​Lerato Mailoane and SA News
Gauteng Premier David Makhura has expressed profound appreciation to Phindile Baleni for her role as the Director-General of the provincial government, as she leaves to take up a post as the Director-General in the Presidency, following the announcement by cabinet. 
"A consummate professional with a wealth of experience in the public service and a relationship builder with the knack to establish sustainable partnerships towards the realisation of common goals," said Makhura.
Ms Baleni has been integral in driving the implementation of the plan - Growing Gauteng Together 2030 (GGT2030) – anchored on Transformation, Modernisation and Re-industrialisation. She steered the Gauteng City Region ship in various streams in response to the COVID19 pandemic. 
With the support of a team of committed and dedicated heads of department, Baleni contributed significantly towards the overall performance of the Gauteng provincial administration and the promotion of clean, accountable and ethical governance.  
"On behalf of the Gauteng City Region, I express sincere gratitude for Ms Phindile Baleni's sterling work throughout the years. I have no doubt that in her new role as Director General in the Presidency she will continue to make a significant contribution towards building a capable and developmental state," said Premier Makhura.  
Baleni succeeds Dr Cassius Lubisi who retired in September 2020 after a decade as Director-General in The Presidency and Secretary of Cabinet.
Baleni is an admitted attorney and conveyancer who holds a B. Proc and an LLB from the University of the Witwatersrand.
She was appointed legal advisor to the then Gauteng MEC for Housing and Local Government from 1994 to 1996.
In 1996, she joined the City of Johannesburg where she played a strategic role in strategic planning, high-level project management and the development of local-government policy.
She later joined Electricity Distribution Industry (EDI) Holdings as Chief Executive Officer and was instrumental in the establishment of regional electricity distributors (REDs) in the country.
In April 2011, Baleni was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), a position she held until she became Director-General in the Office of the Premier in Gauteng.
She has served on the boards of the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA (MERSETA), the CSIR as well as the Council of Wits University.