The Presidency wishes to announce the following appointments by President Jacob Zuma:
a. Welile Nhlapo as National Security Special Adviser
b. Mac Maharaj as Special Envoy
The Presidency will be greatly strengthened by these appointments. Both individuals bring to their positions extensive experience, expertise and knowledge.
Welile Nhlapo is currently South Africa's ambassador to the United States. He has previously served as Special Envoy to Burundi. He was the head of the technical team that assisted then Deputy President Zuma in the Burundi negotiations.
Deeply involved in the struggle against apartheid, Nhlapo went into exile in Botswana in 1974. He served as the ANC Chief Representative in Botswana and joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1994. In 1995, he was appointed South African Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
In 1998, he was appointed Deputy Director-General responsible for Africa in the Department of Foreign Affairs. In 2001, he was appointed Head of the Presidential Support Unit which advised the Presidency on conflict situations in Africa and the Middle East. He assumed the post of Ambassador to the US in August 2007.
Mac Maharaj is a former Minister of Transport and a veteran of the ANC and South African Communist Party (SACP). He played a key role in the negotiation process that led the way to South Africa's first democratic elections, and was joint secretary in 1994 of the Transitional Executive Council (TEC).
A political activist since the early 1950s, he was a member of the ANC's armed wing Umkhonto weSizwe. He went into exile in 1976 after escaping from the house arrest order that was immediately imposed on him in Durban after serving 12 years imprisonment.
After 12 years in exile, Maharaj returned to South Africa as commander of Operation Vula. He served on the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) and was a member of the SACP's Political bureau and Central Committee.
Any queries contact:
Vincent Magwenya
Cell: 072 715 0024
Issued by: The Presidency
30 October 2009
