Cape Town - Jesse Duarte has been appointed as the Chief Operations Officer (COO) in the Presidency, government Spokesperson Themba Maseko announced on Thursday.
Ms Duarte, who is currently the African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson, will replace Trevor Fowler, who will leave the Presidency at the end of the month to pursue his career in engineering.
The appointment was approved during an ordinary Cabinet meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Ms Duarte will be responsible for the overall management and the day-to-day running of the Presidency.
The COO, who is the appointed accounting officer in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and the operational head, provides strategic oversight to ensure the objectives of all the branches within the Presidency are met.
The COO is the deputy head of the Presidency and acts as head of The Presidency in the Director General's absence.
Ms Duarte has been Deputy Director General and Chief Director in the former Department of Foreign Affairs and South Africa's High Commissioner to Mozambique.
Mr Maseko also confirmed the appointment of Mamodupi Mohlala as the new Director General in the Department of Communications.
Ms Mohlala takes over from Gerda Grabe, the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the Department of Communications, who was acting as Director General after the departure of Lyndall Shope-Mafole in January.
Ms Mohlala, who was heading up the Pension Funds Adjudicator, is well known in the telecoms and communications arena having served as an ICASA Councilor for many years. ICASA is the regulator for the South African communications sector, responsible for the regulation of broadcasting, postal and telecommunications services.
Ms Mohlala is a qualified attorney, having studied at both the University of Swaziland and the University of the Witwatersrand.
Cabinet also approved the appointment of Jimmy Manyi to the post of Director General in the Department of Labour. He is currently the Group Executive of Corporate Affairs at Tiger Brands.
His previous positions include Director of BEE and Corporate Affairs at IBM; Director of Corporate Affairs and Public Policy at Barclays Bank PLC and Executive Director of Business Banking and Marketing at Nedcor-Peoples Bank.
