Advisors to The Presidency
28 March 2006
Tuynhuys: President Thabo Mbeki today, March 28, convened the first meeting
of the Panel of Economic Advisors to the Presidency in Cape Town ,
Tuynhuys.
The members of the Panel are Dr Iraj Abedian, Dr Haroon Bhorat, Dr Reuel
Khoza, Mr JP Landman, Ms Viv McMenamim, Mr Lumkile Mondi, Ms Gloria Serobe and
Dr Rejoice Simelane.
The purpose of the panel is to advise the Presidency on economic matters.
The agenda for the first meeting included a presentation of AsgiSA (Accelerated
and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa ) to the panel, a discussion of
issues emerging from AsgiSA, and an assessment of the state of the South
African economy.
The panel also discussed the modalities of future interactions with the
Presidency.
The Deputy President, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Minister in The Presidency,
Dr Essop Pahad, Director General in The Presidency, Rev Frank Chikane and the
Head of The Presidency's Policy Unit, Mr Joel Netshitenzhe, were also at the
meeting.
Brief descriptions of the panel members, in no particular order:
1. Dr Reuel Khoza
Dr Reuel Khoza has a doctorate from Warwick University (UK) and graduated
from the Management Development Programme at Harvard University . He is
currently the chairman of Aka Capital and was the chairman of Eskom for many
years. He sits on the boards of GlaxoWelcome SA, IBM SA, Vodacom, JCI, Old
Mutual plc and Nedbank(of whose Board he is Chairman designate). He also holds
directorships in Corobrik, JSE Securities Exchange and Protea Hospitality
Holdings.
2. Dr Haroon Bhorat
Dr Haroon Bhorat has a PhD in economics and currently heads the Development
Policy Research Unit at UCT. He is considered as one of the leading younger
academic economists and is a top labour market economist. He has published
extensively both at home and abroad on poverty and labour market issues.
3. Dr Iraj Abedian
Dr Iraj Abedian has a PhD in economics and currently heads his own
consulting firm (Pan African Investments). Previously he was the head of the
Economics Research Division of Standard Bank and before that Professor of
Economics at UCT. He is considered one of the leading macro-economists in South
Africa .
4. Dr Rejoice Simelane
Dr Rejoice Simelane has a PhD in economics and is currently CEO of
Ubuntu-Botho Investment (Pty) Ltd. She has extensive knowledge and experience
in public economics and was previously employed by the Department of Trade and
Industry, National Treasury and as economic advisor in the Premier's Office in
Mpumalanga . Earlier she lectured in economics at the University of Swaziland ,
and later lectured part-time at the University of Pretoria . She also serves on
the boards of African Rainbow Minerals and Sanlam.
5. Ms Viv McMenamim
Ms McMenamin has a Masters degree in economics and is considered one of
South Africa 's foremost local economic development experts. She currently is
the Director responsible for Forestry and Transformation at Mondi Paper Mill.
Before that she was the head of economic development for the E'Thekweni Metro,
and previously worked in the ANC economic unit.
6. Mr Lumkile Mondi
Mr Lumkile Mondi has a Masters degree in economics and is currently Chief
Economist and Vice-President of the IDC. He is a macro-economist with extensive
industrial policy knowledge and experience. He was the group economist at
Transnet and treasury economist at SCMB. He has also worked at the Labour
Bulletin, DBSA and Deloitte and Touche, and was a lecturer in economics at WITS
University .
7. Ms Gloria Serobe
Ms Gloria Serobe has B Comm and MBA degrees and was a founding member of
WIPHOLD and is currently CEO of Wipcapital. She was previously Director Finance
at Transnet and worked for Exxon Corporation in the USA , Munich Reinsurance
Company of SA, the Premier Group and SCMB. She serves on the boards of Old
Mutual, Nedbank, JSE, and the Export Credit Insurance Corporation, is a member
of the Financial Services Charter Council and a former chair of the Life
Offices Association.
8. Mr JP Landman
Mr JP Landman has BA and LLB degrees and a Masters in future studies. He is
an independent and self-employed political-economic analyst and consultant. He
regularly addresses business and audiences on current and future trends in
South Africa . He used to work as an industrial relations analyst and was the
editor of Finansies en Tegniek and Finance Week.
Enquiries:
David Hlabane
Cell: 082 561 9428
Issued by: The Presidency
28 March 2006
