Michael Manamela

Background

About Michael Manamela

Im currently the Head of Department of the Economic Statistics Department at the South African Reserve Bank. Im an experienced Economist and Statistician and previously worked for Statistics South Africa for 21 years. I've held several key roles in Stats SA and has been a member of the Senior Management Services (SMS) for the past 17 years. I have great exposure in statistical operations is broadly in two areas: producer of economic statistics and user of a variety of basic statistics including economic, social and environmental statistics. I was appointed head of short-term indicators unit in 2005 and was responsible for the production of a suite of monthly, quarterly and periodic economic surveys. Having started his career in as an economist in the national accounts unit, I would return to the national accounts area in 2011, first to head the national accounts capacity building project with special focus to the expenditure based Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates, followed by his permanent placement as the substantive head on national accounts unit in 2015. In my role as a producer and user of basic statistics, i have has attained a rare set of distinctive skills with a view of both side of the coin in a statistical environment. I have participated and led various initiatives to improve quality of statistics such as the introduction of new survey programs, systems automation, rebasing and benchmarking to name just a few. Im always sensible to ensure that i build partnerships in the statistical system as no statistical agency is capable to produce all required statistics. Over and above my professional experience, I'm an advocate for progressive change and has participated in various organizational changes initiatives where I played a significant role as a change agent. Qualified with a Master’s degree in commerce, majoring in economics from the University of the Western Cape.