Staff

Full-time Staff

Annet Oguttu
Director
LLD Tax Law (UNISA)
 
Prof Annet Oguttu is the director of the African Tax Institute and a professor in the African Tax Institute, as well as in the Department of Taxation at the University of Pretoria. She holds a doctorate in tax law. Her field of specialisation is international tax law. She is the author of the ground-breaking book entitled “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting: A Blueprint for Africa’s Response” (IBFD, 2021); the seminal book “International Tax Law: Offshore Tax Avoidance in South Africa” (Juta, 2015); co-author of “Tax Law: An Introduction” (Juta, 2020); has contributed several book chapters and has published numerous articles on various international tax topics. She is rated as an established researcher by South Africa’s National Research Foundation. She is a Research Fellow of: The IBFD Centre for Studies in African Taxation; the Abe Green Baum Research Fellowship of the School of Taxation and Business Law at the University of New South Wales; and the University of Michigan’s Presidential Scholars Fellowship. Prof Oguttu is a member of: the UN High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the Davis Tax Committee which was appointed by South Africa’s Minister of Finance to assess South Africa’s tax policy framework; and she has served a Commissioner of the South African Law Reform Commission. 
 
 
 
Tel: +27 12 420 5538
E-mail: [email protected]
 
Riël Franzsen
Professor
LLD Tax Law (Stellenbosch)
 

Prof Riël Franzsen occupies the South African Research Chair in Tax Policy and Governance and is an A-rated National Research Foundation (NRF) researcher. In 1990 he obtained a doctorate in tax law from the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and in 2013 also obtained a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Pretoria. He specializes in land and property taxation and regularly acts as a policy advisor for the International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Bank, and other entities. He has worked in this capacity in Africa (Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda), Asia (Thailand), the Caribbean (Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent & The Grenadines) and Europe (Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Romania, and Serbia). He has acted as an instructor for the IMF (Austria, Singapore and Saint Lucia), Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (China and Slovenia), Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (Macedonia), International Property Tax Institute (Czech Republic and Lithuania) and for The Hague Academy for Local Governance (Lesotho). He is on the Board of Advisors of the International Property Tax Institute, regularly participates in local and international conferences and has authored and co-authored many journal papers and book chapters on land and property taxation. He is co-editor of Property Tax in Africa – Status, Challenges and Prospects, published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in May 2017.

 
 
 
Marius van Oordt
Associate Professor
PhD Tax Policy (Pretoria)
 
Prof Marius van Oordt is based at the African Tax Institute where he conducts research on indirect taxation in developing countries. He is an external expert at the International Monetary Fund and a member of various United Nations’ tax subcommittees. He has assisted over fifteen governments with their indirect tax policies and have written multiple policy papers for well-known organisations. Marius holds a PhD in Tax Policy from the University of Pretoria. 
 
Tel: +27 12 420 3470
E-mail: [email protected]
 
 
 
Sansia Blackmore
Senior Lecturer
DCom Economics (Pretoria), PhD Tax Policy (Pretoria)
 
Dr Sansia Blackmore obtained a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Pretoria (UP) in 1999 when, after a decade of teaching and research at UP, she entered private practice. During her years as an academic, she published several papers and co-authored several textbooks. After 1999, she remained involved in research projects and the doctoral programme at UP, and also served as Managing Editor of the South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences. She joined the African Tax Institute in 2017. Her work focuses on development and poverty, institutional economics, and a multidisciplinary understanding of state-society relationships. She obtained a PhD in Tax Policy from UP in 2020. 
 
Tel: +27 12 420 5066
 
 
Mzwandile Ngidi
Lecturer
MPhil Taxation (Pretoria)
 

Mzwandile Ngidi is a lecturer and PhD researcher at the African Tax Institute, ATI (University of Pretoria). His doctoral research focuses on tax policy issues of corporate tax transparency, beneficial ownership transparency, tax avoidance, evasion and tax-related illicit financial flows (IFFs). In particular, how effective exchange of tax-related information may be implemented to combat tax avoidance, evasion and tax-related IFFs in developing countries to improve revenue collection. Previously, he worked as teaching and research assistant at the ATI. He holds LLB and MPhil (Taxation) from the University of Pretoria.

