Donaldson is an economist and research associate of the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. He is a former head of the Budget Office and the Public Finance divisions of the South African National Treasury and served as the inaugural head of the Government Technical Advisory Centre. He was responsible for the introduction of a medium-term expenditure framework in 1998 and led the reform of the budget process and restructure of budget documentation. After retiring from the National Treasury in 2018 he served as an advisor to the Association for Savings and Investment of South Africa and has taught at the UCT School of Economics. His current work is focused on growth, employment policy and social security reform.
