Patron-in-chief

Helen Suzman, DBE

For 13 years she was the sole Progressive Party MP and the only wholeheartedly anti-apartheid voice in the South African parliament. She achieved prominence both inside and outside parliament as one of the foremost champions of political reform and human rights in South Africa. She has been honoured for her work in the field of human rights by many influential organisations, including the United Nations with their United Nations Award for Human Rights in 1978, and in 1983 she received the New York International League for Human Rights Award. Twenty-seven honorary doctorates have been bestowed on her by various prestigious universities including Oxford, Harvard, Columbia, Brandeis, Yale, and Cambridge universities, and the university of the Witwatersrand. She has also twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2002 she was awarded the International Freedom Prize by Liberal International. A perverse “honour”, of which she is inordinately proud, was being declared an “Enemy of the State” by Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe in 2001. In 1989 she was made a Dame of the British Empire – a rare honour for a foreigner.

Patrons

Dr Otto Graf Lambsdorff

He was formerly the minister for economic affairs of the German Federal Republic and chairman of the Free Democratic Party. He has played a leading role in Liberal International and is the president of the board of directors of the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung.

The Rt Hon Lord Steel of Aikwood, KBE, PC, DL

He is a former leader of the British Liberal Party, has chaired the Anti-Apartheid Movement in London and was president of Liberal International.

Lord Renwick of Clifton, KCMG

He was the British Ambassador to South Africa from 1987 to 1991 and played a leading role in the diplomacy which led to the abolition of apartheid. Later British Ambassador to Washington, he is now a Labour spokesman on foreign affairs in the House of Lords.

Professor Adam Small

He is one of South Africa's leading intellectuals and poets and professor of English literature at the university of the Western Cape.

Trustees

Hylton Appelbaum is an executive director of the Liberty Group Limited and is executive trustee of The Liberty Foundation, The Liberty Educational Foundation and the Donald Gordon Foundation. He is a trustee of various organisations including Kagiso Trust and The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, and is also director of Learning Channel Limited, Education Interactive Incorporated and Buy-Afrika.

Doug Band is an independent director of companies. He serves on the boards of a number of major listed companies in South Africa including the Standard Bank, Bidvest, the MTN Group and Tiger Brands.

Patricia de Lille is the leader of the Independent Democrats. Between 1994 and 2003 she was an MP for the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and worked for various portfolio committees. During the eighties she worked for both the South African chemical workers union and the national council of trade unions.

Colin Eglin was an MP for many years and has been a leader of the Democratic Party, the Progressive Federal Party and the Progressive Party. He was a member of the committees of Codesa which drew up the interim constitution, a co-chair of the Transitional Executive Council, and a member of the management committee which drew up the new South African Constitution between 1994 and 1996.

Dr Rachel Jafta (chair) is senior lecturer in economics at the university of Stellenbosch. She also lectures for the university of Stellenbosch's Business School Development Programme. Aside from publishing widely, she also regularly participates in the Bureau of Economic Research's practical economics training course.

Temba Nolutshungu is the director of the Free Market Foundation, Cape Town. He is a director of The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront Company and is a trustee of several boards. He travels widely and publishes regular papers on a variety of issues.

Richard Steyn is now the director of Editors Inc. Between 1996 and 2001 he was the director of corporate affairs and communications at Standard Bank. Prior to that, between 1990 and 1995, he was the editor of The Star, and between 1974 and 1990 was the editor of The Natal Witness in KwaZulu-Natal.

David Unterhalter is an advocate at both the Johannesburg and Cape Bars. He is director of the Mandela Institute at the university of the Witwatersrand and a professor at the school of law at Wits. He was for some years director of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits. He publishes widely.

Staff

Director and Editor-in-Chief

Ms Taljaard, a former DA MP, served as Shadow Minister of Finance from 2002 and was a member of the Portfolio Committee on Finance. She also served on numerous other parliamentary committees including the Standing Committee on Public Accounts during the arms deal investigation.  In 1999 when she became an MP, she was, at twenty-five, the youngest woman to have been elected to the South African parliament. She resigned from parliament in 2005.

The Minister of Finance, Trevor Manual paid tribute to Taljaard after her resignation: “In conclusion, in expressing my appreciation to all members, I’d like to express a special tribute to the hon Taljaard, whose contributions to the debate this afternoon I’m responding to for the last time in this House. I would imagine that the debate between her and I would continue in different forums publicly but, in this House, it’s the last opportunity… I want to pay tribute to her for the role she’s played as a member of the Portfolio Committee on Finance.

I think that, either notwithstanding or because of her youth, she demonstrated both the curiosity and the confidence that she drew from Bertrand Russell, this afternoon. I think that it’s very important; notwithstanding the disagreements we’ve had on issues. They’ve been on issues and have never been on personalities. I think that her role in the committee and in this House has defined what I would consider responsible opposition. This House will be poorer of your absence, Raenette, thank you very much for the role that you’ve played here.” (Extract from Minister of Finance’s comments (Unrevised Hansard transcript – MTBPS Debate) – 9 November 2005)

Taljaard is currently lecturing at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Public and Development Management where she teaches economics and public financial management as well as utility regulation. In addition, she lectures locally and abroad on the regulation of private military and private security companies and has appeared before parliament's Defence Committee as an expert witness in this regard.

Taljaard is a Yale World Fellow, a Fellow of the Emerging Leaders Programme of the Centre for Leadership and Public Values (UCT's Graduate School of Business and Duke University) and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.

Taljaard holds a BA in Law from RAU (University of Johannesburg), a BA (Hons) in Political Science, cum laude, RAU (University of Johannesburg), an MA in Political Science (International Relations) cum laude, RAU (University of Johannesburg) and an MSc in Public Administration and Public Policy, cum laude, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Taljaard publishes widely. A full list of her publications is available from The Helen Suzman Foundation.

As director of The Helen Suzman Foundation, Taljaard will be responsible for positioning the Foundation as a leading, politically-independent think tank whose purpose is to strengthen liberal democracy in South Africa, through research, debate and publication. She will also take overall responsibility for the Foundation’s flagship quarterly journal, Focus.

Commenting on her appointment, Raenette Taljaard said she was honoured to be able to preserve the legacy of Helen Suzman and contribute to the consolidation of liberal democracy, as South Africa prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its democratic Constitution.  “I have a deep personal bond to Helen that transcends parliament and politics - a bond that has meant a great deal to me both personally and professionally throughout my adult life. I look forward to furthering the values she stood for so bravely, and to being active in the democratic discourse outside representative politics.”