Ms Sue Bannister has an undergraduate BSc degree in Town and Regional Planning from the University of the Witwatersrand, an MPhil in Land Economy from Cambridge University and an MBA from the IE Business School in Madrid. She also participated in a course run by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in the Management of Development Projects, and has a certificate in web development.

Ms Bannister is a co-director of City Insight Pty Ltd, a development consultancy established to provide analysis, insight, information and advice on the built environment and governance in the developing world. City Insight undertakes work for National, Provincial and Local Government in South Africa, in a range of areas, including data analysis, spatial and strategic planning, management advice, skills development, compliance monitoring and reviewing the delivery of services. Work is also being undertaken with international agencies in areas such as peer evaluation, basic service delivery and international cooperation.

In the 1990’s Ms Bannister worked as a rural development fieldworker for an NGO assisting rural communities with land restitution and development issues.

In the early 2000s Ms Bannister worked as a development consultant, specializing in low income housing and sustainable development issues. During this period, she worked with many international donors, designing development projects, researching Aid initiatives and evaluating projects.

Ms Bannister served as deputy head, and head of the Strategic Projects Unit in eThekwini Municipality where she was involved in conceptualising, motivating, planning and budgeting for new projects to political and administrative principals based on an analysis of needs, funding and priorities. Her team drove over R6 billion investment in municipal infrastructure. She has lectured in the Town Planning Department at Wits University and been actively involved in a number of capacity building initiatives. Ms Bannister was initially appointed to serve on the second National Planning Commission in 2015.