Cobus de Swardt is from South Africa. He is the Managing Director of TI,  Chair of the International Civil Society Centre, member of the Board of the UN Global Compact and the International Integrated Reporting Council. 

He was appointed as a Managing Director in 2007. His experience spans the fields of globalisation, development policy, international relations and business management. Cobus has taught and worked at universities, multinational corporations, trade unions and research institutes in managerial and research related roles around the world. During the 1980s and early 1990s, he was active in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa including as Chair of the African National Congress in Cape Town. Cobus is also a member and former chair of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Agenda Council on Transparency & Anti-Corruption. In addition he serves on the Board of the WEF Partnering against Corruption Initiative (PACI). He was identified as one of the 500 most powerful individuals by the Foreign Policy Power Map in 2013 and named as one of the most influential people in security in 2014 by the Security magazine. Cobus holds a PhD in Sociology from La Trobe University, Melbourne, and an MPhil in Political and African Studies from the University of Cape Town.