiency while growing various franchise brands.

A new opportunity saw Mark move to Durban, where he began working in the financial services sector before also being exposed to Debt Review. Seeing the opportunity to help people, he then qualified as a Debt Counsellor and brought the Debt Movement brand and ethos to South Africa.

With a focus on leadership and growth Mark moved into the COO role of Affinity Solutions that services international insolvency firms which includes Debt Movement UK. He is responsible for implementing strategic decisions, overseeing organisation-wide operations, and onboarding of new clients.

Mark enjoys many types of adventure sports such as surfing, skydiving, bungee jumping.

 

Jared Laljit

MICHELLE CHETTY

Chief Financial Officer
CA(SA), ACMA, CGMA

Michelle Chetty is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of The Affinity Group and is responsible for providing leadership, strategic direction and management of the finance and accounting team.

After serving her articles at BDO, Michelle became a Financial Manager at ​​Afriagro & Harvest Chemicals, thereafter, becoming the Group Financial Manager at Upstream Group.

She has operated across the Manufacturing, Retail, Public Sector Education, Professional Services, Agricultural and Agrochemical Import, Export and Outsourced Services industries. With an extensive background in the financial sector, Michelle offers a wealth of experience and expertise to The Affinity Group and senior leadership.

Michelle has lived in Durban her whole life and enjoys spending time with her family, reading and watching cricket.

Jared Laljit

JARED LALJIT

Risk & Compliance Officer
Bachelor of Law (LLB)

As the Risk and Compliance Officer, Jared has the responsibility of ensuring effective risk management within the business, while providing for both internal and external compliance management.

Upon obtaining his law degree, he served his articles of clerkship and was admitted as an attorney, spending most of his career in a compliance role at Lexis Nexis, where he studied further and gained experience in project management, occupational health and safety, property management, and compliance management.

Jared is a Durbanite who enjoys reading, gaming and playing the guitar.

Vash Coopasamy

VASH COOPASAMY

Training & Development Officer
NQF6 – Facilitator, Assessor, Moderator (ETDP Seta)

Vash is a qualified Skills Development Facilitator responsible for the training and Development at The Affinity Group.

Vash’s career began in the contact centre industry, later taking the role of CRM for Microzone Trading (Division of MTN). He moved on to become a Skills Development Facilitator at The Creative Council, servicing major brands such as Unilever, P&G, AVI, Vodacom & Nokia.

His business acumen is to utilize the years of skills acquired in the marketing and telecommunications industry, by upskilling and developing individuals to become better versions of themselves.

His strong belief that knowledge is the key to the future gives him the vision and ability to move departments forward. Vash makes it his number 1 priority to remove the barriers that prevent growth or efficiency.

Passionate about everything that he does, Vash always aims to think out-of-the-box with learning interventions. His strong leadership skills allow him to interact with all levels of management within an organization.

Brenda Kayton

BRENDA KAYTON

Head of People

Brenda brings a wealth of administrative, organisational and communication skills to the Affinity Group, overseeing and ensuring the smooth running of our various offices and operations. Our Group Mama, if you will, Brenda brings the perfect mix of energy, professionalism and compassion to manage the daily dealings with all internal stakeholders, as well as external partners and suppliers.

Brenda cut her teeth at Dunlop Tyres in Durban, joining the company at a critical stage and helping the business to grow and thrive. She was part of a team that created Dunlop’s dealer network program, and then went on to become the Channel Development Manager where she was responsible for the national dealer network store upgrades, customer care, as well as the incentive travel program.

With a background in the travel and advertising industry, Brenda put her skills to the test when organising conferences, incentive trips and road shows both locally and internationally. She was fortunate to organise  and attend incentive conferences to the semi-finals, play-off and finals of the 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cup matches.

After 17 years with Dunlop, Brenda decided to go on her own in the events industry and eventually managed an office in the hospitality and events arena, before eventually joining Affinity.

Brenda grew up in Durban and has lived in Johannesburg, London, and Cape Town. Away from work Brenda enjoys spending time with her family, travelling, walking on the beach, and reading.

Vash Coopasamy

SHARNELLE WAGNER

Marketing Manager
Bcom Marketing and Business Management

Sharnelle Wagner is a highly experienced marketing manager with a proven track record of success. With 9 years of marketing experience, She has developed a broad range of skills and expertise in the industry.

Sharnelle studied towards her degree while working full-time at a digital marketing agency where she gained invaluable experience as a project manager. She then moved on to work for a tech company where she was responsible for managing key clients, including those within the Famous Brands Group. In this role, she worked closely with marketing executives to develop and execute effective marketing campaigns.

Sharnelle was raised in Durban, and enjoys spending her leisure time pursuing various interests, including jogging on the beach, expanding her knowledge, and engaging in intellectual challenges with others, particularly through board games.

Overall, Sharnelle is committed to driving business growth through effective marketing strategies. She holds the belief that the future of marketing is less about asking clients to buy your service and more about sharing your story and purpose.