Management Team

  • Glenn Phillips
    Chief Executive Officer
  • Glenn Phillips

    Chief Executive Officer

    Glenn joined the Lapalala Wilderness Foundation in February 2020. The Foundation is the delegated management authority of the Lapalala Wilderness Nature Reserve responsible for all reserve operations. Glenn’s working life has been spent in both the hospitality and conservation sectors. Prior to joining Lapalala, he spent 17 years with South African National Parks, initially as Managing Executive of Tourism Development and Marketing and finally as Managing Executive of Kruger National Park.

  • Hermann Müller
    Head of Conservation Management
  • Hermann Müller

    Head of Conservation Management

    Hermann joined the Lapalala team in 2010 and has been involved in the implementation and management of numerous conservation related projects on the reserve. In 2015 he was appointed as the head of conservation and biodiversity management of Lapalala Wilderness. More than a decade’s worth of experience gained at Lapalala has allowed him to develop a broad and in-depth knowledge base of the reserve and its complex ecological dynamics, which is aptly backed up by his formal education and training in conservation- and wildlife management. Hermann also pilots the reserve’s gyroplane which is utilised for aerial security as well as wildlife monitoring purposes.

  • Jean-Pierre Viljoen
    Area Integrity Manager
  • Jean-Pierre Viljoen

    Area Integrity Manager

    Jean Pierre Viljoen (JP) joined Lapalala as the Reserve’s Area Integrity Manager in 2020. Prior to his appointment, JP worked for a security company for four years of which two years were spent as the security operations manager for the Waterberg Safety Initiative. JP’s experience in K9 training and management, anti-poaching as well as his knowledge of the external crime situation in the immediate areas surrounding Lapalala Wilderness made him a highly valuable member of the management team

  • Annemieke Müller
    Veterinary and Research Manager
  • Annemieke Müller

    Veterinary and Research Manager

    Originally form the Netherlands, Annemieke spent a large part of her childhood in Nigeria and this is where her love for Africa kindled. After completion of her Degree in Veterinary Medicine at Utrecht University, she successfully applied for an International Scholarship at the University of Western Australia to pursue her PhD project at Lapalala Wilderness focusing on in situ white rhinoceros reproduction and breeding improvement. In 2015 she was appointed as Veterinary & Research Manager of Lapalala Wilderness. As our wildlife veterinarian, Annemieke does all veterinary work taking place on Lapalala and functions as an advisor on population health and disease management. Besides this, she manages all Lapalala’s research programs and coordinates our collaborative research initiatives.

  • Peter Mashaba
    Assistant Infrastructure Operations & Environmental Manager
  • Peter Mashaba

    Assistant Infrastructure Operations & Environmental Manager

    Peter first joined Lapalala in April 2017 as a Training Habitat & Operations Manager, following the completion of his work-integrated learning at the Kruger National Park under the Department of Veterinary Wildlife Services. As a trainee manager, he assisted in managing bush clearing, erosion rehabilitation, and operations teams until he was later employed as the Assistant Operations & Environmental Manager in May 2018. Peter‘s key focus includes both fence and roads management, and more recently environmental compliance monitoring and enforcement within the reserve. Peter successfully completed his National Diploma and Btech in Nature Conservation through the Tshwane University of Technology and is currently doing his Masters in Applied Science Nature Conservation- Plant Ecology.

  • Reletile Mokomane
    Assistant Conservation Management
  • Reletile Mokomane

    Assistant Conservation Management

    Reletile has joined the Lapalala Wilderness team in March 2020 as Assistant Conservation Management. He manages the day to day conservation teams which includes bush clearing and erosion control. He assists with wildlife management and intervention as well as fire management. Through the Tshwane University of Technology, he achieved his Advanced Diploma in Nature Conservation. Reletile completed his practical year with Veterinary Wildlife Services in Kruger National Park.

  • Wihan Pretorius
    Predator monitor and volunteer coordinator
  • Wihan Pretorius

    Predator monitor and volunteer coordinator

    Wihan started working at Lapalala in 2021 as a Wildlife ACT priority species monitor, temporarily assisting students with tracking and collecting data from lion and cheetah post introduction. In 2023, he permanently joined the Lapalala biodiversity team as the Predator Monitor and Volunteer Coordinator of the Reserve. His main focus is to monitor our cheetah, wild dog and lion populations – species that need active management to ensure a sustainable ecological balance on the Reserve. Wihan has been working in the bush since 2017, and before this he finished his MSc Degree in Environmental Management at the North West University.