Board Members

Founder/CEO

Frederick/Freddy Trout is the founder and CEO of People Against Substance Abuse. Freddy was also a drug addict for 12 years and was also a gang leader for 10 years, he was in prison 6 times and made a total turnaround in 2000 when he got born again. He relocated to George in 2004 and PASA was birthed in 2006. Freddy is also one of the Life Coaches of the organisation and presents the organisation’s Life Skills program in the school. He also qualified as an HIV Specialist and are qualified to render HIV related services. He is responsible for the overall running of the organisation and although he does not serve on the board of the organisation, he does report to the board about the activities of the organisation on a quarterly basis.

Chairman

Phillip de Wit is Chairman of the board and the owner of Philka Marketing, a company based in George. Phillip was involved in Engineering for many years before he relocated to George and started his own business. He also serves on the executive board of another organisation and he has a wealth of knowledge and wisdom that he shares with the organisation.

Deputy Chairman

Edmund Arendse was born a small fishing town, Kleinmond just outside Cape Town. He was also a drug addict for over 20 years having started at age 12. His life changed when was born again 6 years ago and he currently resides in Botriver, close to Kleinmond with his family. He is also the Director of the branch in Kleinmond and is responsible for the day to day running of the activities of PASA in the Overberg District.

Secretary

Sophia Trout is the secretary of the governing board and she is also the office administrator of the organisation’s head office in George. She is married to the founder and CEO of the organisation and resides in George. She does not have a history of addiction or Substance Abuse but she has seen some of the devastating effects of substance abuse and addiction.

Treasurer

Megan Mertenton is the treasurer of the organisation and also the financial officer/bookkeeper. She is responsible to see that the finances of the organisation is spent correctly and also do the bookkeeping on a monthly basis. She has been working with numerous bookkeeping companies for the past 9 years where she gained a lot of financial knowledge and experience. She also recently started her own company called RM Consulting. She resides in Mossel Bay with her family and runs her company from home.

Project Manager/Additional Board Member

Wayne Windvoël is an additional board member of the organisation. He is also the project manager the organisation’s head office in George. Wayne was also a drug addict for 10 years and also started to experiment with drugs at the age of 14. He was also part of a gang on the Cape Flats but also escaped the life of addiction after being born again in 2008 after relocating to George. He join PASA in 2009, where he starting sharing his story with learners in school which PASA renders services to. He is also a Life Coach at the organisation and presents the organisation’s Life Skills programs in schools.

Additional Board Member

Johannes George is also an additional board member of the organisation. Johannes resides in Citrusdal with his family and is a member of the South African Police service. Johannes was the social crime officer at the Citrusdal Police station for many years before he was offered a position at the union of the police service. Johannes is passionate about the youth of our country and is well known in his community for his knowledge of drugs.