Executive director of HR at Vodacom SA and 2022 CHRO of the Year winner Njabulo Mashigo is the latest addition to the 2025 CHRO Awards judging panel.
With an MBA from GIBS under her belt, Vodacom’s people champion Njabulo Mashigo will bring her deep expertise and passion for uplifting fellow HR professionals to her role as a CHRO Awards judge. She adds that being a CHRO award-winner is a reflection of two decades of her career.
“CHRO South Africa is a credible organisation with significant reach and impact, and it is truly an honour to be part of this process,” she says.
Njabulo believes HR excellence means that one shows up fully as a custodian of the people agenda. “I would say even unapologetically, it means that the people strategies you have talk to the realities of what the business is facing, and also look into the future of where the organisation is going.”
With 21 years of experience in HR, she has dubbed herself a people strategist and culture evangelist.
Njabulo’s message to young HR professionals is to keep on showing up and showing up means different things. “I think one is taking our profession very seriously. It’s taking our seat at the table. It’s recognising that every day we are actually building up towards these career successes. So the work might not feel like it’s being seen or recognised, but it all adds up and all experiences matter,” she says.
Njabulo is also a non-executive director on a number of boards including Mezzanine and Iot.Nxt. She got her professional start at Unilever as a trainee HR officer and went on to become a talent manager. She later joined the National Treasury where she became chief director of HR. Njabulo has also worked as an HR director at the JSE and Heineken.
Njabulo joins a bevy of key industry players as part of the judging panel, including:
- Abdullah Verachia, global strategist and keynote speaker
- Caryn Baird, independent advisor and executive coach
- James Ramakau, chairperson of South African Board for People Practices
- Moula Mokhobo-Amegashie, managing partner at Drayton Glendower & Mokhobo
- Paul Norman, CHRO, MTN Group and 2019 CHRO of the Year
- Raisibe Morathi, group CFO, Vodacom
- Sharon Taylor, chief people and culture officer, Standard Bank Group
- Shirley Zinn, Independent executive director and CEO of Shirley Zinn Consulting
- Tswelo Kodisang, group chief people officer, FirstRand
- Tumelo Seaketso, partner, STRASS Consultancy Solutions,
- Vukani Mngxati, CEO, Accenture Africa
