Professor Somadoda Fikeni and Zukiswa Mqolomba have been named by President Cyril Ramaphosa as the Public Service Commission’s chair and vice chair, respectively (PSC).
The independent body is given the authority to conduct supervision over the South African public service by looking into, keeping an eye on, and assessing how it is run.
The President made the following statement on Wednesday: “President Ramaphosa wishes Prof Fikeni and Ms Mqolomba well in heading the Commission in its essential duty of helping to the development of an efficient, ethical, and competent Public Service.”
The Presidency emphasised that from the end of January of this year, Fikeni has been filling the role in an acting capacity.
“Prof Fikeni has a PhD in Comparative Politics and Public Policy Analysis and serves as a Senior Executive Director within the Public Administration leadership.
He has expertise as a public servant and has taught Public Administration at a number of colleges.
He has also worked as an academic in universities and research institutes.
The statement said, “He was a member of the group that developed the Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s School of Diplomacy and has served as Chairperson for seven different public and commercial enterprises over the previous 16 years.
Mqolombo will also provide the PSC with a wealth of experience and academic knowledge in the public service.
“Ms. Zukiswa Mqolomba has more than 12 years of experience in the public service, with eight of those years spent at top management positions, and she now serves as the Deputy Chairperson of the Commission.
She is an economist who does research in public policy, economics, and poverty. She also manages programmes.
According to the Presidency, she has two master’s degrees in public policy from the University of Cape Town and an MA in poverty and development from the University of Sussex in the UK.