Rudi Dicks
HEAD: PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE: Presidency of South Africa
‘Stabilising and turning the corner of our freight logistics system – with Transnet at the centre – that for me is the most important thing’
RUDI Dicks has been called the South African President’s Action Man and more recently “one of the people who rescued South Africa from economic collapse”. As chief of Project Management in the private office of President Cyril Ramaphosa, Dicks has become the face and voice of Operation Vulindlela – the joint initiative between the South African Presidency and National Treasury. The initiative was launched in 2021 to bring about structural reform in the country to ignite economic growth.
Dicks regularly briefs the private sector and media on progress made with state-owned entities, especially Eskom and Transnet. Dicks has won over the trust of the business sector, which has openly called on the Presidency to retain him as chief project manager for the sake of continuity. He has facilitated closer collaboration between the government and the private sector through the Energy Action Plan, which aims to end load-shedding and secure a reliable energy supply, and the National Logistics Crisis Committee, which was established to fix South Africa’s rail and port systems.
Dicks does not hesitate to give frank assessments of the often slow progress with reform programmes, especially where Transnet is concerned. He recently expressed concern over Transnet’s ability to achieve its turnaround targets, warning that retrenchments in key economic sectors would persist unless its performance improved.
LIFE OF RUDI
Dicks completed management studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and holds a Master of Science in Economic Finance from the SOAS University of London. He began his career at the trade union federation Cosatu in 1993, where he spent more than two decades. He was a member of the National Economic Development and Labour Council – a vehicle for collaboration between government, labour and business – and has held positions in the Presidency since 2013.
