The Minister for Rural Development and Land Reform, Mr Gugile Nkwinti has welcomed Cabinet’s approval of Mr Mdu Shabane’s appointment as the Director-General for the Department, effective from 1 November 2010.
Mr Shabane, who has been with the department for over a decade, studied land tenure at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in United State of America (USA), followed by a course in Land Management with the University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban. Amongst other qualifications he holds a National Diploma in Public Management from the then Technikon Natal. As a land activist he brings to the position a wealth of experience in land and agrarian reform in both the public sector as well as non-governmental.
He was the head of the Secretariat of the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB), serving as the first Accounting Office of the Board. He served as a chairperson of National Land Committee (NLC) an umbrella network about land service non-governmental organisations. In this capacity he was a member of a delegation that visited Holland, Canada and the United States to convince donors to continue funding civil society organisations after the first democratic elections in 1994.
Cabinet also approved other appointments at top level echelon of the department which are the following:
- Mr Mmuso Riba, who has been appointed as the Chief Surveyor-General, holds a B.Sc. Degree in Mathematics and Chemistry (MEDUNSA) as well as a B.Sc. in Surveying (UCT).He is a Professional Land Surveyor as well as a Sectional Titles Practitioner. A former Surveyor-General for the Free State, he is currently the Chairperson of Survey Regulations Board, Deputy Chairperson of Sectional Titles Board, a Board Member of both the Geoscience’s Council Management Board and the Committee for Spatial Information.He is also a member of the South African Council of Professional and Technical Surveyors (PLATO).
- Mr Sam Lefafa, appointed as Chief Registrar of Deeds is an advocate by profession, he holds a B Proc and LLM specialising in fundamental rights and constitutional practice. He played a vital role in drafting and advising the Minister and the former Director-General in terms of provisions of theActs played a pivotal role in developing various acts such Extension of Security of Tenure Act, Interim Protection of informal Land Rights Act, KwaZulu-NataL Ingonyama Trust Act, Labour Tenant Act, Land Titles Adjustment Act, Restituion of Land Rights Act and many other Acts of the department.
He started serving the public in 1974 as an interpreter and was elevated to a Chief Public Prosecutor at Odi Magistrate’s court. He was later promoted as the Assistant Magistrate and subsequently additional Magistrate where he was transferred to Thaba Nchu. Mr Lefafa was further promoted to the substantive rank of a Senior Magistrate and served articles under the State Attorney in the former homeland of Bophuthatswana. He was also one of the people who were forced to leave the country due to political reasons. He started working for the department in 1995 as an administrative officer and moved up the ladder. - Ms Ntsiki V Mashiya who is appointed as an Executive Senior Manager: Support Service in the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform holds a PhD in Management and Commerce at University of Fort Hare. She currently registered and studying towards Masters of Science in Informatics at the University of Winchester in the United Kingdom. She also holds an Honours in Research Psychology at the University of Rhodes. She has a 12 years senior management experience. She had a short stint as a head of department at Public Works at Eastern Cape and also was the provincial Director responsible for Monitoring and Evaluation. She was also a health Information Management Specialist at the School of Public Health in the Western Cape.
Amongst other positions she is a Member of International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) and Member of African Evaluation Association (AFREA). - Dr Nozizwe Makgalemele, who was appointed as Acting Director-General following the departure of Mr Thozi Gwanya, will continue to be the acting DG until 1 November 2010 when Mr Shabane takes over.
The minister has expressed his full confidence in the newly appointed team and wishes all of them a successful and vibrant stay in the department. “Their incredible expertise will indeed guide the department through this new venture of developing rural communities. Their credentials speak volumes about them,” said the Minister.
Enquiries:
Mtobeli Mxotwa
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