Stellenbosch University (SU) bestowed an honorary doctorate on one of the deputy governors of the South African Reserve Bank Nomfundo Tshazibana at its December graduation. She received the degree Doctor of Commerce, honoris causa, on Thursday (14 December 2023) at the graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.
Tshazibana was honoured for her exceptional contribution to policy and decision-making in South Africa, her visionary leadership and commitment to promoting economic growth, and her dedication to the development of the next generation of economists.
In her acceptance speech, Tshazibana emphasised the contribution of universities to the development of policies that not only affect society today, but also years from now.
“Even the smartest of public policymakers can never claim to know everything. Institutions of learning such as Stellenbosch University have an enormous role to play in filling these gaps by bringing in multiple voices.
“They are one of the few remaining safe spaces where contradictory ideas can exist comfortably with each other. They are their places we learn as much from history as we do from the present, and where we can develop scenarios about the future."
Tshazibana added that there is a need for a stronger academic voice in society so that we can be reminded that the world has multiple views that can be probed and challenged at any point.
“This is how we get to transform society. This is how we have inclusive and informed conversations."
She called on higher education institutions to take their rightful place in society and to challenge the proposals of policymakers to improve transparency and accountability of policy choices.
More about Tshazibana
In addition to being a deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), chief executive of its Prudential Authority, and a member of its Monetary Policy Committee, Ms Nomfundo Tshazibana is South Africa's representative on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (which is the global standard setter for the regulation banks).
As an economist with extensive experience in public policy formulation and analysis, Tshazibana's academic career started early. She matriculated at the age of 15 and obtained her first degree, a Bachelor of Commerce, at the age of 18 from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She went on to graduate with an honours and a master's degree in Economics at the same institution.
Over the past 23 years, she has held various key positions at local and international institutions, including National Treasury, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, and the International Monetary Fund.
Tshazibana has played an important part in promoting economic growth and stability in South Africa and is committed to growing the next generation of public-sector economists and improving the quality of Economics training. A testament to this is her past involvement in the Board of Economic Research Southern Africa and her participation in the annual Public Economics winter schools facilitated by the Government Technical Advisory Centre in collaboration with Economics departments at South Africa's leading universities, including Stellenbosch University. She is also a member of a regional selection panel for the Rhodes Scholarship for Southern Africa.
- Photo: Nomfundo Tshazibana at the graduation. Photographer: Stefan Els
