For Meritus International to review
Meritus International has not yet seen this page. It describes the company only through what it has said or done, and through what others named here have said about it. Until Meritus International has approved the text, it may change. Questions for Meritus International:
- Is this description of Meritus International and its work correct? What would you like to change?
- Which projects has Meritus International delivered that readers in the valley could look at?
- How does Meritus International’s work relate to The Shift’s Formation First Economy model?
- Should readers reach you through the moderators, or through a public contact?
Meritus International (Pty) Ltd says it “specializes in the challenges of transformation, modernizations and industrialization” [MS]. Henk Swanepoel, founder director of The Shift, co-founded it in August 2014 and is one of its directors [MS]. The presentation he gave the Forum on 7 October 2026 names Meritus International in its title [MS].
What the letters in square brackets mean
Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.
- [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by an official record, such as a government notice or a court or council record, or by at least two sources that do not depend on each other.
- [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from the organisation’s own website or statements, from the statements of a group it works with, or from the Forum’s own records. It has not been checked against sources that do not depend on them.
- [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it from a reliable source yet.
At a glance
| Kind | Private company [MS] |
| Based in | Pretoria [MS] |
| Website | meritusinternational.co.za |
| Role | Project and change management company, co-founded by The Shift’s founder director [MS] |
| Link to the valley | Through the Forum. It has not worked in the valley yet |
| Contact with the Forum | In conversation, through Henk Swanepoel [MS] |
What it does
Meritus International says it works with individuals, organisations, governments, community leadership structures, academic institutions and networks to develop “High Performance Impact Nodes” [MS]. It describes its model as resting on people, process and technology, with trust, design and health as its core drivers [MS]. It says it engages Centres of Excellence to bring applied science and new technology into projects, and that it measures social, environmental, technological, political and economic returns [MS]. Henk Swanepoel describes its priority as unlocking purpose and vision within First Nations and lead families [MS].
The company’s published engagement procedure sets out how a project runs [MS]:
- Initiation. A fee starts an interim management process, usually completed within two months, which tests the business idea, aligns key decision makers and prepares a feasibility report.
- Four capability clusters. Business, transition, people and technology. Any of them can be used alone or together, by a company, a government or a private body.
- Seven functions. General, interim, project, transition, change and professional services management, and mentorship development. Most run for one to five years.
- Mentorship in every project. Mentorship is the one function included in every project. For each of three areas (trust, business design and healthy relationships) a mentee is paid for two years while working with a mentor, then moves into a management role for three years while the mentor stays on as a consultant. The stated purpose is to build communication and high trust into every project.
The website says the company is run by three people with complementary skills, who set up a special purpose vehicle to manage impact projects [MS].
How its work reaches the valley
- 7 October 2026. The presentation Henk Swanepoel gave the Forum names Meritus International in its title. Its content is The Shift’s Formation First Economy model, described on The Shift’s page [MS].
The Forum’s convenor notes that Meritus International’s mentorship function, in which people are formed for two years before they carry a management role, follows the same order as Formation First and as Bildung, the tradition of lifelong formation the BioConomy wiki treats as the ground of a place-based economy: Bildung. Meritus International has not been asked whether it agrees.
What is still open
- Whether Meritus International would take on any project in the valley, and on what terms. It has not proposed this, although the Forum is happy to engage further.
- Which projects it has delivered. Its website does not yet name any.
Have your say
If you know more about Meritus International’s work, contact the moderators via How to Submit.
Related
- Organisations Outside the Valley
- The Shift
- Bildung on the BioConomy wiki
References
- Meritus International. Home page. How it describes itself.
- Meritus International. Steps of Engagement. Its engagement procedure, clusters, and seven functions.
- Swanepoel, H. LinkedIn profile. Founding date, location, and his account of the company’s priorities.