JOHANNESBURG – South African Airways (SAA) announced on Tuesday that it had appointed Advocate Vusi Pikoli to its leadership team.
He is currently an adviser to the minister of State Security and was previously the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
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Advocate Pikoli joins SAA from February 1 as chief risk and compliance officer, reporting to SAA group chief executive Vuyani Jarana.
SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said: “The appointment of Advocate Pikoli is as important as it is significant in demonstrating our resolve to bringing capacity to strengthen the executive team to execute on our turnaround strategy with much urgency. He brings a wealth of experience and is known to be a disciplined and strong administrator.”
He added that SAA has made it one of its priorities to cleanse the state-owned airline of corruption.
As the chief risk and compliance officer, Advocate Pikoli will be responsible for risk management and compliance functions in SAA comprising of aviation and general legislation compliance.
He will also be responsible for the overall strategic and operational responsibility for the integrated Risk Management Strategy for SAA.
“We are resolute about our commitment to restore and maintain good governance at required levels at SAA as this is one of the important enablers for the effective implementation of our turnaround plan,” said Tlali.
Advocate Pikoli completed the BA (Law), LLB, LLM, Business Leadership programme and is an admitted Advocate of the High Court in South Africa.
He previously served as Head of the NPA from 2005 until 2007, as Director-General for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, and has private sector experience as a Director and Head of Forensic Investigations.