MIR Staff
Managing Infrastructure Reform & Regulation
Core staff based at UCT's Graduate School of Business
Anton Eberhard is a Professor at the Univeristy of Cape Town where he directs the Management Programme in Infrastructure Reform and Regulation at the Graduate School of Business. His research and teaching focuses on the restructuring and regulation of the electricity and water sectors, investment challenges, and linkages to sustainable development. He has worked in the energy sector for more than 30 years and was the founding Director of the Energy and Development REsearch Centre. Prof Eberhard is a Foundation Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and currently serves on the country's National Planning Commission. He is also on the Panel of Experts which peer reviews the AFDB/AU/NEPAD Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa. Previously he served for 7 years on the Board of the National Electricity Regulator of South Africa. Prof Eberhard has more than 100 peer reviewed publications to his credit and has undertaken numerous assignments (both locally and abroad) for governments , utilities, regulatory authorities, and donor and multi-lateral agencies.
Dr Alison Gillwald is Executive Director of Research ICT Africa, a 18 African country ICT policy and regulatory research network. Prior to this she was Associate Professor at the Witwatersrand University Graduate School of Public and Development Management, where she founded the Learning Information Networking and Knowledge (LINK) Centre. She served on the founding Council of the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA) and was responsible before that for establishing the Independent Broadcasting Authority’s Policy Department. She has served on several boards including the South African Broadcasting Corporation and chaired the National Digital Broadcasting Advisory Body. She is founding editor of the Southern African Journal of Information and Communication and is published in the areas of telecommunications and broadcasting policy and regulation, gender and politics more broadly.
Rhiyana Bassier is the personal assistant to Professor Anton Eberhard, manages the MIR office, acts as course coordinator for MIR’s short courses as well as for the programme's African Electricity Regulator Peer Review and Learning Network. Rhiyana has been in the administrative field since 1996. Working at MIR/GSB is the highlight of Rhiyana’s career, as she engages with a diverse group of colleagues, including from abroad, which she enjoys tremendously.
Gamieda Gierdien is the Finance and Projects Manager for the MIR Programme. Previously, Gamieda was Finance and Projects Administrator for the Energy Research Center (ERC) at the University of Cape Town, where she worked for seven years. Highlights of Gamieda’s career to date include serving as Project Coordinator to the Sustainable Energy, Environment and Development (SEED) Programme in which she assisted in providing business training to local energy cooperatives in the Eastern Cape and Northern Province.
Joseph Kapika is a Researcher and PhD candidate with the MIR. He is also the Coordinator of the programme’s African Electricity Regulator Peer Review and Learning Network. Joseph has both regulatory and utility experience having previously worked in Zambia at the Energy Regulation Board, ZESCO Limited and the Copperbelt Energy Corporation. He has a B.Eng. (Hons) in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from Loughborough University in England and an M.Sc. in Economic Management and Policy from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.
Mundia Kabinga Jnr is a Researcher and PhD candidate in the MIR's Infrastructure Reform thematic cluster. He is also Research Administrator in the Swiss South African Joint Research Programme (SSAJRP) on Organisational Capabilites and the Governance of Utilities. In particular, Mundia's current research applies interdisciplinary approaches to explore the role that organisational competencies and capabilities play in moderating the impacts of policy and reforms on performance in South Africa and Switzerland's infrastructure services sector with a specific focus on, electricity and water. Prior to his appointment, Mundia has lectured in the School of Business at the Copperbelt University and undertook applied economic research for a broad spectrum of organisations operating in the southern Africa. He holds a BA in Economics with Development Studies from the University of Zambia and MA in Economics from York University in Canada.
As described under MIR Partners and MIR Faculty, the Programme engages in a wide range of research and teaching partnerships.