DAY 1 | 14 October 2026
HR Without Boundaries: Connecting Capable People, Performance Enabling Technology and National Progress 08:00 - 09:00
REGISTRATION & REFRESHMENTS
09:00 – 09:10
MODERATOR’S WELCOME | Clement Manyathela, Award-Winning Radio and Television Broadcaster
09:10 - 09:15
ORGANISERS INTRO| Ralf Fletcher, CEO, Topco Media
09:15 - 09:25
SALGA ADDRESS |Sithole Mbanga, Chief Executive Officer, SALGA
09:25 - 09:35
KEYNOTE ADDRESS |Leadership, Ethics and Organisational Trust: Building Institutions That People Believe In Trust is the invisible currency of high-performing organisations. It is what keeps people engaged when times are tough, drives discretionary effort and turns a group of individuals into a cohesive, purpose-driven team. But trust cannot be mandated or manufactured. It must be earned through consistent actions, authentic leadership and an unwavering commitment to ethical practice. This keynote explores how to model ethical behaviour at every level, how to create systems that reward integrity and how to navigate the ethical challenges. It examines what to do when trust has been broken and how to rebuild it. And it offers a roadmap for leaders who want to build organisations that people genuinely believe in. Because trust is not a nice-to-have. It is the foundation of sustainable performance. Speaker: Dr. Shirly Zinn, Author, Chair and Non-Executive Director of Boards
09:35- 09:50
MINISTERS ADDRESS |Turning Transformation into Competitive Advantage As South Africa enters a new era of employment equity, organisations are challenged to think beyond numerical targets. In this keynote, the Minister of Employment and Labour explores government's vision for the future of employment, the role of the Employment Equity Amendment Act in advancing
transformation and how business, government and organised labour can work together to build a workforce that drives inclusive economic growth and shared prosperity. Speaker: TBC 09:50 - 10:25
PANEL DISCUSSION |From Reactive to Predictive: Why the Future of HR Lies in Workforce Foresight As workforce challenges become increasingly complex, organisations need to look beyond historical reports to guide their people strategies. By leveraging workforce data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights, HR leaders can anticipate skills shortages, identify retention risks and evaluate future workforce needs before they become business challenges. This panel explores how workforce intelligence can help HR move beyond reporting to become a strategic partner, empowering leaders to make more informed decisions around workforce planning, budgeting and talent investment while building more resilient organisations. Panelists: ● Prof. Molefe Maleka, eMalahleni Campus Rector, Tshwane University of Technology ● Dr. Mariheca Otto, Founder & MD, Motto Consulting & Surveys ● Gerhard Hartman, Regional Sales Vice President, Mid Market - AME, Sage ● Maureen Makgolane, Senior Manager, Remuneration HRIS & Analytics, SALGA
10:25 - 11:05
PANEL DISCUSSION |TBC
Hosted By Panelists: TBC
11:05 - 11:15
Fast-Track Networking
11:15 - 11:35
RISE & GRIND | Coffee Break
11:35 - 12:15
PANEL DISCUSSION|HR as Civic Activist: Strengthening Municipal Services, Enhancing Revenue Management and Citizen Responsibility
Hosted By This panel explores the evolving role of HR in building municipalities that are more accountable, service-driven and responsive to the communities they serve. Beyond traditional people management, HR has an opportunity to shape the behaviours, capabilities and organisational culture that influence how public services are delivered. The discussion will examine how municipalities can strengthen
employee
accountability,
improve
revenue
management,
encourage a stronger culture of service and foster greater citizen responsibility. Panellists will consider what it takes to align employees, leadership and communities around a shared responsibility for building more effective and sustainable municipalities. Moderator: Motalatale Modiba, Senior Manager: Media and Public Relations, SALGA Panelists: ● Lerato Phasha, Portfolio Head: Municipal Finance and Revenue Enhancement, SALGA ● Fikile Tshabangu, Senior Manager: Municipal Human Resource and OD Support, SALGA ● Nondumiso Twalo, Senior Manager: Community Development, SALGA 12:15 - 13:15
INTERACTIVE BREAKAWAY SESSIONS
WORKSHOP 1
WORKSHOP 2 Hosted By
Optimising Total Rewards: Designing Benefits That Reflect Employees' Real Needs Employees’ financial pressures, lifestyles and expectations are changing, making it increasingly important for organisations to ensure their benefits remain relevant and valuable. This workshop explores how HR leaders can assess their total rewards offering, identify gaps and design more
Building the Whole Employee Experience: Health, Belonging and Growth Employee experience extends far beyond the workplace, shaped by an individual’s health,
responsive benefits that support financial wellbeing, health, different life stages and sustainable employee performance.
