Pretoria-Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mdu Shabane as the new Director-General of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform with effect from Monday, November 1.
The department had earlier appointed Dr Nozizwe Makgalemele, as Acting Director-General following the departure of Thozi Gwanya. Shabane, who has been with the Department for over a decade, studied Land Tenure at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in the United States of America, 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 Technikon Natal now the Durban University of Technology. As a land activist he brings to the position a wealth of experience in land and agrarian reform in both the public and non-governmental sectors.
He was the head of the Secretariat of the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB), serving as the first Accounting Officer 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 in the department including that of Mmuso Riba, as Chief Surveyor-General. Riba holds a B.Sc. Degree in Mathematics and Chemistry (MEDUNSA) as well as a B.Sc. in Surveying from the University of Cape Town.
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 the 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).
Sam Lefafa was appointed as Chief Registrar of Deeds and he 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. He 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, Restitution of Land Rights Act and many other Acts of the department.
He started serving the public sector in 1974 as an interpreter and was elevated to a Chief Public Prosecutor at Odi Magistrate's court. He was later promoted to Assistant Magistrate and subsequently additional Magistrate where he was transferred to Thaba Nchu.
Ntsiki Mashiya who is appointed as an Executive Senior Manager: Support Service in the department holds a PhD in Management and Commerce from Fort Hare University. She is currently registered and studying towards Masters of Science in Informatics at the University of Winchester in the United Kingdom.
Mashiya also holds an Honours Degree in Research Psychology at the University of Rhodes. She has 12 years senior management experience. She had a short stint as a head of department at Public Works in the Eastern Cape and was also 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).
Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti 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," he said.
