Martin is an author, speaker, transformational coach and business leader. He was the former MEC of Finance in the North West Provincial Government from 1994 until 2004. Prior to that, he spent 17 years in health care services. In June 2004 he became CEO of the South African Bureau of Standards a position he held until July 2009, positioning the organisation amongst the top ten certification bodies in the world. He then started his own business ventures.
Has been the Chairperson of the first Board of Trustees for the Government Employee Pension Fund overseeing a portfolio worth R920 billion (the seventh biggest pension fund in the world) from June 2005 to July 2009. From June 2006 – May 2009 served on the PRI Board, a United Nations Global Compact initiative on Principles for Responsible Investment where he had intensive exposure to international best practices on corporate governance and optimisation of the investment value chain. From November 2010 – June 2019 he served as Chairperson of the Mineworker’s Provident Fund. During his tenure, the fund was able to successfully launch its own benefit administration platform with 148000 members, which brought about tremendous cost savings and enhancement of the member experience. Under his watch, the portfolio grew from R13 billion to R26 billion. He then served as trustee at Liberty Corporate Umbrella Funds from July 2019 – February 2022. At Liberty he was the chair of the Communications and Transformation board subcommittees respectively as well as a member of the Investment committee.
In September 2006 he was elected for a two-year term on the Council for International Standards Organization (ISO), the highest authority on industrial standards, based in Geneve. The President of South Africa appointed him for a five-year term in September 2004 to the Finance and Fiscal Commission where he gained vast learning experiences on public policy analysis and intergovernmental fiscal relations.
Served as a non-executive director of the Netcare group since July 2008 – December 2022 where he was Chairperson of the Quality Leadership Committee and also served on the Social and Ethics as well as the Risk committees respectively.
Current directorships:
- Non-executive director of Ellies Holdings from June 2015.
- Non-executive director of Bigen Africa since April 2019.
- Chairperson of Ilima Infrastructure since March 2020.
- Non- executive director at Mahube Infrastructure Ltd since 13 March 2023.
- Owner and founder of Martin Kuscus and Associates, a management consulting company since 1 September 2009. His main responsibilities in the company are top level executive coaching and transformation interventions on corporate culture.
Given his strategic insights and vast learning experiences, he became a trusted coach and mentor to many leaders in government and corporate circles. As a gifted communicator, he addressed high impact meetings both local and internationally. His recently published book Credibility Matters, has received rave reviews from a wide spectrum of influential leaders and the broader public.