Rudi Dicks

Head of the Project Management Office (PMO): Private Office of the President of the Republic of South Africa

Rudi Dicks is the Head of the Project Management Office (PMO) in the Private Office of the President of the Republic of South Africa. He leads several strategic national initiatives, including the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, and the coordination of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan. He is also at the helm of Operation Vulindlela, a joint initiative of the Presidency and National Treasury aimed at accelerating structural reforms to unlock investment, improve service delivery, and drive inclusive economic growth.

Under his leadership, the PMO supports regulatory and policy reform, tackles bottlenecks to infrastructure development, and coordinates the Presidency’s work on local government reform, including multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the Presidential Working Groups in eThekwini and Johannesburg. He has been central to efforts to stabilise and restructure key sectors of the economy, including energy, freight logistics, telecommunications, and water—driving reforms that have helped lift generation caps on independent power producers, catalysed investment in embedded energy, and enabled greater broadband access.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Dicks played a pivotal role in ensuring that critical sectors remained operational. He was instrumental in facilitating rapid regulatory responses, supporting essential production, and ensuring the continuity of the food and health supply chains. He has also led high-level engagements to respond to the July 2021 unrest, the port and rail crisis, and extortion and violence affecting commercial infrastructure, helping to shape national interventions.

Prior to joining the Presidency, Rudi served as an Outcomes Facilitator at the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), where he was responsible for economic and infrastructure outcomes. There, he established the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS), now widely applied across government to assess the impact of policies and regulations.

He previously served as Executive Director of the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI), the research arm of COSATU, from 2008 to 2013, and has worked within the labour movement since 1994. Rudi holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Economic Principles and a Master of Science (MSc) in Finance from the University of London, as well as a Management Advanced Programme qualification from the Wits Business School.

Known for strategic insight, and unwavering dedication to public service, Rudi Dicks has earned a reputation—locally and internationally—as one of the most effective and creative public officials of his generation. In recognition of his work, he was honoured in 2021 with an international award for bureaucratic innovation.

Farai is an energy transition, climate and sustainability specialist with over 10 years’ experience working at the intersection of strategy, policy

and implementation. He advises governments, international organisations and private-sector partners on translating sustainability and climate ambitions into practical, measurable and investment-ready outcomes.

His expertise spans sustainability and climate mitigation across the energy, transport, industrial and agri-food value chains. Farai leads and contributes to policy and business case development as well as regional collaboration initiatives that align decarbonisation objectives with economic development, energy security and long-term competitiveness.

With deep experience in African and emerging market contexts, he supports institutions in designing credible sustainability frameworks, aligning with international standards and structuring resilient value chains that deliver both environmental integrity and socio-economic impact. He is actively engaged in advancing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) value chain development in Africa, particularly through linking low-carbon fuels to regional agricultural and industrial systems.

Farai holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering and is finalising his PhD focused on developing SAF value chains linked to South Africa’s sugarcane industry. His combined technical, policy and market expertise positions him as a recognised knowledge leader in sustainability and climate-aligned industrial development.