#GREAT MINDS
MEET OUR EXCO
Meet the management team
Our team of medical practitioners, consisting of the President, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Academic representative are all highly qualified sedation practitioners, not only in doing sedation cases but also training of sedation practitioners.
PROF JAMES ROELOFSE
LIFE-TIME PRESIDENT OF SOSPOSA
Prof James Roelofse is currently an affiliate associate Professor at the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, University Free State. He is also an Emeritus Professor at Stellenbosch University, Universty of the Western Cape and University College London.
He was also involved in training sedation practitioners in Africa and was appointed at the Aga Kahn University, Nairobi, Kenya as a Visiting Professor. This was done for 3 consecutive years.
He spent his live in the development of sedation training programs at various universities and presented diplomas, certificates and Masters’ degrees in Sedation and Pain Control. One student did a PhD in sedation.
He is an executive member of ICAPS (International Committee on the Advancement of Procedural Sedation) and President of the South African Society of Sedation Practitioners (SOSPOSA).
He has published 165 articles in various journals, and written chapters in various books on sedation
DR REINHARDT DE WET
CHAIRMAN OF SOSPOSA
Dr Reinhardt J de Wet acquired his MBChB from Stellenbosch University in 1979. He then spent some time doing his national service and qualified as an Anaesthesiologist in 1989, obtaining an MMed (Anaesth). Early in 1990, he entered private practice with Drs Allwright & Partners in the northern suburbs of Cape Town for the next 22 years. During that period, he became very skilled in Thoracic Anaesthesia and Regional Anaesthesia for Orthopedic Surgery. He subsequently obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Procedural Sedation in 2002 from the University of Stellenbosch. He is currently the chairperson of SOSPOSA, the Society of Sedation Practitioners of SA. From 1997 – 2011, he worked extensively part-time in the United Kingdom (Nottingham Queens Medical Centre, The Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading and The Royal Hospital Haslar in Portsmouth), in Canada (Moosejaw) and Australia (Newcastle and Wagga Wagga General hospitals). In 2012 he relocated to Knysna, where he now lives with his darling wife, Karin, a dietician; Oliver the Labradoodle and Katelien the cat, both KAWS acquisitions.
DR PETER KANELLOS
VICE-CHAIRMAN OF SOSPOSA
MBChB (UP), DA (SA), PDD (Sedation and Pain Control).
Dr. Peter Kanellos qualified as a medical doctor from the University of Pretoria in 2001. He completed his diploma in anaesthesia in 2004 through the College of Medicine (SA). Under the tutorship of Prof. James Roelofse he completed his sedation training in 2013. Currently providing general anaesthesia and mobile sedation services for a wide spectrum of medical procedures. Dr. Kanellos currently serves on the executive committee of the Society of Sedation Practitioners of South Africa.
DR WICUS NIENABER
TREASURER OF SOSPOSA
Following completing his MBChB studies in 1982, he spent the next five years employed in the Far East Rand Hospital anaesthesia division. After that, he began a general practice and worked on anaesthesia patient lists on the side until 1997, when he transitioned into full-time anaesthetic work. He has been working in the anaesthesia field for over 37 years. He completed the sedation training course in Stellenbosch in 2003 and is currently working as an anesthesiologist in general surgery, urology, orthopaedics, ENT, plastic surgery, obstetrics & gynaecology, and oncology. For the past 15 years, I have worked as a sedationist both within and outside hospitals, primarily in dentistry, aesthetics, plastic surgery, general surgery, oncology, and radiology. He is the one in charge of organizing the annual Gauteng Sedation Congress.
In addition to his prior roles as Executive director of Garec, committee member of MASA East Rand, and Chairman of FERIPA, he is currently serving on SOSPOSA EXCO.
DR ANDY BURFORD
SECRETARY OF SOSPOSA
Andy Burford Graduated from University of Zimbabwe in1986.Spent several years in hospital Practice in Bulawayo until the Anaesthetic bug bit .Came down to Durban to specialise and go Scuba diving.Spent several years as a Lecturer in Anaesthetics at UKZN and then Moved into private practice. In Durban.Has a special interest in Palliative Care and regional anaesthesia.Currently fitting out Stoffel my Samil 20 off road 4×4 truck to go overlanding…
DR CHERESE LAPERE
MEMBER: ACADEMIC SOSPOSA
Cherese started her sedation journey as a mobile, traveling sedation provider in 2010 and managed a private and sessional state practice for 5years in Cape Town. Being a keen academic, she decided to broaden her academic horizons and specialized as an Anaesthetist at the University of Cape Town.
Cherese is in private practice in the Southern Suburbs. She is also a sessional consultant at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and sees the opportunity of service delivery to the people of the Western Cape as a privilege.
Her passion is to grow the provision of ‘anaesthesia without walls”, teaching and training of sedation techniques, and to promote safety in procedural sedation in South Africa, and beyond. Other interests involve TCI techniques and regional anaesthesia.
There are never enough minutes in any day as she loves being with her family and young children, running and hiking. Cherese is also a qualified Pâtissier and loves to wear a different hat and be a baker.