Issued by: The Department of Foreign Affairs
MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE APPOINTMENT OF NEW SOUTH AFRICAN DIPLOMATIC HEADS OF MISSION
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Alfred Nzo, today announced the appointment of following new heads of South African diplomatic missions:
Dr F T Mdlalose Ambassador: Cairo, Egypt Dr Frank Mdlalose (67) has had a long and illustrious career as a leading politician in the Inkatha Freedom Party, of which he was a founder member in 1975. He rose to become its National Chairman in 1977. He held a number of positions in the Kwazulu Government, including Minister of Education, Hea lth and Welfare, Education and finally Minister without portfolio in the Department of the Chief Minister. He was the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) negotiator with the South African government on the unbanning of Black political organisations in 1989. Between 1992 and 1993 he was leader of the IFP Delegation at the Multi-pa rty Negotiating Forums. After the 1994 elections, he became Premier of Kwazulu/Natal Province. Dr Mdlalose holds BSC, MB and ChB degrees which he obtained, respectively , at the Universities of Fort Hare, Rhodes and Natal. He also holds a UED. He is married, with 5 children.
Dr E Links Ambassador: Brussels, Belgium Dr Elias Links (51) is presently serving as South Africa's Ambassador to the European Communities. As a cost savings exercise, the Department plans t o amalgamate its two missions in Brussels on 1 July 1998. It needs to be borne in mind that South Africa is the only African country to have maintained two diplomatic missions in Brussels up to now. The new amalgamated mission, which will be called an embassy, will have the responsibility for both bilateral relations with the Kingdom of Belgium, and multilateral relations with the European Communities. Dr Links was attached to the University of the Western Cape between 1968 and 1986, lecturing in Economics, with a three year interruption between 1980 and 1983 when he was Research Assistant at the State University of New Yo rk in Binghamton. He represented South Africa at the IMF in Washington as Principal Resident Representative between 1987 and 1989. From 1990 to 19 93 he was Consul-General in ZFCrich, Switzerland. Dr Links holds an M.Com degree from the University of the Western Cape, a Ph.D from the State University, New York, and a University Education Dipl oma from the University of South Africa. He is married, with two children.
Mr T H Chiliza Ambassador: Budapest, Hungary Mr Thanduyise Chiliza (51) served as South Africa's Ambassador to Romania until cuts to its financial allocation obliged the Department of Foreign Affairs to close a number of missions abroad, including the mission in Romania. Mr Chiliza was employed in the distribution and transport industries in t he years between 1967 and 1975, and was at the same time involved in trade union activities. From 1976 he served in various capacities as ANC representative in Swaziland, Mozambique and Tanzania, where he became Chi ef ANC Representative in 1991. He joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1994, and was transferred to the Embassy in Bucharest in 1996. Mr Chiliza received diplomatic training at the Potsdam Institute in Germa ny and the Clingendael Institute in The Netherlands. He is married, with six children.
Mr T K Maseko High Commissioner: Accra, Ghana Mr Timothy Maseko (62) was South Africa's first Ambassador to Bulgaria. As in the case of Romania, the Department closed the mission in Sofia becaus e of financial constraints. Mr Maseko is being transferred from Sofia to Accra, Ghana, where the Head of Mission post became vacant through the recent tragic death of High Commissioner Motsepe.
Mr Maseko left South Africa soon after completing his studies at Fort Har e University to live in exile. He joined an Agricultural Research Institut e in Swaziland where he worked for ten years. In 1980 he left for Tanzania where he became Chief Administrator of the ANC's educational institutions. He was appointed ANC Chief Representative in Denmark in 1989. Mr Maseko underwent training in Diplomacy and International Relations in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and Norway. He joined the Department o f Foreign Affairs in 1994 and opened South Africa's Embassy in Bulgaria in 1995. He holds BSc and BA Hons degrees. He is married, with three children.
Mr J Kilian Ambassador: Lima, Peru Mr Johan Kilian (56) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1969. H e has served in Angola, Brazil, including a spell as Consul-General in Rio de Janeiro, Israel and Argentina, serving as Ambassador in Buenos Aires betw een 1991 and 1995. He holds BA and B.Proc degrees from the University of South Africa. He i s married, with two children.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 19 JUNE 1998