Pretoria - Dr Cassius Reginald Lubisi will take over as the new Director-General in the Office of the President, effective from 1 November 2010.
Lubisi, who is currently the Superintendent-General of the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal, will take over from Vusi Mavimbela.
The Presidency said that President Jacob Zuma will rely on Lubisi to ensure that Cabinet becomes a more effective tool of socio-economic transformation, in line with the new vision and way of doing things.
Lubisi said he was humbled by the enormous trust placed in him by the President.
"I ... am overwhelmed by the responsibility I have been given. I will do my best, working with my colleagues, to ensure realisation of the President's vision of a more effective, efficient and caring public service that meets the country's transformation goals", he said.
Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane, wished Lubisi well on this appointment.
"As DG in the Presidency, Dr Lubisi will also be Secretary of Cabinet and the Chairperson of the Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD)," the Presidency said.
As the head of FOSAD, he will be the link between the President and all DGs. He will work with the DGs to ensure that they bring to fruition the vision of the President to change the way government works in order to improve service delivery.
An accomplished academic, educationist and public service manager, Lubisi will bring many years of experience to the Presidency.
Prior to joining the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government as Education Department head in 2005, Lubisi was Deputy Director-General for General Education and Training at the national Department of Education.
He has also served as Special Adviser to Former Education Minister Kader Asmal. He was chairperson of Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training, from June 2002 to May 2004.
He has been a lecturer for 10 years at the School of Education in the Pietermaritzburg campus of the University of Natal.
On secondment from the university, he became the project manager and chairperson of the ministerial project committee to develop the National Curriculum Statement for Grades 10 to 12 from 2002 to 2003.
Lubisi studied at the University of Natal and completed his Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Education and Higher Diploma in Education degrees, with the Bachelor of Education being completed cum laude.
He completed his doctoral degree with the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, having researched the topic 'An investigation into mathematics teachers' perceptions and practices of classroom assessment in South African lower secondary schools.'
He has also been involved in several projects, including the ministerial review of Curriculum 2005, Telematic Learning Systems, the South African Democracy Education Trust and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
