Announcement – SABPP Board Leadership Changes

Dear SABPP Members

Following the resignation and the untimely death of the Board Chairperson Dr Marius Meyer, the Board has elected new office bearers as per SABPP Charter requirements. The office bearers will serve the unexpired portion of the period for which Dr Marius Meyer had been elected (November 2018 to November 2021)

Chairperson

Dr James Ramakau has been elected as the Chairperson of the Board with immediate effect until the end of the 13th Board Term on 19 November 2021. Dr Ramakau previously was the first Deputy Chairperson of the Board for the past two and a half years working closely with Dr Marius Meyer.

On fulltime basis, he is the Manager Talent & Sourcing for Kumba Iron (Anglo American), where he is responsible for talent and leadership development programmes, talent acquisition and learning and development. He is a seasoned professional and serves on the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP), University of Pretoria Advisory Board for Human Resources Management and on the Psychology Board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) He holds a PhD in Industrial Psychology. James advocates for a new way of thinking when it comes to people practices and creating conducive environments for people to flourish and reach both organisational goals and their individual goals.

Xolani Mawande the CEO said the following on Dr Ramakau’s appointment: ‘We are deeply saddened by the untimely passing of Dr Marius Meyer, but we are excited about the new possibilities following the appointment of Dr James Ramakau. Dr Ramakau brings a wealth of experience to not only SABPP, but to the whole industry of HR professionals. He takes on the baton at a critical time in the history of SABPP and we look forward to his leadership and initiatives!’

First Vice Chairperson

Dr Rica Viljoen remains the first Vice Chairperson of the Board and the chairperson of the LQA subcommittee of the board.

She is a Master Organisational Development Practitioner. Rica is the Sibanye-Stillwater Vice President: Organisational Development and an internationally renowned facilitator that specialises in Engagement, Inclusivity, Strategic HR, Multinational and Organisational Culture and Radical Organisational Transformation.

Rica’s doctorate was awarded an Academy of Management Award for one of the best contributions to the field of study in Inclusivity and Management. She also has been awarded the CEO award for her contribution to the field of study nationally and internationally by the Institute of People Management (IPM). Dr Rica is also associated with the American Psychological Association (APA), IMCA and SIOPSA and the various centres of Human Emergence globally. She has successfully supervised more than 90 doctorate and master’s degrees in the fields of Culture, Diversity, Inclusivity and Identity and Gender Studies. Her publications include a book on Co-determination in association with the SABPP and the book Spiral Dynamics in Action: Humanities Master Code, with Don Beck, Sergei Solonin, Teddy Larsen and Thomas Johns. The book is currently being translated into seven different languages.

Second Vice Chairperson

Dayalan Govender has been elected as the second Vice Chairperson of the Board for the remaining portion of the term until the 19th of November 2021.

Dayalan has been a Board Member for the past two and a half years.

Dayalan is currently a Partner within the Advisory – Consulting division of Price waterhouse Coopers (PwC), where he leads the HR Transformation integrated solution as well as the education industry sub-set within Consulting across SA. Dayalan holds a wide range of both National and internationally recognized qualifications in the areas of Education, Human Resource Development, Organisational Development (OD), Change Management as well as in other management & leadership related disciplines. Before joining PwC, Dayalan occupied several senior positions within Government and the higher Education sector and also functioned as an Academic in the area of Management& Leadership at Unisa before going on to be the regional academic manager for KZN. He has presented a number of papers at National and International conferences and also published a series of articles during his stint as an Academic. During his tenure at PwC he has led and worked on a whole range of large-scale transformational projects in the areas of OD, PMS, Change management, Leadership development etc. in both public and private sectors in SA and across Africa over the last 15 years. In addition to this, he has done work in Kenya, Zimbabwe Mauritius, and been involved with a number of strategic initiatives across the globe within the PwC network. Dayalan served as a part time/ guest lecturer on the Univ of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN) – MBA programme focusing on Organisational behaviour. He previously served 2 successful terms on the Board of Directors with the Institute of People management (IPM). He is also a member of Institute for Directors (IoD – SA). Dayalan is a registered and accredited Master HR professional with the South African Board for People Practice (SABPP). He is currently a member of the 13th SABPP Board since 2018.Dayalan is currently busy with his Doctorate studies in the area of management leadership.

Other Board Members Remain Unchanged

  • Paul Gibbons
  • Prof. Logan Naidoo
  • Noluthando Msibi
  • Prof. Pierre Joubert
  • Sifiso Cele
  • Kolobe Mashala
  • Busi Mashiane
  • Dr. Mochabo Moerane
  • Wendy Mahuma

We wish James, Rica and Dayalan all the best as they lead the Board through and post covid-19into the future.

We call upon all of you to give the new leadership the same support and encouragement you gave to Dr Marius Meyer in the interest of our Profession.

SABPP regards, Xolani Mawande – On behalf of the Board