Advocate becomes CEO of Business Against Crime South Africa

BACSA chairman Yedwa Simelane said: "BACSA would like to thank Dr Graham Wright for his invaluable contribution over the last 14 years and welcomes Advocate Simi Pillay-van Graan, who has proven herself as highly committed and passionate member of BACSA's senior management team, to her new role. Under Simi's leadership BACSA is well positioned to grow from strength to strength."

Partnerships between business and government

Pillay-van Graan is an admitted advocate of the High Court of South Africa and has worked for BACSA for eight years, as a senior national project manager and strategic executive. She has a BProc.LLB from the University of Natal Durban and an MBA from the University of South Africa (UNISA). She has deep knowledge and experience of the criminal justice system through her work at BACSA, as well as through her previous roles as a prosecutor for the National Prosecuting Authority and a specialist legal officer in organised crime with the police. Pillay-van Graan has also been instrumental in securing partnerships between business and government in critical areas such as combatting cable theft, cellphone blacklisting and the BACSA-SA Police Services MOU projects.

Advocate Simi Pillay-van Graan said: "BACSA has achieved a great deal under Dr Graham Wright's leadership and I am honoured to have been chosen to continue this important work. Thanks to the strength of the BACSA board and the support of our donors I know that BACSA will continue to make a tangible impact in the fight against crime in South Africa."

Dr Graham Wright, former CEO of BACSA, said: "I am pleased to be able to pass the torch to somebody as passionate and capable as Simi. Having worked with Simi for the last eight years I know that I am leaving the organisation in good hands."