Martin Kuscus emerged as one of the rare breed of credible leaders that shaped the South African democratic landscape. He was the former MEC of Finance in the North West Provincial Government from 1994 – 2004. Prior to that, he spent 17 years in the nursing profession. This was arguably the most important formative years in his life that prepared him for his future leadership assignments. In June 2004 he became the CEO of the South African Bureau of Standards, a position he held until September 2009. He then started his own business ventures in the telecoms, information technology and human capital development industries.

Martin was also the Chairperson of the first Board of Trustees for the Government Employee Pension Fund, overseeing a portfolio of R890 billion ( the seventh biggest pension fund in the world by then) from June 2005  to July 2009. During his tenure, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund, a 675 million USD fund and served as its Chairperson from 2007 – 2009. From June 2006 – May  2009 served on the PRI Board, a United Nations Compact Initiative on Principles for Responsible Investments. Here he gained intensive exposure to international best practices on corporate governance, the intricacies of global capital markets and optimization of the investment value chain.