Johannesburg, South Africa
She has a passion for and experience in international affairs-related consultancies, the United Nations, African Union, and governmental initiatives, as well as the business sector.
She is also an Associate of Baird’s CMC, which is an international communications management consultancy with 47 partners across the world.
Tandeka is based in Johannesburg and is currently Senior Strategic Advisor for the South African Governmental campaign for the Presidency of the African Development Bank (AfDB), and she served for more than a decade as Special Advisor for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Tandeka consults for various governmental and business entities globally.
She specialises in the areas of economic development and post-conflict peacebuilding, international political economy, mediation and negotiation, South African foreign policy, elections and democratization, business and diplomacy, as well as regionalism and regional organisations.
She has served as Moderator for numerous high-level meetings, including at the Heads of State and Government level.
She is established in both the local and international networks in which she operates and has served as a consultant to a variety of governmental and international organizations and represented organizations at various levels. She has also participated in a variety of electoral observation missions on the African continent.
Tandeka is a South African citizen, and a child of former exiles, growing up all over the world.
She pursued her tertiary education primarily in North America, culminating in her doctoral studies at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University (Washington, DC).
She has taught at various universities in America and on the African continent and was appointed Research Professor in 2005 by the University of South Africa (UNISA).
Tandeka is fluent in English and French, and she began working closely with the-then Organization of African Unity (which became the African Union) while completing her graduate studies in the 1990s. She maintains strong contacts with African governments, private sector bodies, and international organisations.
Tandeka offers
- High-level advisory services in all aspects of African and international relations, as well as strategic communications.
- Detailed in-depth knowledge of African and international politics and business and in-depth understanding of South African national politics, private, and public sector organisations
- Access to an international network of government representatives, professionals, researchers and academics
Roles
- Director, Development Research Institute
- Board Member, Foundation for a Safe South Africa
- Governing Board and Programme Advisory Committee, Amandla Institue for Policy and Leadership Advancement
Project examples
- Strategic Advisory management of South Africa’s African Development Bank Presidency Campaign
- Development of a Conflict Management Framework for the OAU/AU
- Policy Review of Regional Integration Strategies (AU, AfDB)
- Managing and moderating NEPAD@20
- Advocacy work for African Union’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE)
Client examples
African Union (AU), NEPAD, African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations, UNDP, South African Government (Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Treasury Department), ESKOM, Policy Link