Bulelwa Ngewana appointed head of Open Society Foundation South Africa
11 September 2019
The Open Society Foundations is excited to announce the appointment of Bulelwa Ngewana as the Director of Open Society Foundations South Africa (OSF-SA) effective from 1 November 2019.
Ms Ngewana has a long history, spanning over 15 years, in driving social justice initiatives in the NGO sector. Her experience includes leading positions at the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Philippi Strategy Project, and the Cape Town Partnership, a public-private organisation set up to ensure that Cape Town has an inclusive, vibrant, sustainable, productive and diverse central city that retains its historic character and reflects a common identity for all its people.
Ms Mary-Jane Morifi, Chairperson of the OSF-SA Board says, “Bulelwa brings a wealth of talent, experience and passion to this role and we look forward to working with her in deepening our support for civil society in pursuit of greater social justice and democracy in South Africa.”
Patrick Gaspard, President of Open Society Foundations says, “Bulelwa brings to OSF-SA, her deep expertise in community engagement and passion for social justice at a time when South Africa needs it most. She has demonstrated a fierce dedication to further strengthening this country’s flourishing civil society scene. I am confident that Bulelwa will help OSF-SA live up to its twenty five year legacy by building on our commitment to address economic inclusion and the structural inequality that undermines true progress, and work with our partners to capture the strength, flexibility, and spirit of the next generation.”
Ms Ngewana says, “I am deeply proud to be appointed to this role at this time, when the work of the Foundation and the need for a vibrant and strong civil society sector has never been more important. This is especially true in the current global political climate where democracy is under attack through corruption, destruction of freedom of the press, freedom of expression. It is my fundamental belief that if South Africa is to be a just and equal society for future generations, strong civic minded institutions are needed to influence public and private sector leadership, and activate citizens and communities that keep them accountable.”
Issued by OSF-SA, 11 September 2019
