DM99 was established in 2013 by Lazola Booi and Lazola Makhupula and is a collaboration of professionals providing not only strategic information consulting services to public, private and development sector organisations in Southern Africa, with a special focus that helps small - medium business owners with a range of technical services in multiple sectors (health, engineering, environmental, mining, technology & data products). As a 100% black owned organization, DM99 is committed to assist in the development of data science & innovation science capacity among African-based organizations, with a special interest in promoting women and key/priority populations (LGBTQI+). The core team and network of associates we work with, 50% are women and 100% are black, with a partnership with 13% of the component being from the LGBTQI+ key/priority population.
Lazola Booi (MSc. SAGC) - Managing DirectorLazola is an ambitious young professional with an information technology and geography (GIS, Urban and Environmental management) background.
He was an intern in the GIS/ Planning units of Mashalaba and Associates Consultants, STATSSA and Ramm Technologies and currently a GIS specialist at ESRI_SA which is the South African head office of the biggest GIS platform and services firm in the world. Lazola has a growing interest in developing Africa using today & tomorrow’s technologies and strategies to fit a developing world. As a serial entrepreneur he is also passionate about starting ang growing businesses and is currently involved in music production, consulting, financial services, agriculture, retail and property development. Chris has a particular ambition in rural development and disadvantaged communities.
Palesa Myeko (MSc. SACNASP) - Non-Executive DirectorPalesa is a young and driven scientific professional who is currently a Geohydrology Scientist at the Dept. of water and sanitation. A strong advocate for water resource management and policy, she involves her clients in in quality standards that reflect the outmost core professional ethics in an ever changing society. Her professional interests focus on water management, geohydrological environmental support and data management, and her current projects include working with consultants like SRK consulting. In addition, s/he serves as member for GWD UFS, and is a member of SACNASP. She is recently pursuing her masters with the University of the Free State for better contributions to Groundwater and environmental management field.
Lazola Makhupula (MBA. SAMEA) - Operations DirectorLazola is a senior strategic Information/data scientist Technical Advisor for an international NGO based in South Africa in the public health sector. He is passionate about being part of the fight against HIV/TB/STI diseases and other public health concerns looking directly at how data and information play a key role in the sector. He is a seasoned data analysis, visualization and data storytelling professional with over 9 years experience in East and Southern Africa.
Software competence - ArcGIS, QGIS, R, Tableau, PowerBI, CommCare, RedCap, DHIS2, SQL, STATA, QuickBase, Power Automation and Power Excel.
