Mr Sandile Frederick Mthiyane has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the University of Pretoria (UP) as from January 2020. The COO is responsible for Facilities Management, Human Resources, Information Technology Services and Security Services at UP.

Mr Mthiyane obtained the following qualifications: Master of Science in Property Studies from the University of Cape Town, Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Stellenbosch Business School, Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from the former University of Natal, Diploma in Project Management from Damelin and a BSc Electrical Engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is a Registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa.

Prior to his appointment at the University, Mr Mthiyane worked at the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) as Head of the Corporate Services Department, a position that he held for six years, where he was responsible for infrastructure, asset management and maintenance strategy, built environmental sustainability strategy, premises risk management strategy and engineering centre of excellence strategy and execution. He was appointed as Executive Head of Engineering: Africa at ABSA/Barclays (Barclays Africa Group) for the period 2011 to 2013; Executive Head of Engineering and Head of Critical Engineering at ABSA for the period 2008 to 2011 and Head of Engineering Services at the SARB from 2005 to 2008. 

Mr Mthiyane and his team received the Governor’s Award at the SARB, which is the most prestigious award that the SARB bestows, for three years running during then Governor Tito Mboweni’s tenure and twice with different teams under his leadership during former Governor Gill Marcus’s tenure. He also received an award for strategic initiatives and proactive approaches, which ensured stability in the bank’s systems during the period of electricity supply instability in 2008.

He is an accomplished Executive with significant achievements in different leadership roles.