The Playhouse Company has announced the appointment of Mahmoud Rajab as a new member of the Playhouse Council (previously known as the Playhouse Board). A former Supreme Court advocate and a one-time member of Parliament for Springfield, Mahmoud Rajab is the Managing Director of New National Assurance Company and also serves as the director of various companies in the Rajab group of companies.

Mina Lesoma is the newly appointed Chairperson of the Playhouse Council. An active figure in Durban's public life and a longstanding Playhouse Council member who previously occupied the Playhouse Chair in 2003 and 2004, she is eThekwini Municipality's Deputy Head of Regional Centres.

Other professional leaders who retain their current appointments as Playhouse Councillors are Dr Thandi Ndlovu, Justice Leona Theron, Bongani Tembe, Cllr Roger Ashe, Dr Rumilla Naran, Duma Ndlovu and Rev Dabula Tusi.

"The Playhouse Company has taken enormous strides forward towards reaching its short term goals of attaining international standards of excellence as a leading arts administrative body," says Chairperson Mina Lesoma. "As members of the Playhouse Council, we undertake to continue to guide this process with all the expertise our members bring to bear from their individual professional fields. We encourage leaders of business and industry and those who work in socio-political circles to support the invaluable work the Playhouse Company brings to the broader community of our city, region and province, especially with regard to the impact it makes in its education and development aspects of the arts industry."