ENQUIRIES / INTERVIEWS
Chris Hattingh
083 600 8688
chrishattingh@fmfsa.org
Gail Day
076 836 5661
FMF@fmfsa.org
The FMF is an independent, non-profit, public benefit organisation, created in 1975 by pro-free market business and civil society national bodies to work for a non-racial, free and prosperous South Africa. As a policy organisation it promotes sound economic policies and the principles of good law. As a think tank it seeks and puts forward solutions to some of the country’s most pressing problems: unemployment, poverty, growth, education, health care, electricity supply, and more. The FMF was instrumental in the post-apartheid negotiations and directly influenced the Constitutional Commission to include the property rights clause: a critical cornerstone of economic freedom.
CONTACT US
+27 11 884 0270
FMF@fmfsa.org
PO Box 4056, Cramerview 2060
|
|
|
|
Free Market Foundation elects new board for 2022
The Free Market Foundation (FMF), a civil society think tank committed to economic freedom, personal liberties and open and transparent government in South Africa, has elected its board for 2022.
The 15-member board, comprising South Africans in business, economics, law, labour relations and other fields, some of whom return to the board, was elected at the FMF’s annual general meeting on 18 November 2021.
According to Mr Rex van Schalkwyk, chair of the 2021 board and a member of the fresh board, the election process proceeded smoothly at the AGM.
“The election of the new board was concluded in accordance with the FMF’s constitution. The new board is made up of a diverse set of people who have the skills and experience the FMF requires to fulfil its mandate to promote the principles and practice of free markets, individualism, the rule of law, and non-racialism in our country,” says Mr Van Schalkwyk.
“Many of the board members are people with long-standing links to the FMF, having served our organisation in a variety of capacities. We look forward to the new board members taking up their voluntary task of providing direction and oversight with integrity and commitment.”
Says returning board member Ms Theresa Emerick, “On behalf of the outgoing board, we would like to thank those who participated in and attended the AGM. We’re very pleased to report that the vibrant meeting ended on a positive note, after the election of the new board.”
Former board deputy chair, and returning board member, Mr Robert Wassenaar adds, “The first resolution adopted by the AGM attendees after the election was an agreement to review the FMF’s constitution, with participation from FMF members, funders and employees. There is agreement that succession planning, within the context of a structural review of the organisation, is crucial.”
The full list of 2022 FMF board members is as follows:
- Gail Daus van Wyk studied English and Psychology at Unisa and has a Business Management diploma from Damelin College. Ms Van Wyk was involved in fundraising and project management for the FMF for many years, and has served on the board since September 2020. She has also served on various policy committees and as a councillor in the City of Johannesburg.
- Eustace Davie is a chartered accountant who joined the FMF as Administrative Director in 1981, his main purpose being to be involved in the promotion of economic and individual liberty and the dismantling of apartheid. He has written a great deal on the benefits of economic and individual liberty, and the observance of the rule of law. His book Unchain the Child argues for the privatisation of all education. He has written on privatisation and deregulation of labour, money, electricity generation and supply, property (including the denationalisation of all government property and businesses) and economic freedom generally. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, an organisation established by economist Professor Friedrich Hayek to promote economic and individual liberty worldwide.
- Theresa Emerick graduated with a political science and international relations degree from the University of Pretoria in 1989, and worked as a researcher for Don Caldwell and the FMF. She also worked for the FMF's Foundation for Economic and Business Development for six years, developing and running entrepreneurship programmes for colleges and technikons across South Africa. She extended this work as a freelancer to various African countries, including strategic planning and project management for NGOs. Ms Emerick is the co-founder and managing director of NightsBridge, a travel and tourism software company. She has served on the FMF’s board since September 2020.
- Chris Hattingh is deputy director at the FMF. He sits on the Foundation's Executive Committee and Health Policy Unit. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity, and sits on the Executive board of the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance. He is also a Senior Fellow at African Liberty. Mr Hattingh holds an MPhil (Business Ethics) degree from the University of Stellenbosch.
- Wilhelm Hertzog studied law and accounting at the universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, where he also served in several student organisations. After qualifying as a chartered accountant with PwC, he worked for the PSG Group and later asset management firm RECM. In 2017 he co-founded the investment management firm Rozendal Partners, where he continues to work as a portfolio manager and executive director. Mr Hertzog has served on the FMF’s board since 2017.
- Ayanda Khumalo is a businessman and accountant who has served as the chief financial officer of Northam Platinum Mine Ltd, finance executive at Coal of Africa and director of finance at Aquarius Platinum South Africa. He obtained his BCompt Honours Degree through Unisa (1988) and did articles through Ernst Young in the role of audit manager. Mr Khumalo was the chair of the FMF board until July 2019, and is currently a member of the FMF's Finance Committee.
- Unathi Kwaza is an SMME owner in Khayelitsha. Focused on a free-enterprise economy and the rule of law, she has built a thriving business. When it was still active, Ms Kwaza led the Independent Entrepreneurship Group's grassroots work among entrepreneurs and SMME owners, and participated in workshops with government officials. She has featured in a variety of media outlets, championing the removal of red tape and barriers to a growing economy. Ms Kwaza has a Twitter following of 54 400, and is a former member of the FMF’s board.
