Motivation Letter: Ntiyiso Shingwenyana

I have worked in the Project Management environment for the past ten years in the field of healthcare management and policy development and advocacy. I have worked in the district development field having supported the Zululand and Umkhanyakude districts in Kwa Zulu Natal for two years. I have also worked on the SADC HIV and AIDS Research Database project for two years supporting Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

In the recent past I have been working as a technical advisor in health systems strengthening for the multisectoral response to HIV and AIDS, prevention, support and treatment and care. I have been supporting three provinces in the health systems strengthening for Dr Kenneth Kaunda district in the Northwest province, Ekurhuleni district in Gauteng and Sekhukhune district in Limpopo province. I have been Program Manager for the Southern African Regional Programme on Access to Medicines and Diagnostics, a DFID (UK) funded program to support the implementation of the SADC Pharmaceutical Business Plan in all SADC member states. I manage all Project Managers for eight subprograms that make up the total program.

I have a Masters in Medicine (Immunology and Pharmacology) and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of the Witwatersrand. I have program evaluation, program review and policy development, policy review and policy implementation experience. I have worked with the Joint Primary Healthcare Forum to support the implementation of the Primary healthcare Re Engineering program in South Africa, In addition, I worked for the Albertina Sisulu Leadership Program for health to develop leadership in health and to support the implementation of the NHI in the designated districts in South Africa. I have also been coordinating the implementation of the Integrated Access to Care and Treatment for newly diagnosed HIV positive patients in close collaboration with SA Partners South Africa.

I have worked for Wits University as Senior Technician and Lecturer from 1995 to 2003 Following which I joined HST as Senior Technical Advisor (District Development) and as testimony to my leadership abilities, rose through the ranks from being Technical Advisor to being Senior Technical Advisor (District Development) responsible for Zululand and Umkhanyakude District programs with eight subdistrict programs consisting of 4 in each District. For leadership skills I can attest to the fact that over time, I have been direct line manager for more than 50 (fifty) Professional Staff members ranging from postgraduate level nursing cadre, social scientists as social workers and psychologists, pharmacists and lay counsellors. I have been in management positions for more than 10 years with more than 20 years working experience which spans technical positions (lecturing, research, technical advisory, consulting) to leadership which includes, management, senior management and executive level management.

I bring with me experience and networks from the well-established TB/HIV focused NGOs, Aurum Institute, CARe and now recently South to South and of almost all nine provinces health departments and most of the high burden high priority South African districts and to name but a few, Zululand, Mopani, Nkangala, Ehalanzeni, Ngaka Modiri Molema, Dr RSM, Bojanala, UMkhanyakude where I have provided technical support, management and leadership mentoring to District Managers and District Management Teams as well as facility Operational Managers and their immediate supervisors. I have managed HIV programs at district, provincial, National and Regional Level, I have working experience in All Nine Provinces of South Africa as well as having extensively worked at Southern African Development Community (SADC) level with All the fourteen member states and have coordinated program activities in country for

each of the member states and at SADC ministerial level.

I am open and honest person who has demonstrated my trustworthiness by remaining loyal to the success of the many projects and programs that I have been privileged to lead and be part of. I have assembled together diverse stakeholders united towards achieving common goals of health delivery and health access, nationally we have assembled stakeholders to form the Joint Primary Healthcare Forum, facilitated workshops to develop Home Based Care Worker Curriculum, and to Develop Community Health Worker Curriculum, to name but a few, and Regionally assembled stakeholers from 10 SADC Member states to establish a SADC wide HIV Programs and Research Database as well as assemble stakeholders from 14 member states to reach common goals of regional medicines registration harmonization, pooled procurement and joint stockout monitoring at a regional level. My passion for an HIV free world remains an unquenchable drive and my choice of career path and growth.

I am currently employed as Program Manager for Health Programs with South to South Program for Comprehensive Family HIV Care within the Department of Paediatrics at Stellenbosch University. The main highlights of the program has been the piloting, demonstration and rapid scale up of Quality Improvement Projects with a foot print in the Northern Cape, Western Cape and the Eastern Cape. I occupy the role of Program Manager to a 16-member strong Team of Health Professionals and I recognize the need to function in Teams both as team player, team member and team leader. Within any Organization I recognize the diverse roles, unique talents and qualities that each member contributes towards team development and it would more than naïve to think, act and pretend that any person, myself included, is more important than the team. I therefore strive in my personal capacity to promote team cohesion, team spirit and team growth.