The Managing Director of Transparency International, Doctor Cobus de Swardt, will be one of a number of international speakers at the international Winelands Conference hosted by Stellenbosch University’s School of Public Leadership.

Doctor De Swardt, who is an alumnus of the Stellenbosch University School of Public Leadership (SPL), will talk about the The relevance of research on corruption and ways to combat it.

“We are extremely fortunate that Doctor De Sward, an alumnus of the SPL will speak at our conference. I am excited about the global perspective he will bring to the Winelands Conference,” says Kobus Muller, director of the SPL.

De Swardt, a sociologist, is a South African who has been living abroad for a number of years and who has taught in Australia, Japan and Germany. He was director of Global Programmes at Transparency International before being appointed Managing Director in 2007.

The main theme of the conference (2 – 4 April) which is held every second year and this year for the thirteenth time, is Integrity and Governance: What is wrong? What is right? What is next?

The theme will be subdivided further into three subthemes: What’s wrong? Corruption in governance; What’s right? Good governance in the public and non-profit sector; and What’s next? Innovations in governance and research.

The Winelands Conference has become something of an institution in the sphere of public and development management in South Africa over the past 25 years.

Other speakers include: John Bennington, Professor in Public Management, Management and Policy (Warwick University); Erwin Schwella, Professor in Public Leadership (SPL),  Geert Bouckaert, Director: Institute for Public Management (Flanders) and Professor Gavin Woods, Director: ACCERUS.

The Winelands Conference is being hosted by the SPL in collaboration with ACCERUS and the Zijlstra Centre for Public Control and Governance (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam). It is the only international conference in South Africa that places the spotlight on challenges in the public sector.

WHEN: 2- 4 April 2012

WHERE: Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape.

CONTACT: Stephanie Nieuwoudt for information on the above media release and to set up interviews.

REGISTRATION: For information on registration go to http://www.winelands2012.co.za/registration