Meet the Hostex Ambassadors

Operations General Manager: Food & Beverage, City Lodge Hotels

Trevor Boyd is Operations General Manager: Food and Beverage (F&B) at City Lodge Hotels, a position he has held since April 2021. With more than 30 years of hospitality experience, he is recognised as one of South Africa’s leading chefs and culinary professionals.

Since joining the group, Trevor has expanded the F&B department, ensuring all hotels now serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner from in-house restaurants. Menus are regularly updated to reflect guest preferences and industry trends, while extensive staff training has elevated service standards and boosted events and banqueting across the portfolio.

Trevor has held senior culinary roles at leading hotels and restaurants, including the Mount Nelson, Sheraton Pretoria, InterContinental OR Tambo, and The Michelangelo. Internationally, he has represented South Africa with Culinary Team South Africa, earning medals at the prestigious IKA Culinary Olympics, and serving as Team Manager in the 2020 competition. In 2019, he was inducted into the Academy of Chefs in recognition of his leadership and contribution to the profession.

Executive: Marketing & Communications, Proudly SA

Mrs. Happy MaKhumalo Ngidi, 2025 IMM Marketer of The Year Award Winner, is a graduate in Communications and has, for the past 9 years, strategically contributed to re-inventing the country’s Buy Local Campaign for the better. She is a businesswoman, social entrepreneur, budding author, motivational speaker, an Educator, PR and Marketing Executive, a trailblazer in the world of Marketing. She joined the Proudly South African establishment as an Executive: Marketing & Communications in 2015 to head up the organisation’s Marketing and Communications department, and during her tenure at Proudly SA, it is safe to say the campaign has grown, is much more relevant, relatable and much more attractive since its inception. With her experience and knowledge, she has contributed immensely to the Proudly SA turnaround strategy.

General Manager, Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa; Chair, FEDHASA Inland

Gustav rejoined the Saxon as Operations Manager and was later promoted to Hotel Manager, and ultimately General Manager. In his current role, he also oversees the hospitality operations of Shambala Private Game Reserve in the Waterberg Biosphere and played a key role in launching the Steyn City Hotel by Saxon, as well as the Saxon Spa and Guild Restaurant-co-workspace at Steyn City.

As Chairman of the FEDHASA Inland Board, Gustav actively represents and supports the hospitality sector across Gauteng, Free State, North West, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo. He is a passionate advocate for CATHSSETA initiatives and youth development programs such as YES (Youth Employment Service), through the Saxon’s parent company, Telesure Investment Holdings.

Owner & Co-founder, True North Media (Coffee Magazine, Creative Coffee Week, A Shot in the Dark, Coffee Magazine Awards)

Iain Evans is one of the Owners and Founders of True North Media, the company behind Coffee Magazine, Creative Coffee Week Events, A Shot in the Dark coffee roasting competition in SA & Middle East and Coffee Magazine Awards.

Iain has Emceed the World Barista Competitions, the SA Barista Competitions and is a regular speaker and contributor to the SA Coffee Community.   

Chief Operating Officer, City Lodge Hotel Group; Director, City Lodge Hotels Ltd

Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo has worked in hospitality since 1987. She studied at a renowned Swiss hospitality school and holds a BSc in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Penn State University. Her career began with Hyatt at the Grand Hyatt Washington, D.C., followed by Park Hyatt Rosebank where she rose to rooms director. After a year as chief director: tourism support at DEAT, she became GM of the InterContinental Sandton Towers, then founded Zuka African Tourism Investment Corporation, developing and operating the first Holiday Inn in Soweto (later the Soweto Hotel and Conference Centre). She led Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre as MD and CEO before joining City Lodge Hotel Group in 2015; she was appointed COO and to the board in 2018. Lindiwe served on the SA Tourism board (2019–2022), chaired the Tourism Transformation Council (2019–2022) and sits on the Swiss Hotel School Academic Board. She is the author of The Syndicate of Twenty Two Natives (2024).

Head of Business Development, SME (Platinum sub-segment), FNB

Omie Mmbo has spent more than 14 years at FNB, building deep expertise in the specialised acquiring environment within Merchant Services. Since joining in 2011, he has served as Corporate Relationship Manager, led the Enterprise portfolio nationally and, as Growth Manager, combined regional leadership with national sales optimisation before being appointed Executive of Growth focused on SME and Fuel strategy. In his current role he heads development for the Platinum SME sub-segment, delivering holistic payments and financial solutions that enable SMEs to scale and compete across South Africa.