New council chair for UKZN

THE Council of the University of KwaZulu-Natal has announced the appointment of Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba as the new Chairperson of Council.

Dr Ntsaluba was elected to the position by members of the council at a meeting on 21 September, and will serve as Chairperson of Council for a two-year term of office. He succeeds Dr Phumla Mnganga, whose term of office ended officially at the end of June.

Dr Ntsaluba expressed appreciation for the opportunity afforded to him.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the confidence you have shown in nominating me and electing me as UKZN’S Chair of Council. It is truly humbling and I look forward to being of service to this remarkable institution,” he said.

UKZN Vice-Chancellor, Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, said: “We are indeed honoured to have Dr Ntsaluba as our Chair of Council. He brings with him a wealth of experience, not only gleaned from his work in this country but also from his experiences abroad. I look forward to my interactions with him.”

Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba currently serves as the group executive director of Discovery Limited. Ntsaluba graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal with his MBChB in 1982. He undertook his internship at Umtata General Hospital and continued to work there as a medical officer until September 1985 when a period of detention and solitary confinement interrupted his work.

On release from detention he felt compelled to leave the country and go into exile. Soon after leaving South Africa, Dr Ntsaluba studied international relations, political economy and philosophy at the Moscow Institute of Social Science. Most of his exile years were spent in southern and east Africa, in Zambia, Angola, Tanzania and Uganda, working in numerous health facilities and primarily attending to the health needs of the scattered community of South African exiles.

Dr Ntsaluba completed an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing at the University of London. He returned from exile in 1991 and undertook his specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology and, upon completion, was admitted as a Fellow of the College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of South Africa.

Dr Ntsaluba also holds an Executive MBA from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town. He was appointed as deputy director-general for policy and planning in the national Department of Health and subsequently appointed acting director-general of health, and three months later was confirmed as director-general of health.

He has served on a number of statutory bodies, such as the board of the Medical Research Council (SA) and the Health Professions Council of SA, as well as represented South Africa in numerous international forums.

He chaired the steering committee of the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative and served as a member of one of the working groups of the World Health Organisation Commission on Macro-Economics and Health. In September 2003, Dr Ntsaluba was appointed director-general of the then foreign affairs of the republic of South Africa, currently known as the Department of International Relations and Cooperation – a task he performed until March 2011.