Workshop takeaways: ● Assessing whether your benefits strategy reflects the real needs of today’s workforce ● Designing more flexible and personalised benefits for different employee needs and life stages ● Balancing employee value, organisational affordability and measurable impact Moderator: Clement Manyathela, Award-Winning Radio and Television Broadcaster Panelists: ● Norma Mazibuko, Partner and Master Reward Specialist, Bowmans ● Ntombizone Feni, Group CEO, 21st Century ● Pavania Naidu, VP: Senior Reward Specialist ● Dr Keshia Mohamed-Padayachee, Executive Reward Strategist, Human Performance Systems & Governance Advisor
13:15 - 14:10
personal responsibilities, sense of belonging and opportunities to grow. This interactive workshop explores how organisations can move away from fragmented wellbeing initiatives and create a more holistic employee experience that supports people across different life stages. Delegates will examine how health, psychological wellbeing, belonging and development reinforce one another and identify practical ways to build these elements into the everyday employee journey. Workshop takeaways: ● How health, belonging and growth work together to shape how employees experience the workplace. ● The link between physical and psychological wellbeing, engagement, resilience and organisational performance. ● How employers can respond to different life stages, personal responsibilities and changing employee needs. Moderator: Elin Agodi, Founder & Director, The Human Element Panelists: ● Nomfundo Vilakazi, HR Director, Dis-Chem ● Julia Pope, Chief Financial Officer, Dis-Chem ● Jess Bates, Executive:Integrated Health, Dis-Chem ● Lizeth Kruger, Clinic Executive, Dis-Chem
LUNCH BREAK
14:10 - 14:15
Mindful Minute Take a moment to pause, breathe and recharge with Virgin Active. This guided wellness session combines simple movement and mindful breathing techniques to help you reset your energy, refocus your mind and return refreshed for the afternoon programme.
14:15 - 14:35
CASE STUDY |Policy Versus Practice: Rethinking Disability Inclusion and Talent Retention
Hosted By When a specialised employee suddenly lost their sight due to a medical emergency, it challenged traditional approaches to disability, workplace accommodation and talent retention. Using this real-world case study as a starting point, this session explores how organisations can move beyond compliance to create workplaces where employees with disabilities are supported to grow, contribute and lead. Panelists will share practical insights on inclusive leadership, accessible workplace design and the organisational capabilities required to retain valuable talent. Panelists: ● Noziphiwo Matshoba, Manager: Organisation Effectiveness and Wellness, SALGA ● Sibusiso Metu, Procurement Officer, SALGA
14:35 - 15:05
PANEL DISCUSSION |Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Entry-Level Jobs in South Africa South Africa cannot afford a future where technological progress comes at the expense of youth employment. Rather than asking whether AI will replace jobs, this session asks a more important question: how do we redesign work, graduate programmes and workforce strategies so that technology creates new pathways into employment? Discover how leading organisations are rethinking hiring, skills development and early-career talent to ensure the next generation is equipped to succeed in an AI-enabled economy. Panelists: ● Manini Molehe, Lead: Emerging Talent, Vodacom South Africa ● Nelo Spies, Executive Director, Junior Achievement South Africa ● Banele Mgwevu, Founder, ITSAGO AI
15:05 - 15:35
PANEL DISCUSSION|Creating Recruitment Experiences That Attract Top Talent The candidate experience has become a powerful differentiator in today's competitive talent market. Organisations that design thoughtful, transparent and engaging recruitment journeys are better positioned to strengthen their employer brand, build robust talent pipelines and attract high-quality candidates. This discussion explores how leading organisations are reimagining hiring processes to create positive candidate experiences that foster trust, enhance engagement and deliver long-term talent outcomes. Panelists: ● Penny Adams, Human Capital Executive, Primedia Out of Home ● Trinity Ncala, Managing Director, T&T Academy ● Corne Booysen, Managing Director, Trending Talent
15:35 - 15:40
Moderators Closing Remarks & Refreshments
16:00 - 18:00
Networking Cocktail
DAY 2 | 15 October 2026
HR Without Boundaries: Connecting Capable People, Performance Enabling Technology and National Progress 08:00 - 09:00 09:00 – 09:10
REGISTRATION & REFRESHMENTS MODERATOR’S WELCOME | Clement Manyathela, Award-Winning Radio and Television Broadcaster
09:10 - 09:20
SALGA ADDRESS |Pindiwe Gida, Chief Officer: Human Capital & Corporate Services, SALGA KEYNOTE ADDRESS |The AI-Enabled Organisation: Reimagining Work, Roles and
09:20 – 09:35
