About us

Ismail Hendricks, graduated from UCT in 2001 with an Honours degree in Business Science, after which he worked as a business analyst for major banks, blue chip companies and government bodies.

Having taken part in the business reality TV show, The Apprentice, hosted by Tokyo Sexwale, Ishmail was head-hunted by Auction Alliance in 2006. He endeared himself to the viewing public with his business acumen and charming stage persona, and has carried this through to the Alliance auction floors.

With the success of Alliance's Rapid Auction Program (RAP), the sales platform for residential property, Ishmail has conducted over 1 000 residential auctions in the Cape region, making him one of the leading auctioneers of residential property in South Africa.

Contact: 082 908 6653 or ihendricks@auction.co.za

Rael displayed early entrepreneurial ambitions during his school and student years. He sold his first property while still in matric and was selling property to varsity staff while completing his law degree at the University of Cape Town.

Rael has today become an innovator, entrepreneur and household name in the asset sales and services industry. He founded his first auction company at the age of 20 and was the founder of Auction Alliance, Valuation Alliance, Asset Alliance and the Alliance Group.

With his infectious personality, astute leadership and bold strategic moves, Rael has developed the Alliance Group into Southern Africa's leading asset sales and services company.

A veteran and pioneer of the auctioneering business at age 37, Rael's knowledge and industry acumen are unequalled in the local market. He has personally sold billions of Rands of almost every asset type and his background in sales and marketing combined with extensive operational and general management experience make him a highly respected and popular leader of the ever-growing Alliance brand.

Contact: 082 777 0999 or rlevitt@auction.co.za

Ariella currently heads up New Business Development for Auction Alliance, providing a national face for new clients, complex projects and new initiatives undertaken by the company.

Ariella has excelled in the academic and professional arena, achieving a BA Joint Honours in Economics from Wits in 1995, followed by an MBA in 2002 at the Cape Town Graduate School of Business (GSB), from where she received an exchange Scholarship to Columbia Business School, NY (USA).

She was an international steel trader with Macsteel International, a private equity executive, and thereafter entered the auction arena, bringing with her an aptitude to quickly understand a variety of assets, including mining, maritime, aviation and property. The experience gained from trading included multiple languages, shipping, logistics, finance and international trade. The auction environment has offered Ariella a canvas to leverage off all these strengths on various levels to benefit an extensive client base.

As one of the only female auctioneers in SA, Ariella has raised in excess of R3million for various charities, including high profile events like FIFA 2010, Zanele Mbeki's IWFSA Leadership Cup, Anneline Kriel's Homestead, Wilma VD Bijl's Red Cross Children's Hospital, and Home of Hope, amongst others.

Contact: 079 899 9998 or akuper@auction.co.za

Andrew was educated at Kearsney College in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), and it is here in the province's big school rivalries that he honed his competitive edge and ability to perform under pressure.  Andrew began his career as an auctioneer in 1982 and has since conducted thousands of sales throughout South Africa and most neighboring countries.

In 1986, he gained valuable experience working in America and travelling alongside some of America's leading purebred livestock auctioneers. During his 26 years as an auctioneer, Andrew has conducted just about every national breed stud sale in the livestock and small stock industry. During this time, he has also sold millions of rands worth of extremely high profile and high value commercial and industrial properties.

Andrew is recognisable more recently for his regular television appearances on the DSTV Super Sport channel as a member of Bloodstock South Africa's international panel of auctioneers, where he sells millions of rands worth of high value thoroughbred yearling race horses. At the 2005 National Yearling Sale, he sold the all time record priced yearling for R3,3million.

His wielding gavel has also been in action for many charities around the country, including The Captains Table and the Sunflower Fund. As Auction Alliance's KZN-based auctioneer, Andrew conducts all the auctions for the group in that region.

Contact: 082 493 2362 or amiller@auction.co.za

Gift Ngwenya began his career in auctioneering at the age of 19 at Hammer and Tongues, the largest auction house in Zimbabwe. It was here where he was groomed by some of the best auctioneers in the world.

