The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa today welcomed Cabinet’s extension of the contract of Director-General, Mrs Nosipho Ngcaba. Cabinet has also approved the appointment of Ms Limpho Makotoko as the new Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Environmental Affairs.

The appointments were approved at the latest cabinet sitting on 26 April 2016. Both appointees bring a wealth of experience in the sector and the Department in terms of leadership and management.

Mrs Ngcaba, a scientist by training, was appointed as the Director-General in 2008. In this position the Director-General has been at the helm of driving the Department’s mission to provide leadership in environmental management, conservation and protection towards sustainability for the benefit of South Africans and the global community.

The Director–General’s passion and commitment to the environment was validated by her receipt of the Gold Award as the Top Performing Head of Department, at the inaugural Batho Pele Excellence awards in 2013. She subsequently won this award again in 2015.

The Director-General’s award in 2013 was in part in recognition of Mrs Ngcaba’s strategic leadership in shaping the new Department of Environmental Affairs, following the macro-reorganisation of the State in 2009, which had resulted in the split from the Tourism and Fisheries mandates.

In addition, Mrs Ngcaba walked away with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Eco-Logic Awards on 21 April 2016. The award recognises an individual whose actions have conserved, nurtured or restored the Earth’s life forms, eco-systems, or natural resources. The award is sponsored by Enviropaedia.

“Under the leadership of Mrs Nosipho Ngcaba, the Department of Environmental Affairs has consistently received clean and unqualified audits and managed to fulfil its service delivery mandate, without compromising the key principles of good governance,” said Minister Molewa.

The Department of Environmental Affairs has been consistently ranked as one of the top five (5) performing Department’s by the Presidency’s Department of Performance and Monitoring Evaluation, through the Management Performance Assessment Tool (MPAT).

Ms Makotoko has been in the employ of DEA since 2009. She previously filled the pertinent position of Chief Director of Business Performance and Strategic Monitoring. In this portfolio she was responsible for managing the provision of strategic and operational support services, including strategic and business planning, risk management and organisational performance management.

These appointments show the seriousness with which the Department views its transformation imperatives, as the DEA has a target to achieve 50% representation of women in the organisation. This target needs to be achieved at all levels in the organisation, not just the lower levels but also in the leadership and senior management sphere.

Issued by the Department of Environmental Affairs