THE ARCHITECTS OF POSSIBILITY

LEADING THE CHARGE: Palesa Ntoagae, Lindiwe Miyambu, Khabonina Ramoupi, Gcobisa Ntshona.

Celebrating South Africa’s CHRO Leaders

For too long, business has been framed through the narrow lens of the balance sheet. Headcount. Cost lines. Efficiencies. As if people were liabilities to be managed rather than the very source of value creation.

The leaders I want to celebrate refuse that framing. They are rewriting the rules.

I have had the privilege of walking alongside four extraordinary CHROs who are doing exactly that. These women are not content with maintaining systems. They are architects of possibility – redesigning organisations from the inside out to prove that when you bet on people, you change the future.

Khabonina Ramoupi

AECI

Khabo, known as “The Lady Soul”, and I have journeyed together for almost 20 years across three CHRO roles and three organisations.

In every one, she was at the heart of radical transformation.

What stays with me is her steadiness: she carries both rhythm and resolve into every room. She translates strategy into human possibility, proving that empathy and grit can move entire systems.

Lindiwe Miyambu

Auditor-General South Africa

I’ve known Lindiwe for nine years across two organisations. At African Bank, I watched her stand unflinching during curatorship, rallying belief when the future hung by a thread. Now, at the Office of the Auditor-General, she is shaping people and culture in one of South Africa’s most important institutions. With her, you always sense the bigger picture – that this is about the country, not just the organisation. She sees people not only for what they do, but for what they can become.

Gcobisa Ntshona

African Bank

For the past two years, I’ve partnered with Gcobisa at African Bank, a place that has boldly put leadership at the centre of its strategy. What I admire most about her is her restlessness. She doesn’t wait for permission. She questions, challenges, and pushes boundaries. With her, people first isn’t a slogan – it’s conviction, lived daily.

Gcobisa reminds me that leadership isn’t meant to be comfortable. It’s meant to move us.

Palesa Ntoagae

Old Mutual Insure

My journey with Palesa spans the last two years, and she has shown me what it means to lead without compromise. At Old Mutual Insure, she called time on the moment when profit threatened to eclipse people.

This Is My OMI wasn’t branding – it was a promise, born from listening and made real by conviction. When Palesa speaks about people, there’s no polish, no slogan. Just truth. And that’s why it sticks.

These women are not passengers in change. They are its architects – reshaping organisations today while laying foundations for futures we have not yet imagined.

At TPA, we stand for better workplaces, better performance, and better possibilities. These leaders are living proof that better is not abstract. It is built, lived, and multiplied through conviction.

They are the architects of possibility. And they are building futures worth believing in.