Team

Dr Simone Honikman

Director & Founder

Simone is a medical doctor with extensive experience working within the public sector in women's health, both as a clinican and as a service manager. She founded the PMHP in response to the significant unmet need for maternal mental health within an overstretched public health care system.

Her postgraduate qualifications include a Masters degree in maternal and child health. Her work philosophy includes the development of sustainable services for integration within the public health system. Emphasis is placed on preventative interventions and the development of social capital among staff and communities.

Dr Honikman is a regular teacher and trainer in the health care community, employing interactive techniques that utilise health workers' experiences for self-reflection. She has 2 daughters, aged 9 and 4.

Sally Field

Project Coordinator

Sally has a BA (Hons) in Psychology and an MA in development studies.

Among her many areas of expertise are systems development and monitoring, and research in service delivery.

Before becoming a mother, Sally was a film-maker. She has 2 boys.

Bronwyn Evans

Clinical Services Coordinator

Bronwyn brings 15 years of experience in Clinical Psychology to her role as PMHP Mental Health Officer.

She has worked in private practice, NGO’s as well as healthcare clinics in Canada and The Netherlands.

In addition to her work with the PMHP, Bronwyn maintains a part-time private practice and provides staff mentoring for the City of Cape Town.

Her areas of interest include perinatal issues, adult individual and couples therapy. Bronwyn is a member of the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the Cape Town Society for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.

She has twin boys who are 8 years old.

Kevashini Govender-Naidoo

Teaching & Training Coordinator

Kevashini is a UCT trained Clinical Psychologist and experienced trainer. She joined the PMHP team in October 2011.

Kevashini took an interest in training as a psychology student, an expertise developed by extensive and diverse experience in the public and non-governmental sectors. Her clinical experience also includes public and private practice in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

She is especially interested in perinatal mental health, learning disabilities and adult individual psychodynamic therapy.

Kevashini is married and mother to a 19 month old son.

Ingrid Meintjes

Advocacy & Communications Coordinator

Ingrid joined the team in February 2009.

She is a gender activist and HIV/AIDS researcher. She is currently completing her Masters degree in Gender and Transformation through the African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town.

She has previously worked for the Treatment Action Campaign where she was involved in the organisation's first women’s rights and leadership campaign.

Her focus is on activist-research at the intersection of gender and health, collaborating with a range of advocacy and community based organisations. Working toward public participation in policy processes is central to her activism.

Thandi van Heyningen

Research Coordinator

Thandi is a Clinical Psychologist who joined the team in August 2010 as the full-time Research Coordinator. She holds both a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology and in International relations.

Thandi has both clinical and research experience gained through projects at UCT and the HSRC, as well as the KZN Department of Health.

She is particularly interested in the development of adequate, integrated mental health care systems in Africa, as well as issues of social justice and human rights.

Thandi is responsible for co-ordinating a sound, evidence-based research strategy, whereby the PMHP can contribute to the development of policy and practice for the largely neglected field of maternal mental health in low-resource settings.

Charlotte Mande-Ilunga

Mental Health Counsellor

Charlotte joined our team in May 2010. She brings with her a wealth of experience as both a health worker and counsellor. Charlotte, a nurse by profession, was the head of a rural maternity unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is herself a survivor of the war in her country and has identified the overwhelming need of women refugees "to talk to someone".

Having lived in South Africa for 10 years, Charlotte has actively addressed the needs of displaced women: she has trained as a counsellor since 2001 and worked with HIV/AIDS NGOs where she has worked specifically with women. Charlotte also works for SHADE, an NGO focusing on the needs of displaced people through networking and reestablishment of community. Here she engages with community development, HIV/AIDS counselling and support, gender issues, income generation and capacity building.

Charlotte expands the language capacity of PMHP with French, Swahili, Lingala and Kiluba. She is married and a mother to 2 sons and 2 daughters.

Zuhayr Kafaar

Consultant Statistician

Zuhayr has added tremendous research expertise to the Project. He obtained a Masters degree in Research Psychology at the University of the Western Cape in 2005. While completing his research internship at the Human Sciences Research Council in 2004, he published on

partner violence
attitudes to child discipline and the use of corporal punishment
children's psychosocial development
indicators in early childhood

While working for the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative’s Socio-behavioural Working Group in 2005 and 2006, he co-authored a number of peer-reviewed journal articles in the field of HIV vaccines, as well as papers in the fields of HIV and mental health, and paediatric HIV/AIDS disclosure. He is the co-author of 2 book chapters published in 2009 and continues to publish in the field of HIV vaccines.

