Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation gets new chairperson, CEO

A new chairperson and CEO have been appointed for the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, it emerged on Monday.

The foundation, which was established in Cape Town in 2013 soon after the Archbishop Emeritus announced his retirement from public life, said they had every faith in the duo of chairperson Niclas Kjellström-Matseke and CEO Piyushi Kotecha.

Kjellström-Matseke, born in Sweden, had been a board member before his latest appointment and was responsible for recruiting Kotecha.

Kotecha was CEO of the South African Universities Vice-Chancellors Association, Interim CEO of Higher Education South Africa, and founder and CEO of the Southern African Regional Universities Association.

Desmond Tutu described Kjellström-Matseke’s new position as a “wonderful choreography”.

His great-uncle, SK Matseke, was the founding principal of Orlando West High School in Soweto, directly opposite the marital home of the late Nelson and Winnie Mandela.

Kjellström-Matseke’s grandfather, Simon Peter Matseke, was a human rights activist and founding member of the African National Congress, who served as President of the Transvaal African Congress; and his father, Robinson Matseke, fled South Africa after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, ending up in Sweden.

“The Matseke family is among South Africa’s most illustrious. Many years ago, Leah and I were both privileged to have been exposed to SK Matseke, the pioneering teacher and principal, who taught Leah and loaned me textbooks for my first degree,” said Desmond.

He said it was wonderful that Kjellström-Matseke returned to South Africa and had now agreed to lead the foundation.

“What an honour and a pleasure for us oldies to know that there are young people of the highest calibre advancing our foundation and taking on some of our work,” he added.

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