Appointment of Executive Director: Human Resources

Dear colleagues and students

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Juliet Refiloe Mhango as the new Executive Director: Human Resources at the University of Cape Town (UCT), with effect from 1 June 2025.

Ms Mhango brings more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in human resources (HR) across several sectors, including telecommunications, healthcare, insurance, banking and professional services. She is recognised as a strategic and purpose-driven HR executive who has successfully led major transformation programmes, organisational design and digital innovation initiatives across the African continent and global operations.

She joins UCT from Avacare Health, where she has served as the Group Chief Human Resources Officer since October 2021. During her tenure, she designed and led a global people strategy that delivered significant impact, including organisational restructuring, implementing governance structures and achieving a Level 1 B-BBEE rating via comprehensive enterprise development and skills initiatives.

Prior to that, Ms Mhango served as Chief Human Capital and Transformation Officer at Cell C Ltd, where she pioneered digital reskilling and transformation programmes such as the Cell C Girl platform and the Data Science and AI Academy. Her leadership contributed to the company earning recognition for transformation, corporate social investment and employer excellence.

She has also held HR executive roles at Life Healthcare, Momentum Group, Sanlam Capital Markets and other notable institutions. A hallmark of her career has been the ability to align HR practices with business strategy, lead inclusive cultural transformations and foster strong stakeholder partnerships.

Ms Mhango holds a Master of Business Leadership (MBL) from the UNISA School of Business Leadership and a BA in Industrial Sociology and Psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand.

She is a member of the Institute of Directors South Africa and has completed several executive development programmes in coaching, organisation design and HR leadership.

• Read Ms Mhango’s abridged CV.

Her wealth of experience and strong leadership will be instrumental as we advance UCT’s strategic priorities in attracting, retaining and developing talent; strengthening institutional culture; and enhancing operational excellence within the HR function.

Ms Mhango will take over from Ms Naeema Brey, who together with Adv Barbara Mapara have served as acting ED for HR on a rotational basis. We thank both colleagues for holding the fort in this period and appreciate all their hard work and contributions in this challenging portfolio.

We look forward to the wealth of expertise Ms Mhango will bring to UCT as we continue to evolve our people practices in support of our Vision 2030 goals. Please join me in warmly welcoming her to the UCT community.

Sincerely

Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor

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