Dean Naidoo takes on group HR director role at Gemfields

Sphumelele Khumalo 04 February 2026

Dean Naidoo has been appointed group HR director at Gemfields Group.

Prior to joining Gemfields, Naidoo served as group HR executive director at Merensky, where he was responsible for the full life cycle of the employee experience.

Before Merensky, he held the role of CPO at Zutari, where he supported the organisation following its demerger from Aurecon. He also previously served as CPO at Aurecon.

Dean’s earlier career includes senior HR leadership roles at Redis Afrika as group HR executive director, Momentum as general manager for HR, and Medscheme, where he was HR manager.

Academically, he holds a master of science in HR management from Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University, as well as an honours in HR management from the same institution. He has also completed a certification in strategy through the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town and holds a certification in labour law from UKZN.

Sphumelele Khumalo

Sphumelele Khumalo is the senior writer for CHRO South Africa. With a background in health journalism, she brings a passion for storytelling and an interest in exploring the human side of every story, one word at a time. When she’s not meeting deadlines, you might find her experimenting in the kitchen, or chasing sunsets.

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