President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed Dr Somadoda Fikeni for a five-year term of office as Commissioner of the Public Service Commission.
The President made this appointment in terms of Section 196(7)(a), read with Section 196(10) of the Constitution. The Public Service Commission derives its mandate from Sections 195 and 196 of the Constitution.
The Commission is empowered to investigate, monitor and evaluate the organisation and administration of the public service.
It also has an obligation to promote measures that will ensure effective and efficient performance with the public service and to promote values and principles of public administration, as set out in the Constitution, throughout the public service.
Dr Fikeni hails from Lugelweni village in the Alfred Nzo District of the Eastern Cape.
He acquired his BA and BA Honours in politics and social sciences from the then University of Transkei, currently known as Walter Sisulu University.
He also studied peace and political studies programme at McMaster University in Canada and obtained his MA in International Politics and Comparative Development at Queens University, also in Canada.
He went on to obtain his Doctoral Studies or PhD in Comparative Politics and Public Policy Analysis at Michigan State University in the USA.
His areas of expertise are policy analysis, comparative politics, research methodology, international politics, political economy and heritage.
He is an author, researcher, public speaker and commentator on a range of local and global political, social and heritage as well as economic issues.
He held various management and leadership positions which include being the merger manager at the University of Transkei, founding COO and Heritage Manager for the National Heritage Council of South Africa (NHC).
Dr Fikeni is also an associate professor to the Unisa Thabo Mbeki School of Public and International Affairs. – SAnews.gov.za
