Director General of the DPE

Mr Tshediso Matona

Tshediso Matona is the Director-General (DG) of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) since January 2011. Prior to that, he was DG of the Department of Trade and Industry from 2006 to December 2010. As DG of DPE, Matona is responsible for the shareholder oversight of State Owned Companies in the sectors of energy, transport, defence, mining and broadband. An economist by training and an experienced public administrator, he held several senior positions in Government throughout his career, and served as a trade diplomat at the SA Embassy to the United Nations (UN) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland from 1996 to 1998.

He was  instrumental in key trade negotiations such as the Free Trade Agreement with European Union and agreements with the United States, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to name a few.

He also served as a member of an experts panel of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Intellectual Property Rights and Public Health from 2004 to 2006. He currently serves on boards of a number of public policy bodies.

He holds graduate degrees in Economics and Politics from the University of Cape Town (UCT), a Masters in Development Economics from the University of East Anglia (UK), various certificates, including an Executive Management certificate, as well as a certificate in Infrastructure Development from Harvard University’s JF Kennedy School of Government.