Ms Jacqueline Gooch has been the Head of Department of the Western Cape Provincial Department of Transport and Public Works since November 2013.

She is responsible for the overall management and direction of the department with over 2 500 staff and a budget in excess of R 8.0bn per annum.

The Departmental responsibilities cover (in the main) the maintenance and construction of provincial roads in the Western Cape, acting as the custodian and asset manager of all provincial immovable assets with a replacement value of almost R 200bn, constructing and maintaining all health, education and general infrastructure facilities, provincial traffic law enforcement and road safety programmes, public transport operations and traffic law administration matters including motor vehicle testing and licensing as well as driving licences.

Jacqui has worked in both the private and public sectors, but returned to the Department of Transport and Public Works in 2005 to focus on improving delivery of services to the people of the Western Cape.

She obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree (BSc) in Civil Engineering from the University of Cape Town in 1998, her Masters in Engineering in traffic and transportation from the University of Stellenbosch in 2003 and her Masters in Business Administration specializing in Executive Management in 2015 from UCT’s Graduate School of Business.

Jacqui is an avid reader; enjoys gardening when she has the time, doing jigsaw puzzles and is addicted to Sudoku.