About Us

Meet
The
Team

Risuna Mayimele has over 18 years of experience in the field of marketing communications, media and strategy. Prior to establishing Rurban Concepts,  a bespoke PR and communications agency, Risuna served as a Global Communications for PR and communications at South African Tourism where her main role was to develop communications and PR strategies to promote South Africa as tourist destination globally. This role presented an opportunity to work, interact and network with global media and agencies internationally.  

Risuna worked as a marketing Manager for SABC 3, where she headed up marketing and communications for the channel. The channel was voted the best TV channel under her marketing leadership. She was part of the panel of judges for the Top Billing presenter search, and was instrumental in developing talent for TV while at SABC 3. Risuna also acted as the Marketing Manager for the SABC TV network, SABC 1, 2 & 3 before she left the SABC. 

Prior to SABC, she worked as the Strategic Planning Director for the Ogilvy Ghana office, where she was part of the team that launched the Vodafone campaign to the Ghanaian market. She also had an opportunity to work on FMCG brands during her tenure at Ogilvy. The brands included South African Breweries (SAB), Nestle and Coca-Cola.

Her West African experience extends to the Nigerian market where she worked as a strategic consultant and worked on campaign launches.  Locally, some of the roles she has occupied include; Strategic Planning Manager at Red Nail, Lead Strategist on SABC and media brands at FCB.

Risuna is a keen public speaker and participates in thought leadership in the industry, and has participated as a panel member in platforms such as Discorp Africa and Holmes report.  She is also listed in the “young, cool & black” directory of influential black people in the arts and entertainment industry.  Risuna currently chairs the NFVF appeals committee, appointed by the Arts and Culture Minister.

Risuna has a Bachelor of  Arts (BA) in Communications, and holds a post-graduate diploma in Strategic brand Management. 

Risuna Mayimele

Managing Executive

Niphra Ndlovu is a Marketing Communications practitioner with over 20 years working experience gained from various sectors including financial, FMCG, Manufacturing and Petroleum. Niphra currently works as a Growth Partner  at Rurban Concepts. His primary focus is establishing new client relationships and promoting RurbanConcepts amongst new clients. Prior to joining Rurban Concepts Niphra worked across various industries including Financial services, FMCG, Manufacturing and Petroleum Industry. It was through this working experience that Niphra gained a global view of marketing and communications.Niphra was responsible for crafting marketing communications strategies at local and multinational companies including Standard Bank, British American Tobacco , Sappi , Sasol and Tiger Brands. During his tenure at Tiger Brands, he was responsible for a broad range of areas such as media relations, stakeholder communications, internal communications, stakeholder management, corporate social investment and sustainability. It was during this period that he established important relationships with key influencers in government, media and society at large. These relations remain crucial to this day in assisting clients to achieve their objectives. Amongst some of Niphra’s key achievements was the establishment of a working relationship between the South African Health department and British American Tobacco with an aim of maintain a balanced regulatory environment. He also established his own consultancy company that provided internal and external communications services to British American Tobacco South Africa. At Sasol , Niphra was instrumental in establishing a communications department that was responsible to promote the use of natural gas which was sourced in Mozambique as a cleaner alternative. The Sasol Gas communications department was later recognised as a benchmark for communications in the Sasol group due to the effectiveness of the communication strategies that were implemented. He has embraced the role played by digital and social media platforms in transforming the marketing communications pltaforms. As a result he has contributed immensely in turning Rurbanconcepts into a fully digital services provider with a strong leaning towards social media. Niphra has a Bachelor of Commerce ( Bcomm) degree and holds a postgraduate degree majoring in marketing.

Niphra Ndlovu

Chief Growth Partner

Odysseus is a creative professional with industry experience that spans over 15 years. He is currently the Creative and Content Director partner for Rurban Concepts. He oversees creative and content, with a specific focus on brand experience and lifestyle.

He is a qualified fashion designer with a full spectrum experience in the fashion industry ranging from working as a designer, stylist, production and in retail.  His work has been showcased at local and international Fashion Weeks under his fashion label ARNREUBY.

He has also worked with international and leading local clothing brands such as Miss Moneypenny, Ruff Tung, Terrence Bray, Magents, and also as a designer at Truworths overseeing the design direction for the Daniel Hecther brand, in house labels Finnegans, Rosati and the modern corporate department.

His TV experience includes being a runner up on South Africa’s first creative talent search reality TV show THE CUT on SABC 1 in 2006.

Odysseus’s creative experience extends to art curator, and he has curated various art exhibitions locally, internationally and in the virtual space through art fairs and in partnership with prestigious art galleries.

Odysseus Shirindza

Creative and Content Director: Lifestyle and brand experience