Monde Mnyande appointed CEF chair

Former SA Reserve Bank chief economist and executive GM Monde Mnyande has been appointed to chair the state-owned Central Energy Fund, which houses government's gas and petroleum interests.

Also appointed to the CEF board by the cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday were Nolubabalo Sondlo, Nkululeko Poya and Priakumari Hassan.

Cabinet also appointed Tshikani Makhubele as chair of the SA Post Office and as directors Ismail Mamoojee, Nondumiso Ngonyama, Kgamedi Ramoadi, Catharina van der Sandt, Nonzukiso Siyotula. Zolani Matthews and Thomas Nkese were appointed the trade union representatives.

The need for a new chair of the CEF was prompted by the sacking of the former chair, Luvo Makasi, by former energy minister Jeff Radebe in March, after serious allegations made against him. According to media reports, Makasi was dismissed for allegedly attempting to solicit a bribe of $2.5m from oil trading firms Glencore and Vitol on behalf of senior politicians and government officials.

Mnyande holds a BA and an MA (finance) degree from Webster University in St Louis, Missouri, US, an MBA degree from St Louis University as well as an MA and PhD (economics) from the New School University in New York. He left the Reserve Bank in 2013 after 17 years of service.

Trustees of the Brand SA Trust were also approved, with former ANC MP Thandi Tobias-Pokolo being appointed as chair as well as the board of directors of the National Electronic Media Institute of SA, with Molebogeng Leshabane being appointed as chair.

Cabinet also approved for publication and public comment the national spatial development framework. The framework proposes interventions to the racially disjointed patterns of development and proposes proactive management of the country’s natural resources and ecosystems.

ensorl@businesslive.co.za