- Terry Markman is a board member of the FMF and a long-standing member of its Executive Committee. He has been closely involved in many major FMF initiatives and programmes, including Project Transition, which developed policies for the new Constitution; a monograph on transport policy, for which he received the FMF Award in 1984; Liberty School for the youth, which he started; organising two major conferences on privatisation; the Energy Policy Unit, which he ran, and the Khaya Lam (My Home) Land Reform Project.
- Temba A Nolutshungu was one of the pioneers of the Black Consciousness Movement. His inevitable collision with the apartheid state saw him traverse the ideological spectrum, from an inveterate communist to an advocate of classical liberalism. Having been detained twice, first under the General Law Amendment Act and later under the Terrorism Act, his resolve to be instrumental in limiting the power of government was strengthened by his immersion in the writings of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell. Mr Nolutshungu is a Director of the FMF and has served on the board since September 2020.
- Gerhard Papenfus is the chief executive of the National Employers’ Association of South Africa (NEASA), an organisation that provides businesses in all sectors with labour law and industrial relations services, including top-quality legal representation in labour disputes. NEASA is also South Africa’s most prominent sectoral collective bargaining role player, and a prominent lobbyist for the rights of business. Mr Papenfus founded NEASA in 1996. He is a regular on TV and radio, as well as mainstream newspapers and related media. He has been a board member since 2020.
- Dawie Roodt is ranked as the most referenced economist in the country, and is a director and chief economist of the Efficient Group. With a master’s degree in Economics degree (cum laude) and over 30 years’ experience, he specialises in monetary and fiscal policy. Economist at the South African Reserve Bank, presenter of television and radio programmes, columnist for several publications and author are some of the activities he is engaged in. A keen sportsman, Mr Roodt has completed some of the most challenging sports events, such as the Comrades, New York and Berlin marathons. A long-standing friend and member of the FMF, he has been a guest speaker at many of its events.
- Rex van Schalkwyk is a former judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa and is the chair of the FMF’s Rule of Law Board of Advisers. He is the author of three books. The first is a novel. The second, One Miracle is not Enough (1998), deals with the failures then already evident in the South African democracy. The third, Panic for Democracy (2009), deals with the equivalent failures evident for many years in the democracy of the United States. Mr Van Schalkwyk became chair of the FMF’s board in September 2020.
- Martin van Staden is a jurist and author presently pursuing a doctorate in law at the University of Pretoria, having acquired his Master of Laws with distinction at the same university. He was previously the FMF’s Head of Legal (Policy and Research), and has served on the FMF’s Executive Committee since early 2020. Mr Van Staden has been intimately involved with the FMF’s Rule of Law Project and its Board of Advisers since 2017. He is well connected in classical liberal policy circles in South Africa and abroad, being a councillor of the Institute of Race Relations, South African Policy Fellow with the Consumer Choice Center, and chief adviser for legal policy for BridgeAfrica. He is widely published in academic journals and the popular press, most recently having contributed a chapter to the Economic Freedom of the World annual report and an article in the peer-reviewed Cato Journal. Mr Van Staden is a Legal Fellow for the business community Sakeliga. For more information, visit www.martinvanstaden.com.
- Robert Vivian graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a BSc (ElecEng) degree. While working as an engineer, he graduated with two degrees in law: BProc and LLB. Thereafter he joined what was then Price Forbes (PFV) as a director of its Risk Management Company, and gained risk management insurance experience. In 1989 he was appointed as the first professor in insurance at Wits University, where he has held a number of appointments including Head of Business Economics and Head of Information Systems. Mr Vivian has previously served on the FMF’s board and is deputy chair of the Executive Committee.
- Robert Wassenaar studied at the University of Cape Town, where he obtained a BSc Eng (Mech) and an MBA. He was involved in the supply of equipment and project management services to the iron and steel industries. In 1986 he joined Standard Bank’s Project Finance Division and was appointed Director: Project Finance in 1991. In 1997 he was appointed to head up the Specialised Finance Division at Nedbank. Since 2007 Mr Wassenaar has been pursuing personal interests, and has been associated with the FMF since 2010.
Leon Louw, President of the FMF, is an ex officio board member. A co-founder of the FMF in 1975, he has been active in diverse aspects of South African public life for over a generation. He is credited with having had a significant impact on the course of events in South Africa, especially regarding the extensive economic reforms that took place during the last two decades of apartheid, and the inclusion of the property rights clause in the Constitution. With his wife, Frances Kendall, he was nominated thrice for the Nobel Peace Prize for proposals made in their book South Africa: The Solution.
The new board’s roles, including that of board chair, will be decided at its first meeting.
ENDS
________________
Issued by Flow Communications on behalf of the Free Market Foundation.
For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Chuma Siswana on Chuma@Flowsa.com or 060 330 2425
|
|
|