Tel: +27 12 420 2131
 
Bontle Morulane
Programme Manager
BCom Business Management
 

Ms Bontle Morulane holds a BCom Business Management degree from the University of Pretoria. She has worked as an administrator for over eight years in various departments at the University of Pretoria. In her current role as Programme Manager, she is responsible for all orginizational, administrative, and financial matters of the African Tax Institute. 

Tel: +27 12 420 4553
 

Extraordinary Academic Staff

Odd-Helge Fjeldstad
Extraordinary Professor
PhD Economics (NHH)
 
Prof. Odd-Helge Fjeldstad holds a PhD in economics from the Norwegian School of Economics. He has more than 30 years of experience from research and policy analysis in East and Southern Africa with a focus on the political-economy of taxation and reform. Odd-Helge has published widely, both scholarly and policy-oriented. His research has appeared in academic journals such as The Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, World Development, Journal of Development Studies, and Journal of Modern African Studies, and in books by Cambridge University Press, ZED/University of Chicago Press, Edward Elgar and Routledge. His experience also covers teaching, supervision and training in economic policy analysis, fiscal reforms, governance and the economics of corruption. His work has involved long-term collaboration with research institutions in Africa. He has been advisor for African governments on taxation and public financial management and has worked as consultant for bilateral and multilateral development organizations. Odd-Helge also serves as Senior Fellow of the International Centre for Tax and Development, UK; and Research Professor at Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway, where he coordinates the research group on tax and public finance management. 
 
 

 

 

 

William McCluskey
Extraordinary Professor
PhD Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (Ulster)
 
Prof William McCluskey joined the Valuation and Lands Agency in 1980, then the University of Ulster in 1985 until 2014. He was appointed as Professor of Property Studies at Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand from 2001-02. He was appointed as Visiting Professor to the University of Lodz, Poland and the University of Technology, Malaysia. He is currently Extraordinary Professor at the African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa. His main professional and academic interests are in the fields of real estate valuation, property tax systems, computer assisted mass appraisal modelling and geographic information systems. He is a technical adviser on property tax issues with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, European Union and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and has been involved in a number of expert missions advising on ad valorem tax issues including to Cyprus on the mass appraisal approach to the property tax revaluation and in Greece advising on the new property tax which was implemented in 2014. Others missions were to Albania, Bermuda, Botswana, China, Gambia, Georgia, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Kosovo, Lesotho, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Mauritius, Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He is co-editor of Property Tax in Africa – Status, Challenges and Prospects, published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in May 2017.
 
 
Cecil Morden
Extraordinary Lecturer
MS Economics (Illinois)
 
Cecil Morden joined the ATI subsequent to retiring as Chief Director: Economic Tax Analysis at the National Treasury of South Africa.  He holds a Masters in Science (Economics) from the University of Illinois, US. He was a teacher and lecturer before joining the CISR as a transport economist. He joined the South African government in 1996 as a Director in the Northern Cape Province and subsequently joined the National Treasury in 2000 as Director: Indirect Taxes. During his career at National Treasury he performed analyses on revenue forecasting and the impact of tax proposals and drafted multiple discussion documents and policy papers. He represented South Africa on the Working Party 2 of the Committee for Fiscal Affairs of the OECD from 2006 until 2010. He is a member a committee investigating the impact of value-added tax on the poor in South Africa.
 
 
Bernd Schlenther
Extraordinary Lecturer
PhD Tax Policy (Pretoria)
 

Dr Bernd Schlenther is an independent expert who assists governments in improving domestic resource mobilization (DRM) and in addressing illicit financial flows (IFFs). He has extensive operational and management experience at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) in diverse fields including taxation, customs, enforcement, compliance, anti-money laundering, risk management and intelligence. He also has experience in outreach and capacity building initiatives that deal with regional and global topical issues. Bernd works as an external expert in Africa and Asia for various international institutions including the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Customs Organization (WCO). He holds a PhD in Tax Policy from the African Tax Institute (ATI) of the University of Pretoria and has published several journal articles and book chapters on the impact of corruption and money laundering on tax, the value of inter-agency cooperation and good governance to combat IFFs and the linkage between COVID-19 and IFFs.

