To understand Lindiwe Miyambu is to understand the legacy of a nurse and a pastor. Growing up in a home with parents defined by these two vocations, the 2025 Public Sector CHRO of the Year was raised in a household and a broader community where service was a way of life.
Today, as the chief people and marketing officer at AfroCentric Group, Lindiwe Miyambu is no longer just watching her mother tend to patients or her father tend to a congregation; she is picking up a baton passed through decades of service, carrying a legacy of care into the world of corporate strategy.
“I grew up and was socialised in a family and a community where serving others was ingrained in me and that hunger to contribute to others success was cultivated.”
It was this very principle that drew her to the AfroCentric Group. After witnessing her mother give 45 years to a healthcare industry that eventually failed her, Lindiwe saw an opportunity to honour her mother’s life’s work by strengthening the system from the inside out.
“I am driven by purpose and impact, and the innovation and advancement of healthcare strategies that will contribute directly to the lives of millions. Being involved in shaping and driving this agenda helps create a better society, promotes the gradual levelling of access to healthcare, ensures better care and value for every rand spent, and perhaps most importantly for me, supports what I call humanising the world again.“
This drive is balanced by her personal philosophy: lift as I rise. Whether she is coaching a junior staff member, who might affectionately call her Sis Lindi or Ma Lindi, or mentoring an executive, her goal is to leave a rich pipeline of leaders behind her. She remains grounded by a single question that recurs in her mind: who can I go back to this week and say I changed their life for the better?
Paying attention
“Our CEO said if there’s one thing he enjoys about me, it’s that I have a coaching mentality with all of my people. He acknowledged that there have been complaints and a leadership vacuum, but he appreciates that even though I expect delivery and good customer service, I always bring that coaching element. Sometimes it is not the big moves that matter. Sometimes it is about the person in front of you who needs attention, coaching, or support. Even while expecting delivery and excellent customer service, there is always that coaching element, making sure we do better next time. I want to make sure that when people know they have done wrong, they walk away with the lesson of how to do better.”
Lindiwe’s journey to paying such attentive attention to people and to the C-suite wasn’t paved with simple victories. Her tenure in the public sector served as a rigorous training ground, developing what she calls her quieter muscles. “The two quieter muscles that grew the most were diplomacy and negotiation skills. There is a very different type of resilience required to navigate the public sector,” she says.
“The public sector principle that resonates with me the most is prioritising purpose and impact over profit. When a people strategy is centred on creating lived experiences that add value and foster a strong sense of belonging, it focuses on people rather than producing performance at all costs.”
At AfroCentric, Lindiwe carries that principle into every decision as she isn't just managing HR, but pioneering a moment where people, culture and brand marry.
“I was drawn to the AfroCentric Group by the opportunity to play a significant role in building and strengthening the healthcare industry. The impact of Covid on our country and the world, combined with being raised by a mother who devoted four and a half decades of her life to an industry that eventually failed her, made me see a chance to pick up the baton at this stage of my career, also in her honour,” she explains.
Creating sustainable growth
“I approach the opportunity as a moment to demonstrate the culture shift that can happen when an organisation truly understands and invests in its people, while recognising that people are its most crucial brand strategy. When employees become brand advocates and their positive lived experiences are expressed externally to clients and stakeholders, the internal and external worlds align to create sustainable and positive business growth. The alignment of internal culture (people) with external perception (brand) is unmatched.”
According to her, bringing these two together produces authenticity to the brand. She admitted how focusing on them together produces committed and loyal employees and customers, this gives the organisation competitive edge and produces sustainable growth.
“We, however, have a long road ahead in what I call rebuilding the people-first culture. My view is that it is important to focus on how Vision 2030 translates to our people, how it shapes our culture, influences the way our people experience the organisation, and guides values and development. There is a lot of building, fixing and moulding to be done.”
In an era where AI and digital transformation dominate the conversation, Lindiwe remains a vocal advocate for the human element. Her belief that there is no amount of technology that can produce sustained transformation if you don’t take your people with you is exactly why she also secured the HR & Technology Award.
“It is when you can make your people willing collaborators with the tech that technology wins. Change management is not something that happens after the tech has been purchased. It must lead the conversation,” she says.
Having a voice
“It begins with the why. We need this technology because it changes our roles, our day-to-day work and our future. Only when people understand and embrace the purpose behind the change do they become willing collaborators, then technology can truly succeed.”
This clarity of purpose extends beyond technology. She recognises that the HR seat is often a hot seat, demanding the courage to step out of a stepchild mentality and claim a space of real, material influence.
“If I were to bucket the challenges I have faced in HR, they would fall into organisational culture and leadership. There is sitting at the table, having a voice at the table, and then driving the agenda at the table. HR should be driving the agenda because we are the people business. We are at the table for the people, and if we do not raise our voices, there is no other opportunity for our people to be represented,” she notes.
“I always return to why I am at that table: to create environments that unleash the potential of our people. Even when dealing with complex organisational issues, purpose anchors every decision I make. It’s about stepping out of the apologetic mindset and owning the space. You’re going to get the lashings for doing it, but once the leaders who were your biggest friction points see the value, they become your greatest advocates.”
When the weight of the people agenda grows heavy with such challenges, Lindiwe finds her reset in the world of aesthetics. A lover of interior design, she finds peace in the textures of wallpaper and the flow of beautiful fabrics. A quick trip to Kramerville for some home interiors window shopping is often all she needs.
Making a difference
Between her passion for interior design and reading biographies from Michelle Obama to Prince Harry and her deep connection to her global family, Lindiwe lives a life as layered as the people she leads.
“I love reading about people’s lives and learning how people navigate challenges, triumphs and setbacks. Their stories offer insights that inform how I lead and engage with others.”
It’s this curiosity about people that drives Lindiwe’s leadership, and what earned her formal recognition at the 2025 CHRO Awards. She walked away with the 2025 Public Sector CHRO of the Year title for her transformative work as CPO at AGSA and the HR & Technology Award for her innovative approach to integrating technology with people strategy.
“The HR & Technology Award is important to me because it recognises that tech on its own does not change organisations. People do,” she reflects.
“Both recognitions are humbling. After years of keeping your head down, it is affirming to hear people say we see the work you have been buried in. It motivates you to do more, but it also reminds you to bring others along. Leadership isn’t about individual accolades. It is about lifting as you rise. But what matters most to me are the phone calls, the messages, and meeting someone who wants you to meet their spouse because you made a difference. That is what stays with me.”