Zuhayr has been a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Stellenbosch University since 2007, where he coordinates the first-year programme and lectures psychological measurement at Honours level.

Liesl Hermanus

Mental Health Officer

Liesl joined the PMHP in October 2011 as part of the Hanover Park research team, having completed her psychology internship in Hanover Park through CASE (Community Action towards a safer environment). She holds an Honours degree in Psychology (2007) from the University of the Western Cape and is an HPCSA registered counsellor.

From 2007 to 2010 Liesl serves as a counsellor at the National Responsible Gambling Program providing support to people with gambling problems and their family members. She was a school counsellor at St Anthony's Primary School before joining the PMHP.

Returning to work in the community of Hanover Park after her internship placement appealed to Liesl, and her familiarity with the particular challenges faced by this community adds enormous value to the PMHP study located here.

Liesl is a Capetonian and mother to a 4-year-old son.

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Shirley Ndwanyana

Research Assistant

Shirley joined the team in October 2011.

She holds BA (2003) and Honours degrees in Psychology (2004) from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

She has been a Psychology tutor, and since 2008 has been involved in psychology research and HIV training in the Eastern Cape. Shirley has a particular interest in maternal mental health, especially as an intervention for the improved wellbeing of mothers and their infants.

Shirley hails from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, and is the eldest of 3 sisters. She is married and the proud mother of a baby girl.

Ziyanda Mabuto

Mental Health Counsellor

Ziyanda joined our team in November 2011. She is a registered counsellor and holds a degree in Psychology from the University of the Western Cape (2010).

In her professional capacity, Ziyanda has worked at the Trauma Centre as a trauma counsellor as well as project leader in the Refugee and Asylum Seekers' Project. Her commitment to public and community-based health initiatives is demonstrated through her ongoing work as a member of refugee forums in the Western Cape and previous involvement with the Phelophepa Train initiative, which provides primary health care to rural patients throughout South Africa.

Ziyanda hails from Mossel Bay, the last born of 5 siblings. Her particular passion involves writing and developing health educative tools.

Emily Baron

Research Assistant

After a successful 6-month internship, the PMHP is pleased to welcome Emily back as a Research Assistant from November 2011 to May 2012.

She holds a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Developmental Psychopathology, both of which she obtained in England. Emily has been involved in charities and organisations providing support to disadvantaged populations. This helped her improve her counselling skills and reinforced her motivation to work in the field of mental health.

Emily also gained public mental health experience after working for a year at the World Health Organisation in Switzerland. It is here where she first heard about the PMHP.

With her international experience in research and public health, she expands the PMHP’s research and advocacy work. Emily is particularly interested in affective disorders in children and adolescents, and in maternal mental health. She hopes to qualify as a clinical psychologist and practice in South Africa and other African countries.

Justine Evans

Clinical Supervisor for Psychologist

Justine has been in practice as a clinical psychologist for more than 10 years. She worked as a trainer at The Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture in Cape Town, and in the National Health Service in Scotland as a primary health clinical psychologist.

Since becoming a mother in 2002, she has worked part-time in private practice.

She provides training and supervision to clinical psychology masters students, assisted in the foundation and directorship of the Institute for Mindfulness South Africa, and helped to develop classes for pregnant women and their partners (Mama Bamba) with midwife Robyn Sheldon.

She has a particular interest in perinatal mental health.

Prof Astrid Berg

Clinical Supervisor for Psychiatrist

Astrid is a psychiatrist, child and adolescent psychiatrist as well as an analyst.

She is an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town and a senior consultant in the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. Here she also heads the UCT Parent-Infant Mental Health Service.

Astrid has worked in the community of Khayelitsha since 1995 where she is in charge of a weekly mother-baby mental health clinic. She has written about this work and presented it extensively internationally. Her particular interest is in inter-cultural communication.

Dr Sarah Howard

Psychiatrist

Born in Zambia and schooled in KwaZulu-Natal, Sarah qualified as a psychiatrist from the Univeristy of Cape Town in 2003.

Now based in the City Bowl, she is a psychiatrist in private practice. She has an interest in women's mental health, especially during the perinatal period. Her work also encompasses eating disorders, anxiety, mood disorders and depression.

Sarah has 2 young boys 'which I feel helps me to emphathise with the difficulties mothers experience, especially mothers we see at PMHP.' She enjoys, running and mountain biking in her spare time.