William Rodger “Roger” Jardine (born 13 September 1965) is a South African business executive, former government official and leader of the political party Change Starts Now.

[1][2][3][4][5][6] At age 29, Jardine became the Director General of South Africa's Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology,[3][7] surpassing the previous record held by Niel Barnard.

[16][17][18][19] He stepped down from FirstRand in November 2023, and announced at the time "he wishes to explore options to best serve South Africa and this will require his full attention".

[26] During his high school years, Jardine was involved in anti-apartheid activities, including boycotts and protests against the tricameral parliament, and was an activist in the United Democratic Front (UDF).

Jardine has been vocal against corruption and leadership issues in South African politics[29][30][31] and has spoken at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) Business School.

[44] Willie Esterhuyse, who played an important role in the negotiations leading up to the transition to a democracy in South Africa,[45] remarked in an interview published in Die Burger newspaper on 15 February 2024 that "From political history we learn that countries are saved by organized middle groups.

"[46] In response to the launch of the party's Change Charter election manifesto launched in Kliptown on 19 February 2024, the CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater, one of South Africa's top four private sector employers, Neal Froneman said “It is one of the most credible plans I have seen for realising South Africa’s potential… I for one would be prepared to pay taxes that are needed to support the reconstruction and growth fund with real confidence that the money would be used meaningfully to secure a prosperous future.

Implementation of the CSN Charter would build a national unified identity that we can all identify with” [47] Some journalists speculated that private funders may have offered the members of the 'Moonshot Pact Coalition' one billion Rand to take Jardine as their presidential candidate.