The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) has announced Matt Putman, co-founder and CEO of iKhokha, as the 2025 winner of the ICT sector’s coveted IT Personality of the Year Award.
The other top prize of Visionary CIO of the Year Award went to Louise van der Bank, an IITPSA Pr.CIO and CIO of AfriSam.
The winners were announced at the IITPSA President's Awards, hosted in Bryanston this morning.
The South African IT industry accolades recognise respected and outstanding ICT professionals who have made a significant technical or academic contribution to the industry, who have been successful in building a respected IT organisation or business, and/or who have made a major contribution to the IT profession over the years.
Putman was up against Siddika Osman, CEO and a founding member of Nkgwete IT Solutions, and Dave Clark, co-founder of Alefbet Holdings.
Accepting his award, Putman said: “First of all, thanks for the nomination and congratulations to all the other award winners. It’s been a long journey to get to this point with iKhokha, starting off as a very small idea with two or three people, to what it is today.
“It’s really all about the people that walk with you on that journey and we’ve been very blessed to have an incredible team of people working with us over the last 13 or 14 years. It’s also great to see the number of people who are giving back to their communities and driving digital transformation. Thank you very much for the recognition.”
Putman co-founded iKhokha just over 13 years ago. The fintech provides payment and business tools for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As CEO, he leads a team of 350 people who aim to disrupt the financial services space in SA.
The IITPSA says while shaping iKhokha’s vision and driving the company’s growth, Putman has been deeply connected to the needs of the SME customers he serves.
In 2025, he guided iKhokha through a pivotal chapter as the company was acquired by Nedbank for R1.65 billion, subject to regulatory approvals.
Emerging tech champion
Accepting her award, Van der Bank stated: “I am honoured to be part of such a huge event, and making a contribution to the IT industry. Over the years, I have had wonderful teams and they are the people that make all of these things happen. Without a good team that come up with good ideas and drive them, none of our initiatives can happen across all the organisations that I have been part of.”
Van der Bank has over two decades of IT leadership experience across multinational corporations, private enterprises and state-owned entities.
Recognised for her strategic foresight and ability to lead in complex environments, she drives AfriSam’s digital transformation journey with a focus on operational excellence, data-driven insights and people empowerment, says IITPSA.
With a record of delivering large-scale transformation programmes and measurable business outcomes, Van der Bank champions emerging technologies − from artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, to advanced analytics − to enhance productivity and customer experience while advancing sustainability goals, it adds.
Van der Bank was up against Dr Mohammed Haroon Rashid Ansari from WNS Global Services, Sibusiso Mbingo from glu Mutual, Tando Luyaba from the Information Regulator and Leocardia Kamanga from the Auditor-General of SA.
Other award recipients
The IITPSA awards have grown in scope over 35 years to include a new category – the Women in IT Excellence Award − for women who demonstrate professional excellence, ethical leadership, mentorship and commitment to transforming the ICT sector.
This year, Senele Goba, founding director of 4IR Innovations and past president of the IITPSA, was presented with the award.
Dr Mohammed Haroon Rashid Ansari, director of digital transformation and business excellence at WNS Global Services, won the Technology Excellence Award, which celebrates exceptional or innovative use of information technology.
The non-profit Leva Foundation won the Social Responsibility/Community Award. Known for its development projects, such as Tangible unplugged coding, the Leva Foundation, under co-founder and CEO Ryan le Roux, has had over a decade of impact in Africa, Europe, Indonesia and South Korea.
Tanaka Dhliwayo, founder and CEO of Tanie Codes Org, won the Dynamism in ICT Youth award category. This award is for a person under the age of 25 who has demonstrated exceptional potential or achievement in ICT over the past two to five years.
Dhliwayo is a software developer, IT tutor and tech advocate who founded the non-profit Tanie Codes Org in Soweto to introduce girls to computer programming, robotics and essential digital skills.
Kurai Masocha, founder and CEO of Tech Oasis Systems and chairperson of the IITPSA Innovation Special Interest Group (SIG), is the winner of the 2025 IITPSA Member Ambassador Award category, while Prof Lynn Futcher has been recognised with an IITPSA Fellowship award.
John Singh, IITPSA VP and chairperson of the IITPSA Blockchain and Crypto SIG, received the Distinguished Service award.
Congratulating the winners, IITPSA president Pearl Pasi said this year’s awards theme: “Excellence in an AI-driven world” is topical. “In under three years, AI has become a massive transformational force that nobody can ignore.
“AI, generative AI, agentic AI and any future AI technologies are becoming the new drivers of systems, businesses and even daily life. But revolutionary technology can come with risks and in the case of AI, the technology has evolved too fast for solid guardrails, with standardised ethical and governance frameworks, to be put in place.
“At the moment, the onus is on individuals – largely those of us who work in the IT sector – to build, deploy and manage AI in a responsible, secure and ethical manner.”
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