Media release: President announced at FMF’s first post-AGM Board meeting

Media release
1 October 2020

President announced at FMF’s first post-AGM Board meeting

The Free Market Foundation (FMF) is happy to announce that its first Board meeting after the 29 July 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) yielded productive and exciting outcomes.

After much delay in light of the novel developments at this year’s AGM, on 24 September, the results of the AGM Board election were announced. We now publicly welcome Gail Daus-van Wyk, Theresa Emerick, Wilhelm Hertzog, Rumbidzai Kangara, Leon Louw, Phumlani Majozi, Terry Markman, Lawrence Mavundla, Johanna McDowell, Temba A Nolutshungu, Gerhard Papenfus, Erik Peers, Rex van Schalkwyk, Robert Vivian, and Robert Wassenaar, as Board members.

The Board elected Rex van Schalkwyk, a former Supreme Court judge and Chairman of the FMF’s Rule of Law Board of Advisors, as the Chairman of the Board of the FMF, and Robert Wassenaar, associated with the Free Market Foundation since 2010, as Deputy Chairman. Mr van Schalkwyk welcomed his election, remarking, “I appreciate the trust the Board has placed in me in these difficult times. It is the Board’s responsibility to ensure the FMF’s financial stability and legacy. FMF was founded on the principle of liberty. We must continue to build on our proud tradition. I look forward to working with all Board members.”

After 45 years of dedicated service to the cause of freedom in South Africa, the Board recognised Leon Louw, outgoing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FMF, as the President of the Foundation, a position that will be formalised when the new Constitution is adopted at a Special General Meeting later this year. Louw remarked, “We face our country’s greatest crisis since apartheid. More than ever the FMF needs an excellent Board and management team.  We are all committed to the FMF being a rejuvenated modern, relevant and focused policy institute that guides the government and all parties towards policies that deliver growth, jobs, freedom and prosperity for all.”

We thank Leon for his relentless service as an executive in the FMF, and we look forward to many more productive years of working with him in a policy advocacy role.