KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Minister of Education, Ms Naledi Pandor, MP

Ms Naledi Pandor is a qualified educator with firsthand experience of the education sector.
 
Ms Pandor was born in Durban and matriculated at Gabarone Secondary School in Botswana. She spent her formative years exiled in Maseru, Lesotho and the United Kingdom (London).  After her schooling she went to the Universities of Botswana and Swaziland, graduating with an English and History degree, and a Certificate in Education.   She also has Diploma in Education and a Masters Degree in General Linguistics from the University of Stellenbosch.

During the apartheid years she taught in Botswana and the UK.  She has subsequently been a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town, and also taught at the former University of Bophuthatswana.   Ms Pandor was the first executive director of the Desmond Tutu Education Trust.   She was elected to Parliament in 1994 and became whip and deputy chief whip of the African National Congress.  She has served on several committees, including the Portfolio Committee on Education and as convener of a sub-committee on higher education.  In 2002 she became the first women Chancellor of the Cape Technikon (now merged to form the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.  Prior to her appointment as Minister of Education, Ms Pandor was Chairperson of  the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

Helen Zille, Executive Mayor, Cape Town

Helen Zille has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Witwatersrand.  She has a keen interest in education matters in South Africa.
 
She joined the former Democratic Party in the mid 1990s, where she was asked to reformulate the party's education policy and stand as a candidate on its election list for the Western Cape legislature.   Following her election to the provincial parliament in 1999 she served as Minister of Education in the Western Cape Province until 2001.  Following the 2001 election when the ANC’s won the province, she became leader of the opposition in the Western Cape legislature, where she remained until she was elected as a member of the National Parliament in 2004.  As a Democratic Alliance MP she was a member of the Portfolio Committee on Education, and acted as the DA's National Spokesperson.   Her constituency included Langa, Gugulethu and Khayelitsha.
 
On 15 March 2006 she was elected as Mayor of Cape Town, and resigned from parliament, and was she was elected as the Leader of the Democratic Alliance at the party's Federal Congress in Johannesburg in May 2007.

Dr Ruben Richards

Dr Ruben Richards describes himself a young and energetic South African businessman and entrepreneur pursuing a range of interests and opportunities.   He serves as director on the boards of various companies both public and private.  He is currently the industry advisor to the MERSETA on Accelerated Artisan Training Programmes.  More recently he served as the CEO of Globe Engineering Works (Pty) Ltd, the largest marine and general engineering company in Cape Town.

Ruben was born, raised and started his working career in Cape Town.  Initially he worked in a technical capacity, serving as an apprentice who later qualified as an artisan Fitter and Turner at Globe Engineering Works where he recently served as its CEO.  Globe Engineering is the largest marine and general engineering company in Cape Town.  In addition, Ruben has completed four degrees in three countries and holds a PhD in Hebrew.

Ruben’s professional career spans the academic, private and public sector. Within the public sector Ruben has held high profile positions including Executive Secretary within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (for both the Human Rights Violation Committee and the Amnesty Committee). Ruben’s more recent public sector job was that of founding member and first Deputy Director-General (Head of Training and Development) for the Directorate of Special Operations (commonly known as the Scorpions)

Florus "Doc" Prinsloo

Doc joined the Mining qualifications Authority as Chief Operating Officer in July 2005.  Prior to this, and from  May 2005, he was a Director in the Department of Labour, initially performance managing the Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs), and was subsequently appointed by the Minister of Labour to act as Chief Director to coordinate and manage artisan development and all SETA activities.

Doc holds an MBA from the Henley Management College (UK) and a Doctorate from RAU (now University of Johannesburg), embarking on renewed studies at the age of 40 with Standard Nine (year 11).

After going to school in Nairobi Kenya, he worked for an Anglo American subsidiary in the Mining & Minerals sector for twenty-four years.  This was followed by a stint in the hardest job in the world:  working for himself as in human resource development consulting.

Raymond Patel

Raymond Patel is currently Chief Executive Officer of the merSETA ,and is chairperson of the SETA CEO Forum’s Artisan Development Committee. He has a PhD in Education Management; he has been variously, a teacher, lecturer, education planner and a vice rector of in-service education and training, all of which had a strong emphasis on Maths, Science and Commerce. During 1994 he was appointed as Director: Education and subsequently as acting Chief Director: Arts Culture in the North-West Province. In 1999 Raymond completed his doctorate which focused on performance management. He has worked as a consultant in the skills development and in 2003 was appointed as CEO of the CHIETA.
 
Dr. Patel has over 25 years of experience in education and training, and has delivered numerous papers at various conferences focusing on skills and knowledge acquisition. He is passionate on the topic of skills development.

Dr. Patel serves on numerous boards and is a member of the Umalusi Council.

Volker Wedekind

Professor Volker Wedekind is currently acting Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.  He is is responsible for all the continuing education and mixed mode programmes the faculty runs for teachers, adult educators and college lecturers.  Professor Wedekind holds a number of education qualifications and a PhD in sociology from the University of Manchester.  His research interests focus on education policy, curriculum and educators. He has published books and articles in these and related areas. Most recently his work has focused on higher education linkages with the college sector and the impact of reforms in the FET sector on lecturers.

He has served on a ministerial committee for the Minister of Education, is a member of the Umalusi Research Forum, and has authored a number of documents for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, the national Department of Education and UNESCO.

Mr Philip Green OAM, High Commissioner to South Africa

Mr Philip Green is a senior Australian diplomat with a strong background in Africa. He has served in the Australian missions in Tanzania, Zambia, and the UK, and from 1998 to 2000, was Australia's High Commissioner to Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and Ambassador to Ethiopia and Eritrea.
 
He has also worked on African affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He escorted President Mandela on his historic first visit to Australia following his release from prison in 1990.
 
He has been High Commissioner to South Africa since August 2004.
Mr Green has also worked on South East Asian affairs, international law, refugee matters and intelligence. From 2000 to2001, he was Deputy Principal Member of the Refugee Review Tribunal. From 2001 to 2003, he headed the Sydney office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2004, he headed the secretariat of the Inquiry into Australian Intelligence Agencies.
 
He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2002 for his involvement in the response to the Bali tragedy.
 
Mr Green is married to Dr Grace Moshi. They have three children. He enjoys bridge and jazz, and plays golf poorly.