Prof Alex van den Heever presently holds the Chair of Social Security Systems Administration and Management Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and is an adjunct professor in the Wits School of Governance. Alex van den holds a master's in economics from the University of Cape Town and has worked in the areas of health economics and finance, public finance, and social security in various capacities over the past 23 years. This includes participation in the Melamet Commission of Inquiry into medical schemes, the Taylor Committee of Inquiry into Comprehensive Social Security, and the Ministerial Task Team on Social Health Insurance.
Over the period 2000 to 2010, he worked as an advisor to the Council for Medical Schemes, which he was responsible for establishing, and in an advisory capacity to the social security policy processes (including the Department of Social Development, the National Treasury, and the Inter-departmental Task Team on Social Security) taking forward the recommendations of the Taylor Committee.