Riah Phiyega was appointed by President Jacob Zuma as Chairperson of the Presidential State Owned Entity Review Committee. She is the Vice Chairperson of the Independent Commission for Remuneration of Public Office Bearers.

A past-Group Executive of Absa, Riah chaired and sat as a Board Member of numerous Absa subsidiaries. She is also a past-Group Executive of Transnet and was an Executive Member of the National Ports Authority. She serves on boards of the Southern Africa Trust and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. She is part of Kapela Holdings.

Riah was a Board Member of the 2010 Bid Committee and Commissioner of the Road Accident Fund Commission. She chaired the Road Traffic Management Corporation Task Team appointed by the Minister of Transport.

Riah’s involvement with the advancement of women’s include being a member of the International Women’s Forum of South Africa, a coach and mentor linked to various organisations.

She holds a BA (SW) from the University of the North, a BA (SS) Hons from UNISA, an MA (SS) from the University of Johannesburg and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from Wales University. Riah also attended Executive Development Programmes at the National University of Singapore and Wharton University, Pennsylvania.