Prosper Ndlovu Business Editor
FORMER principal director in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Gatsha Mazithulela has been appointed vice chairman of the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (Afcone).He will deputise George Ochilo Ayacho Mbogo of Kenya.

The two were elected at the fifth ordinary session of the commission, which ended at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday.

“In accordance with the treaty provisions, the Session elected George Ochilo Ayacko Mbogo of Kenya and Gatsha Mazithulela of Zimbabwe as chairperson and vice-chairperson of Afcone, respectively,” said the commission in a statement.

Mazithulela is a senior business executive with over 10 years of strategy and board-level experience in diverse high technology industrial research environments including large scale nuclear energy industries.

He served as vice-president of the National Research Foundation of South Africa, board member of Nuclear Technology Products (Pty) Limited, South Africa, and Corporate Development Consultant at the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation.

Mazithulela also led the collaboration strategy in the production of radioactive isotopes from the National Research Foundation’s electron accelerators and the Safari-1 nuclear reactor at Pelindaba, South Africa as well as the formulation of a strategy to commercialise the only hospital offering proton therapy in Africa — in Cape Town.

He is presently engaged with the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) working in the Technopark business unit as deputy director.

The session was opened by AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smaïl Chergui who underlined the critical role of Afcone in the implementation of the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Pelandaba, in particular the peaceful use of nuclear science and technology for socio-economic development on the continent.

Mazithulela, who left the government last month, was part of the eight out of 12 commissioners of Afcone who attended the session.

The meeting discussed the implementation of Afcone’s programme of work, which revolves around four pillars — monitoring States parties’ compliance with their treaty obligations, nuclear and radiation safety and security, peaceful applications of nuclear sciences and technology and partnerships and technical cooperation.

The session further discussed administrative and operational matters and agreed on practical steps to expedite the operationalisation of the Afcone secretariat.

It also provided a platform for consultations with the Africa Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training related to Nuclear Science and Technology (Afra), currently chaired by the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Afcone was established by the Treaty of Pelindaba, which was adopted in April 1996 and entered into force in July 2009.

The body was mandated to monitor and support states parties comply with their non-proliferation obligations, as well as promote cooperation in the peaceful, safe and secure applications of nuclear sciences and technology.

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