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11 December 2018 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Sonia Small
David Abbey
David Abbey is also serving on the UFS Council’s Finance, Audit, Risk and IT Governance Committee.

David Abbey, a senior banker and transactor in the Acquisition and Leveraged Finance Division at Rand Merchant Bank in Johannesburg, was appointed to the UFS Council.

An undergraduate student of Rhodes University, David is also a proud product of the UFS, having completed his Accounting honours degree at this university. For the past few years, he has also guest lectured on investment banking and financial instruments to Accounting honours students as part of the PwC Financial Instruments Programme.

Large-scale impact

Therefore, his appointment to the Council is particularly special to him.

“Being a member of the Council gives me the platform to have a more large-scale impact on the institution, academic community, the economy, and society. I’m thrilled to be serving alongside an astute body of incredible individuals from whom I will undoubtedly learn,” he says.

Realising his full potential

David is serving on the Council’s Finance, Audit, Risk and IT Governance Committee and his experience in, and knowledge of finance, technology, and audit skills will stand him in good stead. When he’s not developing and structuring innovative, multidisciplinary, and integrated financial solutions for his corporate clients, he loves to be active. He is a regular gym-goer and plays and watches all kinds of sport. Travel, the arts, and motoring are some of his other passions. 

On a personal level, there is still much he wants to achieve. “I want to continue to work hard, using my God-given talents to realise my full potential and to make a humble mark in society and in people’s lives.”

News Archive

National Department of Health invests R53.5 million in UFS laboratory
2016-02-04

Description: Dr Derek Litthauer Tags: Dr Derek Litthauer

Dr Derek Litthauer
Photo: Supplied

This year has started off on a high note for Dr Derek Litthauer and his team at the South African National Control Laboratory (NCL) for Biological Products. The National Department of Health has awarded the NCL a contract to the value of R53.5 million to continue testing vaccines for the next three years.

Vaccines are biological medicines used to ensure healthy populations by preventing many diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, worldwide, about 5.2 million children under six years old die annually. Of these deaths, 29% are vaccine preventable. Research has revealed that vaccines prevent about 6 million deaths each year globally. Safe and effective vaccines are essential public health tools, which are strictly regulated internationally. It is the NCL’s responsibility to perform quality control testing on all vaccines to be used on humans in South Africa.

This laboratory, the only one of its kind in Africa, receives samples of vaccines from manufacturers and importers for rigorous evaluation and testing. No vaccine may be used in South Africa without a release certificate issued by the Control Lab, certifying that the vaccine is suitable for human use.

The contract is a commitment to ensuring that only vaccines of the highest quality are used in South Africa.

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