Culture A look at how organisations can move from experimenting with AI to fundamentally rethinking how work is designed, how roles evolve and how people are enabled to perform differently. As AI becomes increasingly embedded across the workplace, organisations have an opportunity to redesign operating models, rethink traditional structures and unlock new ways of working. This keynote explores how leaders can use AI as an enabler of human capability, productivity and organisational agility, while creating a culture that is prepared to adapt and thrive in an AI-enabled future. Speaker: TBC
09:35 - 10:15
PANEL DISCUSSION |Skills Can't Wait: Rethinking the Public-Private Partnership South Africa's future competitiveness depends on its ability to develop, deploy and retain talent. Addressing the skills challenge requires bold collaboration between government, business and education to align learning with industry needs, expand work-integrated learning and create sustainable pathways into employment. This panel explores how collective action can turn today's skills gap into tomorrow's economic opportunity. Panelists:
● Londiwe Mncube, Chief Human Resources Officer, Competition Commission South Africa ● Anton Visser, Group Chief Operating Officer, Alefbet Learning ● Thandeka Nkambule, Chief Transformation Officer, Sanlam ● Dr. Thobile Mhlongo, Director: Municipal Learning & Development, SALGA 10:55 - 11:10
Fast-Track Networking
11:10 - 11:40
RISE & GRIND | Coffee Break
11:40 - 12:20
PANEL DISCUSSION | Are We Preparing Leaders or Promoting High Performers? Too often, organisations reward exceptional individual performance with a leadership title but being a high performer doesn't automatically make someone a great leader. This session explores how organisations can move beyond traditional promotion models to build leadership pipelines based on potential, emotional intelligence, coaching capability and the ability to lead people through change. Learn practical insights into succession planning, leadership development and building leaders who inspire long-term organisational success. Panelists: ● Maseabo Mosia, Senior Manager: Organisational Development, Rand Mutual Assurance ● Kershini Govender, Programme Executive : COO's Office, Nedbank ● Patience Mushungwa, Divisional Executive: Human Capital, IDC ● Sam Locke, Chief People Officer, Glynt Group
12:20 - 13:00
PANEL DISCUSSION | The Governance Gap: Why Unstructured AI Adoption Is Undermining Trust and Productivity AI can improve the way work gets done but it needs to be supported by strong leadership, clear governance and intentional organisational design. Introducing AI tools without the right policies, skills and oversight can create confusion, inconsistent decision-making and unintended risks that undermine employee confidence and organisational performance. This discussion explores how to build governance frameworks that encourage responsible innovation, empower employees and ensure AI delivers meaningful value across the organisation.
Panelists: ● Kume Luvhani, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Vaxowave ● Devaan Parbhoo, Director, CerebrAI Consulting ● Kally Mabe, DEIB Expert, Vodacom & Director, LGBT+ Management Forum (SAWEI) ● Umika Gopichund, Senior Manager: Corporate Services, SALGA 13:00 - 14:00
LUNCH BREAK
14:00 - 14:05
Mindful Minute Take a moment to pause, breathe and recharge with Virgin Active. This guided wellness session combines simple movement and mindful breathing techniques to help you reset your energy, refocus your mind and return refreshed for the afternoon programme.
14:05 - 14:45
PANEL DISCUSSION | Leading People Through Continuous Change Without Losing Your Culture Continuous transformation has become the defining reality of today's workplace, with many organisations navigating technological advancements, restructuring, evolving employee expectations and economic uncertainty. The pace of change is impacting many employees as they experience change fatigue, burnout and growing uncertainty, placing organisational culture, trust and engagement under increasing pressure. This panel explores how HR leaders, executives and business leaders can lead transformation without losing the people who make it possible. Gain practical strategies for fostering a culture where employees feel informed, supported and empowered throughout periods of uncertainty. Panellists: ● Amukelani Maphophe, People & Culture Director, bp Southern Africa (bpSA) ● Priya Govender, Founder & CEO, Nisoka Consultants ● Zandi Mathe-Nhleko, Behaviour Change Strategist ● Prof. Kwazi Majola, Associate Professor, University of Limpopo
14:45 - 15:25
CLOSING REFLECTION |The Employee Voice: Hearing the People We Serve HR spends much of its time designing policies, programmes and experiences for employees, but how often do we stop to ask employees how those interventions are actually experienced? This closing session puts the employee voice at the centre, creating space for reflections on what employees value, where HR gets it right and where there is still a disconnect between HR’s intentions and the lived workplace experience. Discussion Prompts: ● What is one thing HR does well that genuinely makes a difference to your experience at work? ● Where does HR sometimes feel disconnected from the reality of employees? ● If HR leaders leave this conference and change just one thing, what should it be…
15:30 - 15:35
Moderators Closing Remarks & Refreshments