He later achieved great success when he became the youngest auctioneer to join the tobacco auctioneers at the largest tobacco sales floor in the world at the time. Gift gained valuable experience during this period and was invited to The Thoroughbred Breeders Association of Zimbabwe, where he was actively involved in the yearling sales for many years. Through his acquired knowledge in the equine industry, he went on to become a top horse racing commentator in Zimbabwe.

A South African by birth, Gift recently returned home and is now an integral part of the Auction Alliance team in Johannesburg, where he puts his exceptional auctioneering and marketing skills to full use.

Contact: 082 680 7127 or gngwenya@auction.co.za

Casper, is one of our up and coming auctioneers and hails from Potchefstroom where he joined the South African Police Service and served in the V.I.P unit and various detective branches. He joined Auction Alliance in 1999 and immediately began his auction career after completing the auctioneer's diploma in Cape Town. Casper attended the National Auctioneers Association conference in the USA and is involved largely in moveable auctions whilst also doing the occasional fixed property sale. He has a strong operational background and has also conducted numerous sales in executions as well as charity auctions.

Casper forms part of the operational side of the Cape Town auction team and is involved in Appraisals and auction administration. Some of the exciting auctions he has been involved in includes the sales for the Asset Forfeiture Unit, Pick 'n Pay, Safmarine, Nedbank, the defunct Saambou Bank and the disposal of the Transhex mine group to name a few. As a family man, Casper loves the outdoor life and lives up to the core values of the company. After every auction he tries to have a happy seller and happy buyer.

Contact: 082 459 8877 or crossouw@auction.co.za

Pieter is a qualified teacher and became a respected auctioneer after completing his post graduate degree at the University of Potchefstroom. His first auction position was in 1995, when he became the regional manager of Seeff Auctions, Pretoria. In 2001 he moved on and decided to further his career by becoming a shareholder and director of Auction Alliance.

Pieter has since conducted some of the country's most high value auctions and has a wide asset knowledge, conducting sales as far as Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland. His largest auction was the sale of almost 1 000 lots in Kleinzee, Northern Cape, which he began at 10am in the morning and ended at 7pm in the evening.

His career highlights include selling the assets of a massive mine in Oranjemund, Namibia, and tearfully being thanked by a widow for helping their family get value out of a deceased estate sale in Volksrust.

Pieter's philosophy with all his auctions is to communicate with transparency to both the buyer and seller. At the end of every one of his auctions, he likes his clients to get the best possible deal, thereby making a difference to their personal and professional lives.

Contact: 082 808 1801 or pgeldenhuys@auction.co.za

Willie is Auction Alliance's branch manager in Paarl, and is actively involved in residential, commercial and agriculture property sales in the Boland region. He is also the company's regional auctioneer in the Boland, Swartland, Northern Cape, West Coast and Overberg areas.

After completing a university degree and post-graduate studies at the University of Stellenbosch, Willie began his teaching career in 1975. He taught at a well-known high school in George, staying in the profession for seven years before his twin passions of farming and auctions took hold.

He joined Boland Bank in 1992 and operated out of Riversdale, servicing regions such as Albertinia, Heidelberg and Stilbaai. A brief stint at Seeff Auctions followed before he joined Auction Alliance.

Willie's experience in farm and livestock sales is unrivalled in the industry. This experience has led to concluded sales of some of the most expensive farms in the Cape region.

Contact: 083 261 7641 or wvanrensburg@auction.co.za

After completing his degrees at the Rand Afrikaans University, Shaie was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 2001. He served his articles at Silver & Warren and soon afterwards became a partner of Kim Warren, Rambau & Associates where he specialised in commercial and corporate law and litigation.

Having advised in various listing transactions and many high profile Insolvency and Bank Recovery matters, Shaie also gained extensive experience in cross border recoveries specifically in the UAE and Asia.

Shaie serves as a valued member of Auction Alliance's Executive Committee and more recently has proven to be a dynamic and well respected Auctioneer taking to the podium as often as he can.

Contact: 082 416 9336 or szindel@auction.co.za