Ivor Daniel (Chairman)

Ivor was born & raised in Port St Johns, moved to Durban in 1964, and moved as a family to Cowies Hill in 1994 with his wife Margaret and their 2 children. Their son & daughter’s family now all live in Cowies Hill .

Ivor has been a practicing architect since in 1977, before amalgamating with a national practice in 1985.

He is the Managing Director of the Durban office Daniel & Associates as well the National Design & Marketing Director, with a studio based at 31 Hillside Road, Cowies Hill.
Past President of the KwaZulu-Natal Institute of Architects and Chairman of the Durban Botanic Gardens Trust since 1998. Involved as Chairman in the resuscitated Cowies Hill Security Management Association.

Ivor currently spearheads a public-private initiative “Keep Westville Beautiful NPC” to improve the public environment of Central Westville which addresses urban design & landscaping.

“ I believe that there is no better place in the greater Durban area, to live in than Cowies Hill”. “There are many facets, which make up the unique qualities of the area. These include location and environment. The green qualities as well as the sense of community, makes Cowies Hill an environment for families of all ages. The community spirit of working together, building a community who care and who enjoy security of their investment in property and lifestyle.” 

Michael Woods

Mike was born and raised in Durban, is married to Lynette who is a school teacher at St Henry’s Marist College and they have 2 sons.

After obtaining a BSc degree, Michael served in the SAPS for 3 years. Thereafter he spent 35 years in the medical device industry which included 15 years on the Board of Smith and Nephew (Pty) Ltd as well as a number of years on the Board of SAMED (South African Medical Technology Industry Association). He is currently a stakeholder in a local company providing world leading sustainable energy solutions.

“We moved to Cowies Hill some 25 years ago and soon realised what a special place it was, so central yet with a country feel and a caring community. I believe in ‘giving back’ by helping to further cultivate a safe and harmonious community environment, and so started by creating the Woodside Ave street patrol for the 30 houses between Ernest Whitcutt and Hopson Rd, 10 years ago. This then led to bigger and better things and I’m now extremely excited to be actively involved in taking this to the next level by the formation of Cowies Hill Estate”.

Dijon Nortje

Schooled at Port Natal in Durban, Dijon is a Town Planning Technician and has been employed at a town planning company in Westville for nearly 20 years.

Dijon was born and raised in Durban and moved to Cowies Hill in 2013 with his wife, Janine, and their 5 children.

“I love Cowies Hill! I love everything about it, the people, the leafiness, the beautiful homes, and the central location. As with most of the current Board, I have been involved in this process for a couple of years now and the dedication and commitment shown by these gents has just been amazing.

It has been awesome to see the community involvement in this initiative, and I believe we are in the process of making an incredible community even better. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for us.”

John Charter

Educated at Highbury, Hilton and Stellenbosch University. John was in the advertising business for 37 years in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Toronto and Durban where he founded and ran Matthews and Charter, Ogilvy and Mather for 16 years. In 2002 he founded Black Egret Corporate Dynamics which is a business consultancy encompassing business strategy, people development and branding.

John grew up in KZN speaking Zulu before he spoke English. He is married to Tyna, retired head mistress of St Mary’s School in Kloof. They have 5 children, three boys and two girls and 10 grand children.

“Having been intimately involved in the Hillcrest, Kloof and Westville communities over many years I felt that I should make myself available to play whatever role I can in the development of the Cowies Hill environment, primarily from the point of view of security but on a number of other levels as well. We have a fantastic precinct and together we can work as a community to upgrade the environment and maximise its potential and in so-doing improve property values and create a happy, contented and rewarding way of life for all.”