Singita names new lodge managers

Singita Game Reserves has made two key managerial appointments at Singita Kruger National Park.
Laurez de Wet has taken up the reins at Singita Lebombo Lodge, where 15 loft-style suites overlook the N’wanetsi River.
At sister lodge Singita Sweni, which has six suites, Kevin Pongola has been appointed as lodge manager for what is regarded as the most romantic of all Singita’s lodges in Southern and East Africa.
Led by Singita Kruger National Park GM Caroline Burke, De Wet and Pongola aim to continue delivering the safari experiences that have made Singita a leader in African bush tourism.
Pongola joined the front of house team at Singita Kruger National Park in 2008. Born in the seaside town of Plettenberg Bay and raised in Cape Town, he discovered his passion for the hospitality industry early in life.
He worked at Le Quartier Français in Franschhoek, while completing a three-year course in hotel management. This was followed by international experience at the Wheatleigh Hotel outside Boston in the United States. He then did a stint at Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray, in the United Kingdom, before returning to South Africa.
During the past six years Laurez de Wet has earned a reputation for customer care excellence, and is regarded as another rising star in the safari hospitality industry.
Born in Durban, she earned a diploma in hotel management at the Durban University of Technology and completed her in-service training at Rattray’s at Mala Mala in the Sabi Sand Reserve.
She has also worked at some of South Africa’s other luxury safari lodges, including Phinda Forest Lodge in KwaZulu-Natal; Royal Malewane in the Thornybush Nature Reserve where she was front of house manager; and at Thanda Private Game Reserve in KZN where she was lodge manager for 18 months.