EVENT START DATE

Wednesday, 09 November 2022

EVENT TIME

18:00 to 19:30 (SAST)

Venue

Future Africa

LeadUP: Alumni Thought Leadership

A dream under fire: Is South Africa a failing state?

Venue: Future Africa Auditorium, UP Hillcrest Campus

EVENT STARTS IN

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The University of Pretoria (UP) Alumni Office invites you to join the next instalment of our LeadUP: Alumni Thought Leadership Conversations, titled ‘A dream under fire: Is South Africa a failing state?’

During this discussion we aim to dissect the state of South Africa from political, social, and economic perspectives, and examine how many – if any – of the warning signs of a failing state SA is showing. Our panel of speakers will address key issues and factors that characterise the current dispensation, and how the country reached this point. The panel will also explore the steps that could be taken to stem the decline and steer the country away from failure, so we may see it on the rise once again.

Prof Sandy Africa, Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning in UP’s Faculty of Humanities and past Chair of the Expert Panel on the July 2021 Civil Unrest, Prof Danny Bradlow, Professor of International Development Law and African Economic Relations at UP; Ms Busi Mavuso, CEO of Business Leadership South Africa; and Mr Dondo Mogajane, Former Director-General of the National Treasury will be in conversation with journalist and strategic communications practitioner Ms Sebenzile Nkambule.

During this discussion you will gain insight into:

• The fragility of SA’s economy, and how fiscal and monetary policy can be used to protect it;
• The impact and influence of political leadership;
• How the country can leverage its demographic dividend;
• The increasing threat of civil unrest and uprisings;
• Ways in which SA builds a capable state; and
• How we could address the crises of unemployment and inequality.

Prof Sandy Africa

Deputy Dean: Teaching & Learning | Faculty of Humanities
University of Pretoria

Professor Sandy Africa is a political scientist based at the University of Pretoria (UP). She currently serves as the Deputy Dean: Teaching and Learning in UP’s Faculty of Humanities. She holds a PhD in Management from Wits University, and her research focuses on public policy and the security sector in societies undergoing political transitions. After the deadly violence that engulfed parts of South Africa in July 2021, Prof Africa led a government-appointed panel of experts to evaluate the response of the security services to the unrest.

Prof Danny Bradlow

Professor: African Economic Relations
University of Pretoria

Daniel D. Bradlow is South African Research Chair Initiative (SARCHI) Professor of International Development Law and African Economic Relations at the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and Professor Emeritus, American University Washington College of Law. He was previously Head: International Economic Relations and Policy Department, South African Reserve Bank; Chair: Roster of Experts, Independent Review Mechanism, African Development Bank; and consultant to numerous international organisations. He has published articles and books on topics including international law, international financial institutions, finance and human rights, and global economic governance.

Ms Busi Mavuso

CEO: Business Leadership South Africa

Busisiwe Mavuso is the Chief Executive Officer at Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) and a non-executive director on the boards of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and Resultant Finance (a PIC investee company). She serves on the Human Resources Development Council (HRDC), the Advisory Committee of the Local Government Ethical Leadership Initiative (LGELI), The Alcohol Industry Advisory Council (TAIAC), and the Social Justice Council. She is a chartered certified accountant (CCA), registered with the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA – UK), who holds a master’s degree in business leadership, a postgraduate qualification in management from the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), and a BCompt in Accounting from the University of South Africa (UNISA).  She is currently completing her PhD and is a Visiting Adjunct Professor at the Wits Business School (WBS).

Mr Dondo Mogajane

Former Director-General, National Treasury

Dondo Mogajane was Director-General of the National Treasury (NT) from June 2017 to June 2022, after first joining the NT in 1999. He is currently a Senior Executive at Ammetti Holdings, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Government Employment Pension Fund (GEPF), and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the New Development Bank (NDB). He holds two honours degrees – in public management, and human resources and industrial relations – obtained at the University of Durban-Westville. He also completed a master’s degree in public management at the University of Maryland (USA), a Management Advancement Programme at Wits Business School, and a programme in budgeting and public financial management at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Ms Sebenzile Nkambule

Journalist and Strategic Communications Practitioner
Moderator

Ms Sebenzile Nkambule holds a BA Journalism degree majoring in International Relations, Honours and Master’s degrees in Gender Studies from the University of Pretoria, and completed a Fulbright Humphrey Fellowship at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where she specialised in digital storytelling/journalism and strategic communications. Ms Nkambule is a talk show host at Power 98.7 and has previously worked at Talk Radio 702 and Cape Talk 567, and served as Head of Project Development at AfricaWorldwide Media, and as a fellow at McKinsey & Company. She is passionate about leadership, economic and social justice, gender politics, and inclusivity. Ms Nkambule is a Mandela Rhodes Scholar, a member of the Graça Machel Women in Media Network, and a member of the inaugural cohort of the Obama Africa Leadership Programme. She also serves on the board of Sound Africa, a South African podcast for investigative journalism.