New members appointed to National Orders Advisory Council

New members have been appointed to the National Orders Advisory Council by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The council processes nominations and advises the President in bestowing the orders.

South Africa currently has six National Orders – the country’s highest awards – which are bestowed on citizens and eminent foreign nationals.

The new council members are:

• Struggle veteran Mandla Langa has been appointed as Chairperson. He is also a celebrated poet, short story writer, novelist, businessman and a member of the Order of Ikhamanga.
• Physicist Dr Patience Mthunzi-Kufa is the council’s Deputy Chairperson. She is head of Biophotonics Research at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a member of the Order of Mapungubwe. She is one of the most prominent black women scientists in South Africa.
• Highly respected research professor and co- founder of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand, Dr Glenda Gray has also been appointed to the council. Gray is internationally recognised for her research in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, HIV vaccines, HIV among adolescents, HIV prevention, assessing sexual and other risk factors in HIV acquisition, fertility and reproduction in women in the context of HIV epidemics, and recently also microbicide. She is an esteemed member of the Order of Mapungubwe.
• South African football administrator and businessman Dr Irvin Khoza. He is the Chairman of Orlando Pirates Football Club, Chairman of the South African Premier Soccer League and by virtue of this, Vice-President of the South African Football Association. He has served football in many capacities, the most prominent of which was when he was the Chairman of the World Cup Bid Committee, as well as the Chairman of Local Organising Committee of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
• Dr Peki Emelia “Nothembi” Mkhwebane, is one of the country’s respected traditional music composers and performers, who is renowned for her isiNdebele music songs. She is an esteemed member of the Order of Ikhamanga.
• Double-gold Olympic swimmer Natalie Du Toit is now a members of the council. She is best known for the gold medals she won at the 2004 Paralympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. She is an esteemed member of the Order of Ikhamanga.
• Internationally recognised singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur humanitarian and teacher Yvonne Chaka Chaka. She is a champion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the United Nations MDG Envoy for Africa, and the Goodwill Ambassador for the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. She is an esteemed member of the Order of Ikhamanga.
• Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. She served as President of the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa from 2002 to 2006, as founding chairperson of the Board of the South African Mathematics Foundation from 2004 to 2006, and secretary and member of the Executive Committee of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education from 2003 to 2007. She is an esteemed member of the Order of the Baobab.
• Puseletso Madumise is an experienced player in the NGO sector and the development field and Gauteng Chairperson of the South African National Non-governmental Organisation Coalition (SANGOCO). She also currently serves as a member of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, which was established by Gauteng Premier David Makhura in 2017.
• Professor Sarojini Nadar is a transdisciplinary researcher within the fields of gender and religion, with a more broad focus on religion and social justice – spanning issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. She sits on five international journal editorial boards including the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, and she is also the editor-in-chief of the African Journal of Gender and Religion. She is the Desmond Tutu Research Chair in Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape.
• Dr Stavros Nicolaou is one of the most prominent and active businesspeople in South Africa. He is currently the Aspen Pharmacare Group’s Senior Executive responsible for strategic trade development. Aspen Pharmacare is one of South Africa’s most globalised international companies with a presence in over 50 localities globally. He was previously CEO of Aspen’s Export Business. He is a previous winner of the SA Institute of Marketing Management (IMM) Health Care Marketer of the Year Award. He holds an honorary doctorate from Wits University.

“The President extends his gratitude to the outgoing members of the National Orders Advisory Council. The outgoing Council has served the country exceptionally well over a number of years. We thank them wholeheartedly for this national service.

“We welcome Mr Langa and the new team and look forward to working with them as we celebrate excellence, selflessness and the promotion of a common nationhood,” the Presidency said. – SAnews.gov.za