 
Eric M. Zolt

Extraordinary Professor

J.D. (Chicago)

 

Prof Eric M. Zolt is the Michael H. Schill Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus at the UCLA School of Law. He specializes in individual, corporate, and international tax law. Working with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, US AID and the US Treasury Department, Eric has served as a consultant on tax policy matters in over 30 countries. Before coming to UCLA, he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis. Eric served in the US Department of Treasury, first as Deputy Tax Legislative Counsel and then as founder and director of Treasury’s Tax Advisory Program in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Eric also served as the Faculty Director of the International Tax Program at Harvard Law School. He is a co-founder of the African Tax Institute.

 

Astrid Haas

Extraordinary Lecturer
M.A. (Johns Hopkins)

Astrid is an urban economist, working in both research and practice, supporting cities around strategy generally and specifically to strengthen their financial systems, with a focus on unleashing new opportunities for sub-national financing. She is currently a Fellow at the Infrastructure Institute at the School of Cities at the University of Toronto. In addition, Astrid has worked extensively with city governments across Africa and Asia in her diverse roles, including previously as an urban economist with the African Development Bank and Policy Director at the International Growth Centre. She holds an MA in International Economics and International Development from Johns Hopkins University. In 2016, she was nominated by the University of Cape Town as one of Africa’s Young Leaders and in 2020 she received Johns Hopkins University’s Outstanding Recent Graduate Award, for her work on urbanisation. For more information and list of publications please see: www.astridrnhaas.com.

 

Associated Staff

   
Dirk Scholtz
Senior Lecturer
MPhil Taxation (Pretoria)
 
Dirk Scholtz holds LLB, Bcom(Hons): Economics and MPhil: Taxation degrees from the University of Pretoria. His research is focused on tax incentives, tax harmonisation and taxation for development. He is currently enrolled for a PhD in Tax Policy at the ATI.
 
 
Teresa Pidduck
Associate Professor
PhD Taxation (Rhodes)
 
Prof Teresa Pidduck is a qualified South African Chartered Accountant. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Taxation at the University of Pretoria. She obtained a PhD degree from Rhodes University with a thesis entitled the South African General Anti-tax Avoidance Rule and lessons from the first world: a case law approach. Teresa regularly presents guest lectures at various South African universities on the topic of tax avoidance and has presented at numerous local and international conferences. She has published in both local and international peer-reviewed journals. Teresa’s energetic nature and love for the field of Taxation, Accounting and Law has resulted in the receipt of numerous local and international teaching awards. Her research focus area within the field of taxation is “the maintenance and expansion of the South African tax base and domestic revenue mobilisation”. 
 
 
Fanie van Zyl
Professor
LLD (Unisa)
 

Prof Fanie van Zyl is a Professor in the Department of Mercantile Law. He holds the degrees LLB, LLM (UP), LLD (UNISA), as well as a Diploma in Insolvency Law and Practice (AIPSA/UP). The title of his doctoral thesis is “The Collection of Value Added Tax on online Cross-Border Trade in Digital Goods” (2013). He is also an NRF-rated researcher. He is a visiting professor at the Gujarat National Law University, India. He served as an advisor for the Davis Tax Committee. He is a member of the African Tax Administration Forum VAT Technical Committee and he serves on the Scientific Committee of the African Tax Research Network. He is the holder of the 2018 International Association of Law Schools Visiting Professor Scholarship.

 

 
Philile Angel Khwela
Research Assistant
LLB (Pretoria)
 

Philile Angel Khwela holds a LLB (law) from the University of Pretoria. She aims to focus her research on customs and excise tax.  She is currently enrolled for an LLM in Tax Law, at the University of Pretoria.

