User:Pmbengashe/sandbox

Mzwandile Masina (Born 02 September 1979 in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa) An astute politician, manager and business executive, Mzwandile Masina's career rise has been meteoric and his successes hard-earned. He is currently the National Convener of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) tasked with the responsibility of rebuilding structures of the League National, including repositioning the ANCYL to be more militant and radical and to give meaning to the second phase of the transition, which will be characterised by radical economic transformation with a special focus on dealing decisively with poverty, unemployment and inequality. Previously, Mr Masina was the Chief Executive Officer at the Gauteng Film Commission, a statutory agency charged with the responsibility of promoting Gauteng as the destination for film production. He also worked as Deputy Director-General at the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation. His solid background and experience in both business and the public sector enable him to bring a wealth of experience to the dti as the new Deputy Minister. Mr Masina's solid credentials as a leader have enabled him to navigate through diverse and complex political and business environments with ease, establishing focused teams and results-oriented systems for organisations he has served. He previously worked as Chief Director of the Department of Mineral Resources responsible for the Office of the Minister and later Special Projects. He worked as Director: Economic Empowerment in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, and for the Ntsika Enterprise Promotion Agency as Programme Manager responsible for Targeted Groups. He was also a Director: Business Development and Customer Care at the dti before joining Uthingo Management as General Manager: Empowerment. He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand School for Public and Development Management as well as at the University of Pretoria, where he graduated with a Masters Degree specialising in Entrepreneurship. His thesis was titled Barriers Experienced by Craft SMMEs in Accessing International Markets: A Study Conducted in Gauteng Province. He has attained numerous international and local short executive and development programmes, where he gained knowledge and insight into various business management practices and policy environment. He was named the Youth Leader of the Year in 1999 by the ABSA Foundation and Rand Afrikaans University (renamed University of Johannesburg) for his outstanding leadership role. In 2008, he was named the most innovative employee of the year by Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, for the conceptualisation and successful implementation of the "One Company One Job" initiative. Mr Masina is a patriotic citizen and his extensive community involvement is inspired by the needs of young people, particularly in the areas of education and skills development. He has served as the General Secretary of the South African Youth Development Programme, where he was responsible for policy input during the formation of the National Youth Commission. He also played a leading role in the establishment of Katorus Youth in Action and was elected as Chairperson for three consecutive terms. He was later nominated to serve as Chairperson of the Board. At the age of 16, Mr Masina became involved in youth active politics and became a full member of both the ANC and ANCYL after their unbanning. He served in various capacities from street and section to zone and branch leadership structures before ascending to the Regional and Gauteng Provincial leadership of the ANCYL. During the same time, he was active in student politics and went on to become Chairperson of COSAS and later a member of SASCO, where he was instrumental in championing progressive policies aimed at ensuring that more youth enrol in universities across the country. He served as the ANC Enkululekweni Branch Secretary and is currently elected into the ANC Ekurhuleni Regional Executive Committee (REC). Due to his role as the head of the ANCYL, Mr Masina sits on the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC), National Working Committee (NWC) and Deployment Committee.

 