Meet Our Team
Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla
Managing Editor
Bibi-Aisha is an award-winning journalist whose career spans working in radio, television, and development. Previously, she worked for eNCA as a specialist science reporter, and the SABC as the Middle East foreign correspondent, and SAfm current affairs anchor. Her work has appeared on Al-Jazeera, The British Medical Journal, The Guardian, IPS, Nature, SciDev.net and Daily News Egypt. She’s been awarded reporting fellowships from the Africa-China Reporting Project, Reuters Foundation, National Press Foundation, International Women’s Media Foundation, Pfizer/SADAG, and the World Federation of Science Journalists. She’s an Atlantic Fellow For Health Equity.
Adel van Niekerk
News Editor
Adél is an award-winning journalist with more than 25 years’ experience across broadcast journalism, investigative documentary production and public-interest media. She was based in Lagos, Nigeria as the SABC’s West Africa correspondent and spent more than a decade producing investigative television documentaries for Special Assignment, with a particular focus on gender, children’s rights, public healthcare failures and the socio-economic and environmental conditions affecting people’s health. She has also worked as a journalism lecturer and media trainer, mentoring emerging and grassroots journalists to tell strong, locally grounded multimedia stories.
Mapule Pholo
Office manager & Accounts officer
Mapule is Health-e’s office manager and accounts officer. She's the go-to person for any Health-e related queries. Prior to joining Health-e, she worked as Front of House for City Lodge Limited. She's also worked as Community Liaison Officer (CLO) for two community projects. She holds a qualification in office administration and hospitality from Boston City Campus and Business College. Mapule is passionate about youth empowerment, is an aspiring author with published features on FunDza website, and also loves to read books during her spare time.
Brigitte Read
Associate Editor/Fundraising Officer
Brigitte is a media development and partnerships specialist with over 20 years of experience driving sustainability, high-impact collaborations, and journalism innovation projects across Sub-Saharan Africa. With a Master’s in Journalism from the University of the Witwatersrand, she has led impactful regional initiatives for organisations such as Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, fraycollege, and the Wits Centre for Journalism. Committed to digital growth and media development, she aligns partner objectives to foster sector innovation and empower narrative storytelling across the continent.
Faith Mutizira
Social Media Content Producer
Faith Mutizira joined Health-e News as an intern, and is now a social media content producer, where she creates and manages content across digital platforms. Her work includes developing content ideas, writing social media copy and articles, scripting and producing videos, editing video content, creating explainers, and managing social media platforms. Faith studied Public Relations Management and Communications at Cape Peninsula University of Technology and holds a certificate in Digital Marketing: Introduction from Red & Yellow Creative School of Business.
Oratile Kekana
Journalist
Oratile is a journalism graduate from the Tshwane University of Technology. Her journalism journey began at Zebediela FM, where she worked as a news reader. At university, she joined TUT FM as a presenter and producer. She later interned at the Polokwane Observer, where she worked as a general reporter and photographer. In her free time, she’s also a TikTok content creator.