Email: [email protected] 

 

 

Former Extraordinary Appointees

 

   
Roy Bahl 

Extraordinary Professor
Prof Roy Bahl was Regents Professor of Economics and Founding Dean at The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta Georgia, US.  Formerly, he was The Maxwell Professor of Political Economy at Syracuse University, and before that was with the Fiscal Affairs Department at the International Monetary Fund, and on the faculty at West Virginia University. He has long worked on questions of tax and expenditure policy, and on intergovernmental fiscal policy.  He has advised many developing and middle income countries, and frequently consults with international agencies and private businesses.  He has served on several editorial boards for journals, and is the author and coauthor of numerous books and scholarly papers, including most recently, Reforming the Public finance System to Fit a more Urbanized China (2014), and Financing Metropolitan Governments in Developing Countries (2013).  He serves on the board of directors of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is a director of the International Center for Land Policy Training and Research in Taiwan.  He is the recipient of several awards, including The Dan Holland Medal of the National Tax Association, and The Aaron Wildavsky award of the American Society of Public Administration.  His former students are working in universities, international agencies and governments all over the world.
He is a graduate of Greenville College, and of the University of Kentucky. 

 
Sijbren Cnossen

Extraordinary Professor
Prof Sijbren Cnossen has been associated with the ATI and its predecessor – the Southern African Tax Institute – since 2002. He has been an extraordinary professor since 2009. Apart from his collaboration with the ATI, he is an academic partner at the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (since 2006) and a senior advisor to the International Tax and Investment Center (since 2001). Formerly he was Professor of Tax Law in the Economics Faculty at Erasmus University (The Netherlands) from 1977-2001 and Dean of the Economics Faculty from 1984-1987. He is also a former Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Maastricht from 1999-2007. He has also acted as an Alternate Judge in the Dutch Tax Court from 1984-2006. He has lectured at universities, ministries of finance, and research institutes in Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States (Harvard University, New York University and University of Florida), and various other countries. He has also acted as a Consultant to the IMF, OECD, World Bank, European Commission, US-AID, HIID, GTZ, and various foreign tax committees. He has advised some 30 countries on the design of their tax systems, including China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Poland, the Russian Federation, and South Africa.
Lastly, he is a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion, an honour bestowed on him by the Dutch Government in 2016.

 
Sally Wallace
Extraordinary Professor
PhD Economics (Syracuse)
 
Prof Sally Wallace is Professor of Economics and Dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University and Director of the School's Fiscal Research Center (FRC).  She recently served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the International University of Grand-Bassam in Cote d'Ivoire, GSU's partner institution in West Africa.  Previously, she was a Financial Economist at the US Treasury Department, Office of Tax Analysis. While at Treasury, she specialized in the analysis of legislation dealing with individual income tax and savings issues, pension plans, long term health care financing, and employee benefits and compensation. Currently, she is pursuing a research agenda in the field of public finance, specifically state, federal and international taxation and fiscal federalism. She is interested in behavioral aspects of taxation, the interdependence of federal and state and local governments, and the behavioral aspects of public spending and taxation.  
 
Tomas Balco

Extraordinary Lecturer
Dr Tomas Balco is a tax professional with over 15 years experience in the private and public sectors. He has experience working as a consultant for multinational companies, different tax administration, the OECD, the United Nations and the European Commission. He is currently the Head of the Transfer Pricing Unit in the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at the OECD. Dr Balco hols a PhD from Masaryk University in Czech Republic.

 
David Solomon

Extraordinary Lecturer
David Solomon has been involved in research, education and training and policy development in the area of Urban Economics and Local Government Finance since 1980. He served for 20 years at The University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, as a lecturer, senior lecturer and professor, teaching, researching and developing new courses in the areas of Urban Economics, Local Public Finance, Property Economics, and Finance. From 2002 – 2004 he served as Head of School of Economic and Business Sciences.
He has been active as an international consultant in the area of Local Government Finance, and has participated in several major projects both in South Africa and abroad, and has made inputs into the legislative process, and into national policy formulation. He is currently working on financial management reform in Somalia both at state and national level, and a review of property tax initiatives in Somaliland and Somalia (UN-Habitat). He has written and published numerous papers, and chapters in books on topics including land taxes, decentralisation, federalism, anti-corruption, and local government.

 

 

Copyright © University of Pretoria 2024. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 Corona Virus South African Resource Portal

To contact the University during the COVID-19 lockdown, please send an email to [email protected]

FAQ's Email Us Virtual Campus Share Cookie Preferences