Held at the Polo Room at the Inanda Club, the 2025 CHRO Awards was a night of celebration that reinforced HR leaders’ commitment to positively impacting the lives of those they serve.
Guests in elegant evening gowns and dashing formal attire filled the Polo Room in Sandton on 12 November to celebrate excellence in the HR profession at the 2025 CHRO Awards.
Hilarious host and MC Nik Rabinowitz opened the ceremony, with a welcome that had guests in stitches, setting the stage for what was to be an unforgettable night of celebration and camaraderie.
In true HR community spirit, the room erupted with cheers as nominees took to the stage to receive acknowledgement trophies for their work in their respective sectors and organisations. The energy continued with a performance by the sibling trio Biko’s Manna, whose renditions of popular songs had the audience on their feet.
The first round of winners accepted their trophies as guests enjoyed a starter amid lively conversation, laughter and selfie-taking.
The first award of the evening, HR & Technology, was presented to a pleasantly surprised Lindiwe Miyambu, former CPO of the Auditor-General of South Africa, who also took the Public Sector CHRO title.
Lindiwe thanked her husband and team for their support and emphasised the importance of securing financial backing for HR technology. “In HR, we are at the chasm of business and people, and to achieve our strategic objectives we need support from our colleagues in finance to fund the technologies that make HR efficient,” she said.
In her acceptance speech for the Public Sector CHRO of the Year, Lindiwe encouraged hiring professionals to view public sector candidates more positively. “As HR professionals, we must not classify people who choose the public sector as less qualified. The public sector deserves the best talent. My move to a public sector organisation was intentional. I wanted to contribute to public sector accountability and I knew I had to do it for my children and grandchildren,” she said passionately.
The Transformation and Empowerment Award was presented to Nolo Thobejane, chief people, culture and purpose officer at KFC Africa, by Lorna Phipps, head of sales enablement at GIBS.
Nolo dedicated the award to KFC Africa’s 40,000 team members and her executive team for their support. “This is for the 40,000 team members I serve at KFC Africa. I am grateful to my executive team for their trust and for allowing me to pursue the vision of transforming the business,” she said.
Celebrating leadership and legacy
Another big winner of the night, Charlotte Mokoena, executive VP: HR and corporate affairs at Sasol, snapped up the Strategy & Leadership and Employee Value Proposition awards. She took the opportunity during her acceptance speech to announce her retirement.
“It has been a long journey, and I have officially reached retirement age at Sasol. I am privileged to have served Sasol’s 30,000 employees and the people of South Africa,” she said.
Charlotte reflected on the importance of the employee value proposition. “As HR professionals, we constantly think about people and their challenges. At Sasol, improving the EVP has been a key focus. Programmes such as Sasol Cares, which prioritises employee wellness and benefits, have resulted in not a single hour of strike action in my eight years with the company,” she said.
Sharon Taylor, chief people and culture officer at Standard Bank, presented Charlotte with her award, taking a moment to recognise the strong legacy she leaves behind.
Leadership lessons with Africa’s fastest man
Following the exciting announcements of the first round of award winners, Kgaogelo (Kaygee) Letsebe, CHRO community manager led a captivating fireside chat with Africa’s fastest man, Akani Simbine.
Akani noted how his journey to track stardom began with a difficult choice. “I really had my heart set on being a football player but my principal saw my potential for track and insisted that I had to run for the school if I wanted to play football for the school,” he explained.
This continued until matric, when his mother asked him to choose between soccer and track and he made the difficult decision of giving up his dream of being a soccer star and chose track.
That leap of faith is what led to him beating the South African junior record in Zambia and propelled him to the 2016 Olympic stage. Once again, Akani’s mother intervened and urged him to complete his university studies, despite his initial doubts.
“I am grateful to my mother for encouraging me to be an educated sportsman. I can now use my education and passion for sport to build my business. I always thought about life after athletics and wanted to create something sustainable,” he said.
That vision became BackTrack Sports, a broadcast and production company that combines his love for sport and entrepreneurship. Akani spoke about the challenges he faced, including a severe hamstring injury before the 2016 Rio Olympics, and how his support system helped him recover and compete.
“I’ve always believed I didn’t choose athletics, it chose me. And now, I’m taking the lessons it gave me to create something that endures long after the finish line,” he concluded.
Honouring 2025’s top CHRO and upcoming leaders
The inspirational conversation was followed by the next round of awards, where Jeanett Modise, Absa’s group chief human capital officer, was announced as 2025’s CHRO of the Year to a standing ovation. She was also awarded the Talent Management and Learning & Development awards, making it a hat-trick for the night.
Across Jeanett’s trio of acceptance speeches, one powerful theme stood out: the growing importance of HR in a rapidly changing world of work. “Today, the role of the CHRO reaches far beyond the walls of HR,” she shared. “We have the privilege, and the responsibility, to shape businesses and touch lives. True leadership isn’t always about agreement; sometimes it’s about having the courage to say no, even when you’re the only one who will.”
Jeanett also spoke about her passion for mentorship and leadership. “I grow talent not because I am a CHRO but because I am a leader first,” she said.
Dessert was served grazing-table style under Sandton’s glittering skyline, giving guests time to connect and capture memories. Biko’s Manna returned to the stage with a soulful sing along performance.
The Young CHRO of the Year Award went to African Bank’s group CPO, Gcobisa Ntshona. The award was presented by Mercer Africa’s Keletjo Chiloane, who serves in the career consulting services department, and accepted on her behalf by Frans Kutumela, head of organisational effectiveness at African Bank.
As the evening came to a close, the room still shimmered with laughter, music and the hum of lively conversation. Cameras flashed and glasses clinked in celebration, capturing the spirit of a night dedicated to honouring South Africa’s finest HR leaders, a moment where excellence met festivity.
The awards were sponsored by AM Comms, GIBS, LRMG, Mercer, Momentum Corporate, Old Mutual Corporate, Standard Bank South Africa, Regenesys and Workday.
Table sponsors at the event included: Absa Group, AECI, African Bank, Discovery, Drayton Glendower, KFC Africa, MakwaIT, Old Mutual, Old Mutual Insure, PPS, Rand Refinery, Sanlam, SALGA and Santam.
