JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — 10 SEPTEMBER 2025
Motorsport South Africa (MSA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Xolile Letlaka, Ms Carnita Low and Mr Neville Townsend to the MSA Board of Directors. These appointments strengthen the Board’s breadth of expertise across business leadership, governance and on the ground motorsport delivery, in alignment with MSA’s commitment to good governance, development and transformation in the sport.
Vic Maharaj, Chief Executive Officer of Motorsport South Africa, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Xolile, Carnita and Neville to the Board. Each brings a proven track record and a complementary skill set, from strategic leadership and governance excellence to hands-on motorsport stewardship. Their appointments come at an important time for the sport, as we deepen transformation, broaden participation, and drive sustainable growth across all disciplines.”
PROFILE OF APPOINTEES
Mr Xolile Letlaka
Mr Letlaka is a mining executive and entrepreneur with more than two decades’ experience spanning exploration, mining operations, logistics and complex transactions. He is the Group CEO and Chairman of Into Africa Mining and Exploration International Ltd (DRC) and Into Africa Mining and Exploration (Pty) Ltd (South Africa), businesses he founded and leads. His responsibilities have included major supply agreements, acquisitions and large-scale operational management across multiple sites and jurisdictions. Beyond mining, Mr Letlaka is deeply invested in motorsport: he serves on the board of the Southern African GT Racing Association, launched the Africa Race Together (ART) Foundation to broaden access to motorsport, became South Africa’s first black motorsport promoter after acquiring the Southern African Endurance Series, and is the 2024 South African Endurance Champion.
Ms Carnita Low
Ms Low is an accomplished governance, legal, and ethics executive with over two decades of experience in listed and multinational organisations. She is currently the Group Company Secretary and Head of Governance, Ethics & Legal at FirstRand Limited, where she provides strategic leadership in corporate governance, corporate regulatory compliance, ethics oversight, and stakeholder engagement across South Africa, several African markets, and the United Kingdom. Ms Low’s distinguished career includes senior appointments at African Oxygen Limited (Linde Group) and BMW South Africa, as well as prior roles at leading law firms. She holds a BA, LLB, and LLM from the University of Cape Town, a Diploma in Advanced Banking, and an MBA from Wits Business School. Additionally, Ms Low is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, an admitted Attorney and Notary, and is currently pursuing a PhD in ethical leadership at Wits Business School.
Mr Neville Townsend
Mr Townsend brings extensive motorsport governance and delivery experience, particularly in motocross (MX). He has served as MSA MX Commission President since 2021, held leadership roles within club and regional structures, fulfilled multiple officiating roles, and contributed to the planning and administration of national MX events. Professionally, he has a long track record in telecommunications (including senior technical and leadership roles at Vodacom), is experienced in customer-centric operations and analytics, and has co-founded/led ventures in vehicle tracking. His qualifications include technical diplomas in electronics and certification with leading telecoms vendors.
Strengthening governance and delivery across the sport
The appointments deepen the Board’s capacity in areas that are central to MSA’s mandate: strategic stewardship, high-integrity governance and ethics, stakeholder engagement, and robust delivery of national competition structures across categories. This aligns with MSA’s objectives to promote, develop and safeguard motorsport, and to foster ongoing transformation and wider participation across the full spectrum of the population.
Maharaj added:
“Carnita’s governance leadership, Xolile’s strategic and entrepreneurial experience, and Neville’s discipline-level insight will help the Board support our community, organisers and competitors more effectively, while upholding world-class standards of safety, integrity and inclusivity.”
About Motorsport South Africa
Motorsport South Africa NPC is the officially recognised national federation for motorsport, holding the sporting authority to govern motorsport as conferred or delegated by the FIA, CIK and FIM. MSA promotes, regulates and develops motorsport in South Africa in accordance with international sporting codes, and advances sustainable growth and transformation of the sport.
Media enquiries: Jaco Deysel, jaco@motorsport.co.za
Website: www.motorsport.co.za