The Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) Board Chairperson Phil Goduka on Friday announced the appointment of Ashraf Adam as the new Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the agency. The appointment of Adam follows the Board's decision to accept the stepping down of Acting CEO Ashwin Daya who has been acting in this role since February.
Goduka says “the Board thanked Daya for his stewardship of the agency during this critical time. Daya will now return to his full time position of Chief Financial Officer”.
“The MBDA board, with the support of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ran a nationwide search for a full time CEO since the resignation of former head Pierre Voges in January. More than 60 hopefuls applied for the position with six making it into the interview stage but the board did not find a suitable candidate to full fill the agency's requirements and mandate” added Goduka.
Adam joins the MBDA for a period of three months to allow the Board enough time to find a suitable candidate. He has been seconded to the position by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) where he is the Executive-Director responsible for Economic Development and Planning. Adam has a strong development background and has previously worked in both consulting and municipal roles relating to economic development.
“Adam’s wealth of experience includes municipal governance, land use management, climate change, promoting public participation in governance, municipal infrastructure planning, urban and rural planning as well as strategic planning in the public sector” concluded Goduka.
Speaking to MBDA staff earlier, Ashraf, as he politely asks to be referred to, says “I look forward to getting acquainted with the agency and getting to know the people. The first order of business is to understand whether the work the agency does is done in terms of its mandate, its operating systems and areas of focus before I make any recommendations to the Board. Three months is a relatively short period, my role is to help lay the foundations for the new CEO to seamlessly start work. The meeting today with a full Board of directors has assisted me to gain a sense of their vision and expectations”.
(Statement and photo: Supplied)
