The Competition Commission has appointed Liberty Mncube chief economist and manager of the policy and research division, Junior Khumalo divisional manager of enforcement and exemptions and Thomas Kgokolo CFO, effective January 1, it announced on Monday.

Most recently a principal investigator in the enforcement and exemptions division of the commission, Mncube has been with the commission for six years, previously occupying the position of principal economist in the policy and research division.

He holds a MSc in Economics from the University of York, in the UK, and is currently completing a PhD in competition economics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Prior to joining the commission, he was a researcher at the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. He has published widely on competition policy in local and international journals.

“As chief economist, Mncube will be central in ensuring that case and policy analysis is fully compatible with economic learning,” the commission stated.

Khumalo, who would take over from Clint Oellermann as the head of enforcement and exemptions, was the former principal economist in the policy and research division and had been employed by the commission for more than ten years.

He is the past acting chief economist and, in addition to his work in policy and research, has worked as an investigator in the mergers and acquisitions and enforcement and exemptions divisions.

Khumalo holds a BCom Honours degree from the University of Fort Hare, an MA degree in economics from Colorado State University, in the US, and has attended several intensive courses in competition law and economics, including at Fordham Law School, in the US, and the Mandela School of Law, at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Oellermann has, meanwhile, been appointed manager responsible for strategy, monitoring and evaluations and strategic relations at the commission.

Incoming CFO, Kgokolo is a chartered accountant with extensive experience in both public and private sector finance, his most recent assignment being his deployment by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants to assist with financial management improvement at Further Education and Training colleges.

He is the chairperson of the audit and risk committee at the Mine Workers Provident Fund and a member of the audit committee of the Banking Sector Education and Training Authority.

He has consulted for the Auditor-General, where he managed audit projects and worked as a quality assurance reviewer, and has worked with both National Treasury and the National School of Government to provide training at various government departments on financial accounting.

Acting competition commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele said the institution was “privileged” in that it was able to find most candidates internally and wished them well in their new positions.