The National Treasury has appointed Mmakgoshi Lekhethe as Asset and Liability Management deputy director-general and Christopher Axelson as DP Tax and Financial Sector Policy acting deputy, with effect from October 2.

Lekhethe was, until recently, the acting deputy director-general responsible for Tax and Financial Sector Policy at the National Treasury.

She joined the National Treasury in 1996 as Foreign Debt Management deputy director. 

In 1999, she was promoted to the position of Foreign Debt Management director and, in 2002, she was appointed Strategy and Risk Management chief director within the Asset and Liability Management division.

She has performed various roles within the National Treasury including as deputy director-general of International and Regional Economic Policy, as well as representing South Africa on the boards of the African Development Bank, the New Development Bank and the World Bank.

She holds a BComm in Economics from the University of Durban Westville, a BComm (Honours) in Economics from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), and an MSc in Economics from the University of London.

Axelson started his career as an economic researcher at Genesis Analytics and then worked in various positions at HM Revenue and Customs in the UK.

He joined the National Treasury in 2012 as Personal Income Taxes and Savings director and was later promoted to Economic Tax Analysis chief director where he was responsible for providing policy advice to the Minister of Finance on the tax proposals contained in the Budget Review, and for compilation of the tax section and tax expenditure section of the publications.

He has a MComm in Economic Science, a Bachelor of Economic Science Honours (Cum Laude), and a Bachelor of Economic Science, majoring in Economic Science and Mathematical Statistics, all from Wits.

He is also a CFA charter holder.