Adv Nadene Badenhorst

Director / Board member

Nadene is a founder member of Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) and Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. Having served as FOR SA’s full-time Legal Counsel from 2014 – February 2022, Nadene has represented religious freedom rights in multiple court cases, including before the Constitutional Court. Nadene is also a popular speaker, and has spoken on religious freedom issues on various international and local platforms. While no longer serving as FOR SA’s full-time Legal Counsel, Nadene remains involved in FOR SA as a Director and member of the FOR SA Board.

Having obtained a BA LLB degree from Stellenbosch University, Nadene was awarded a scholarship to study an LLM degree in International Human Rights Law at the University of Essex, United Kingdom which she obtained cum laude. During her studies, she also held an internship at the United Nations Secretariat in New York.

Michael Swain

Executive Director

Michael was raised in England, graduating from the University of Bristol with an Honours degree in Law before immigrating to South Africa in 1983.

Michael is a co-founder and former Vice-President of the Every Nation (formerly His People) movement of churches and ministries. He has spent over 30 years in Christian ministry in South Africa, Europe and the USA.

He has also enjoyed success as a businessman, having founded and run companies in diverse areas, including software development, events management, as well as marketing and communications.

Michael currently serves as the Executive Director and primary (media) spokesperson of FOR SA.

He and his wife, Lynn, live in Cape Town.

Philip van der Westhuizen

Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Company Secretary

Philip serves as a Directing Elder and the Operations Director of the Joshua Generation Church (JoshGen), as well as the Four12 global apostolic partnership of churches.

As COO of FOR SA, Philip is responsible for financial administration, human resources, corporate governance and compliance. He is a duly qualified Company Chartered Secretary and member of Chartered Secretaries South Africa (CSSA), through where he also obtained his Corporate Governance qualification.

Philip lives in Cape Town with his wife Marli, and their daughters Eden and Maia.

Daniela Ellerbeck

Attorney/Legal Advisor/Parliamentary Liaison

Daniela is an attorney of the High Court of South Africa. She obtained a BCom LLB degree from Rhodes University. She worked for Médecins sans Frontières before completing her articles of clerkship at G van Zyl Attorneys, where she specialised in litigation.

Daniela serves within FOR SA in multiple roles, including assisting FOR SA’s Legal Counsel with legal research and drafting, as well as monitoring potential erosions to religious freedom rights, authoring multiple articles, speaking on radio and acting as FOR SA’s parliamentary liaison officer.

Barry Isaacs

Barry is an ordained Christian minister with over 40 years’ experience in full-time Christian ministry. For many years, he has played an ecumenical role and is well-known and respected for his work in communities across Cape Town. He has been successful in bringing unity and commonality of purpose across denomination lines and is passionate about changing our communities, especially as it relates to family issues where the transformation that can take place will benefit the home, community and ultimately our nation.

In addition to his role in FOR SA, Barry serves on the boards of several non-profit organisations, including Threecord Family Development Services, Transformation Africa (Western Cape) and Consultation of Christian Churches (CCC). He is also the Chairman of Jericho Walls (an international prayer movement) and SAFFI (South African Family & Faith Institute).

Anuschka Smith

Legal Secretary/Administrative Assistant

As FOR SA’s Legal Secretary/Administrative Assistant, Anuschka gives overall administrative and office management support to the FOR SA team.

Anuschka is married to Carel and lives in Cape Town with their family.

Michael Cassidy

Michael is a well-known and widely respected Christian leader, author and statesman, both internationally and in South Africa. He is recognised and deeply respected for his reconciliation efforts and behind-the-scenes facilitation of initiatives, particularly on Church and political levels.

Michael was one of the leaders of the historic National Conference of Church Leaders at Rustenburg in 1990 and chaired a Consultation on Human Rights and Religious Freedom in Pietermaritzburg in 1993. In 2009, he spearheaded the National Initiative for the Reformation of South Africa and in the same year received a Peacemaker Award from Christians for Peace in Africa.

As the Founder of African Enterprise (AE), he has led numerous missions to cities throughout Africa, as well as in other parts of the world. Michael was named the Honorary Chairman of the global Lausanne Movement for world evangelism in 2012.

Michael and his wife, Carol, live in Hilton near Pietermaritzburg. They have two daughters and a son.