Chief Executive Officer

Jacques van Staden

Jacques van Staden is the Chief Executive Officer of Macleods Pharmaceuticals, South Africa. Prior to joining Macleods in September 2022, he served as the COO of pharmaceutical company Cipla South Africa.

He started his pharmaceutical career at Xixia Pharmaceuticals in 1996 after which he joined Cipla in 1999 as a medical sales representative. Jacques honed his sales and negotiation skills as a Regional Sales Manager, National Sales Manager, and eventually Executive Director of Commercial.

With a successful career spanning over 25 years, Jacques firmly believes that pharmaceutical businesses need to significantly change the way that they view opportunities and focus their efforts if they are to survive in the years to come.

Today, Jacques’ strong business acumen, natural talent for strategy, and passion for developing and empowering people will continue to drive Macleods South Africa forward. In doing so, he will ensure that the company remains committed to its vision of being a leading global pharmaceutical company by providing high quality, affordable and innovative therapeutic solutions for patients with diverse medical needs.

Chief Financial Officer

Manoranjan Prasad

Manoranjan is a results-oriented finance executive with over 20 years of experience across large multinational organizations in diverse industries including IT, FMCG, Telecom and Pharmaceuticals.

Before joining Macleods, he served as a Senior Director – CFO of Cipla South Africa where his financial foresight assisted the company in setting up their strategy to drive business growth and profitability while strengthening governance and controls. He also served as the CFO of Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Ltd Uganda and was instrumental in the listing of the company on the Uganda Stock Exchange.

Manoranjan holds an MBA in Finance from The University of Manchester, United Kingdom and Bachelor of Technology degree from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India.

Marketing Director

Wouter Lombard

Wouter brings over 17 years of experience to Macleods Pharmaceuticals South Africa as a well-rounded brand and marketing specialist. He holds a BCom (Hons) Marketing Management degree from the University of Pretoria.

With an honours degree in marketing Wouter started his career at the electronic advertising, ordering technology company, X/procure (a Primedia retail company).

Wouter entered the pharmaceutical world by joining Cipla, and over the last 15 years, has gained experience across various areas within the commercial environment. He worked his way up from sales representative to brand manager and eventually to Head of Marketing of Cipla’s prescription division where his special talents and skills in business strategy and marketing were utilised across the entire prescription division.

Responsible Pharmacist Director

Vanita Rajool

Vanita Rajool is a registered pharmacist with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and Regulatory Affairs. Her experience spans across retail, hospital, and industrial pharmacy.

She joined Macleods Pharmaceuticals South Africa in June 2020, prior to which she served at multiple generic and multinational pharmaceutical companies (Pharmafrica, Adcock Ingram, Sanofi & Litha Pharma).

Her expertise includes new product registration, variation filing, compliance, quality assurance and pharmacovigilance for South Africa.

At Macleods South Africa she heads up a highly skilled and motivated team of pharmacists and assistants.

HR Manager – South Africa

Carla Smit

Bachelor of Arts – Business Management (Honours Degree)

Carla joined Macleods Pharmaceuticals SA as Human Resources Manager in September 2022. Carla has more than 20 years of work experience in HR covering employee placement strategies, procedures, policies and acquisitions whilst holding senior positions.

Prior to joining Macleods, Carla worked in the pharmaceutical and transport industries where she obtained valuable experience through the diverse positions she held. At Cipla, she was Lead HR Business Partner, where she expanded her knowledge on internal processes and creating HR programs and initiatives.

She has strong leadership skills that enables her to effectively resolve problems, whilst working in a fast-paced environment. Her diverse skillset covers effective decision-making and time management.

Carla is passionate about people and will always ensure a compelling working environment. She is motivated and driven with positive energy.