Ramaphosa jettisons Leoka

Thabi Leoka will no longer serve on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic advisory council. Her membership of the council was “terminated” on Monday after allegations of her having misrepresented her qualifications.

Thabi Leoka will no longer serve on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidential economic advisory council (PEAC) after her membership of the council was “terminated” on Monday following allegations of her having misrepresented her qualifications.

The presidency asked Leoka last week to “expeditiously address the matter of her qualifications” in the interests of transparency.

This is after Business Day reported a week ago that Leoka did not hold a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics, as she claimed.

Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said on Tuesday: “On January 22, the presidency communicated to Ms Leoka the immediate termination of her membership in the presidential economic advisory council.”

While not elaborating on the reasons for the termination of Leoka’s membership of the PEAC, Magwenya said that the structure did not require formal vetting.

“The members volunteer their time, and they are not employed by the presidency, nor are they remunerated by the state.”

RESIGNATIONS

On Monday, Leoka resigned from her board positions at Anglo American Platinum and MTN SA, which both said her resignation was due to health reasons and the need to get clarity around her qualifications.

Last week, Netcare admitted to having turned a blind eye to a verification report it commissioned before appointing Leoka as a nonexecutive director in 2021, which indicated that her highest qualification was a master’s degree.

This astonishing admission was made by the company secretary of one of the country’s biggest private healthcare groups.

Leoka resigned from the Netcare board in March 2023 to join Remgro.

In 2019 Ramaphosa had appointed Leoka to the PEAC, the same year he appointed her to the commission of inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation.