Joseph Rock returns to Exxaro as CPO

Kgaogelo Letsebe 29 November 2023

Joseph Rock returns to Exxaro resources as chief people and performance officer, marking a homecoming for the business leader.

Joseph Rock has been appointed as the chief people and performance officer at Exxaro. He officially joined the coal producer on 1 November.

The move will be Joseph’s second tenure at the organisation as he previously held the position of general manager: Exxaro services between 2011 and 2017.

In 2018, Joseph joined Absa as the group head of people experience, a position he would occupy for five years. He was also previously group executive at South African Revenue Services (SARS) and served as a non executive director at the Shoprite Group between 2012 and 2022.

He holds a Master’s degree in economics and a Bachelor's degree in economics and econometrics from the University of Essex as well as an advanced management programme from Insead.

Joseph, who describes himself as a business leader with a passion for people, shared his excitement to return to Exxaro on his LinkedIn status adding, “A few weeks in now and I’m having an absolute ball!! There’s definitely something to be said for homecoming.”

Kgaogelo Letsebe

Kgaogelo Letsebe (nee Mamabolo) is the managing editor at CHRO South Africa. Originaly from from Pretoria, Gauteng, Kaygee as she is fondly known, holds a BTech in Journalism from Tshwane University of Technology (Pretoria campus). With almost 10 years in the media and printing industry, she has honed her writing skills in various media sectors such as business, IT, built environment engineering, and food and beverage technology industry.

2026 Executive Day: CEOs, the C-suite is watching the green and red flags

During an attention-grabbing panel discussion at the 2026 Executive Day, Paul Norman, group CHRO at MTN, and Celiwe Ross, group chief human capital and corporate affairs officer at Old Mutual, put the CEO role under the executive microscope, unpacking the green flags, red flags and everything in between that can make or break the C-suite dynamic.

03 September 2026

CHRO Webinar: When AI joins the HR team

A recent webinar, hosted in partnership with Factorial, brought together Neridha Moodley, people and culture lead at SNG Grant Thornton; Zameer Ahmed, head of HR digital transformation at Netcare; and Paolo Urzi, partnership development manager at Factorial, to unpack what responsible AI adoption looks like in practice, and how HR leaders can harness technology without losing sight of the people at the heart of the function.

19 August 2026

CHROs reflect on the workplace women truly deserve

What does the workplace women deserve look like? This Women’s Day, we put that question to HR leaders Elanie Kruger, CHRO at Tsebo Solutions Group; Shehnaaz Kajee, head of HR at HBZ Bank; and Sinqobile Khuluse, CPO at Sandock Austral Shipyards, who have a front-row seat to shaping the employee experience.

11 August 2026

Embracing the strengths of neurodiversity in the workplace

The term neurodiversity is becoming ubiquitous in a world where the diversity in peoples’ cognitive abilities is being highlighted in the mainstream. Current estimates show that as many as 15 percent to 20 percent of the global population is neurodivergent, meaning that one in five employees falls into this category.

31 July 2026