Pretoria - Ambassador Jerry Matthews Matjila has been appointed acting Director General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) by Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.
His appointment, which follows the departure of Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba, is effective on 1 April 2011.
According to the department, Matjila is South Africa's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organisations in Geneva. He holds a Masters Degree from the University of Stratclyede, Glasgow, Scotland, which was awarded in 1999, and also holds Diplomas in Diplomatic Training from Belgium [EU-ACP], France, Germany, Oxford [UK] and Norway [1992-1993].
Before being appointed to his current position, the 59-year-old served as Consul-General of South Africa to the French Speaking Cantons in Switzerland in 2010.
His achievements in 2011 include having been elected to the Chair of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation [ILO] as well as Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards in the Human Eights Council.
Minister Nkoana-Mashabane described Matjila is a seasoned diplomat after having joined the department as a Deputy Director in 1994 and working his way up the ranks.
"DIRCO, and the country as a whole, will continue to benefit from his deep knowledge of diplomacy and his desire to see the country, and Africa, win space in the global psyche. I am confident he will steer the DIRCO ship in a better direction during this transition," she said. - BuaNews
