Team Nabantu
Phephile Simelane
Chief Executive Officer
At the helm of our company and the captain of our team, she is a leader who embodies the spirit of the remarkable and undefeated Queen Mbande Nzinga and brings her unique leadership qualities that inspire us all. She’s an opportunity architect and a masterful strategist that leads the team in delivering excellence, consistently. Driven by a vision that extends beyond profits, she champions building a business that makes a meaningful contribution and leaves a lasting positive legacy.
Sue Welman
Director: Coaching
Armed with curiosity, discernment and wisdom, our fearless truth seeker is driven to uncover knowledge, inspire personal growth and challenge everyone’s existing knowledge about their way of being. Our Co-Founder is a dynamic force in Business Development, Customer Relationship Management, Strategic Resource Management, and sought-after Executive Coaching. Known for her unique ability to hold emotional spaces and see through the noise, she identifies and addresses key concerns with precision. Sue thrives on creating meaningful connections and unlocking the potential within individuals and organisations.
Gae Nkosi
Director: Projects & Delivery
Gae Nkosi manifests the spirit of Kgosigadi, the regal queen of the Botswana tribe in 19th-century. With an exceptional talent for connecting our team with clients’ goals and ensuring timely delivery, ensures that the strategies developed are implemented creatively and comprehensively. With a keen eye for building bridges between engagement and strategic goals, every project is treated as an opportunity to truly change the efficiency around how we work as leaders and employees. Gae executes with purpose, care and alignment to your vision.
Ndumiso Nyoni
Director: Creative Comms
Ndumiso Nyoni embodies the spirit of Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction—the ultimate problem solver. Known for his extraordinary artistic talent, Ndumiso is responsible for developing creative concepts for Nabantu’s communications and client-facing assets. Like the character, he excels at cleaning up complex challenges, ensuring every project is visually captivating and seamlessly executed.
Dr Maru Uys
Director: Organisational Development
Embodying the spirit of Mansa Musa, like the legendary builder of Timbuktu, he brings insight, diplomacy, and a gift for transferring knowledge in ways that expand possibility. As Nabantu’s Organisational Development Lead, he is our deep thinker and problem-solver, shaping solutions that leave a lasting impact on our clients. His ability to design meaningful OD interventions and anchor teams in thoughtful, strategic practice is essential to how Nabantu creates value. Dr Maru strengthens the organisation by crafting solutions that endure long after the work is done.
Sive Booi
Consultant: Organisational Development
Sive Booi brings the spirit of the African warrior Maqoma, the famed Xhosa chief and resistance leader, to life. As project lead with a laser focus on multiple projects, he possesses a special talent for juggling multiple tasks. Sive excels in delivering projects, managing the creative team, and plays a crucial role in securing new business.
Khutso Selotole
Consultant – Mulimedia Designer : Creative Comms
Khutso embodies the spirit of the Rain Princess N’wapula, paying tribute to Queen Modjadji of the Balobedu tribe—the original water bender. Her name, blending Tsonga and Pedi heritages, translates to ‘daughter of rain,’ symbolising her innate connection to water’s magic. Khutso’s talent lies in cultivating team ideas into flourishing realities. Her creative prowess is the fertile ground where seeds of concepts blossom into captivating products.
Wanga Manthakha
Consultant: Projects & Delivery
Epitomises the spirit of Kabayan, a cherished character from Sundanese culture celebrated for her humility and sharp wit—a true free spirit. Her superpower is the eagle-eye, seeing how all the pieces come together. Wanga excels in multitasking with a bird’s-eye view, facilitating our Directors’ flow with effortless efficacy throughout their workday. Her keen organisational skills and proactive approach ensure smooth operations, enabling our team to achieve their goals seamlessly.
Lavhe Mukwevho
Junior Consultant
Lavhe embodies the spirit of Queen Makeda of Sheba, the legendary monarch known for her wisdom, power, and grace in navigating complex realms. She anchors scheduling, correspondence, and office coordination with precision. Lavhe is the first point of contact, the guardian of the office realm. As she oversees general operations, maintenance, supplies, reception, meetings, events and internal communication, she brings harmony to the space where every project begins.
Geraldine Heynes
Senior Consultant: Projects & Delivery
Geraldine embodies the strength and discipline of the Yoruba warrior: courageous, focused, resilient, and adaptable in every terrain. As Senior Consultant: Client Delivery and Projects, she turns plans into tangible outcomes, providing proactive team support while upholding high execution standards. She leads end-to-end project delivery, aligning timelines, scope, and client expectations. A steady coordinating force across teams, Geraldine mitigates risk, builds trusted relationships, and maintains momentum and stakeholder confidence.
Niashin Pillay
Consultant – Strategic Copywriter : Creative Comms
Niashin channels the spirit of Sundiata Keita, the Lion King of the Mali Empire, celebrated for uniting people through clarity of purpose and forging the Manden Charter. As Creative Consultant and Strategic Copywriter, he distils complexity, unearthing stories that resonate. He applies his creative acumen to craft messages that land with conviction and stir excitement. Niashin translates ideas into communication that excites and moves people, aligning vision, strategy and meaning in every piece of writing.
Kate Rowe
Senior Consultant
Grounded and deeply present, Kate draws on the legacy of Queen Amina of Zazzau, guiding people through expansion and transition with steady authority. As Senior Change and Organisational Development Consultant, she helps leaders make sense of complexity, have honest conversations, and align around a shared way forward. With care and sharp insight, she brings order to uncertainty and helps change take root.
Nyeleti Mkhari
Junior Consultant: Coaching
Nyeleti carries the spirit of Mariam the Prophetess, the unwavering guide who stood firm in moments of uncertainty. She brings an intuitive presence to the team. As Junior Coaching Consultant, she is the quiet force that keeps our coaching ecosystem moving. She streamlines administrative processes, supports our network of coaches and strengthens the quality of the coaching experience across Nabantu.
Funzani Madima
Consultant: Operations
Funzani carries the spirit of Queen Modjadji, the Rain Queen, whose gift of balance and renewal sustained entire kingdoms. As custodian of operational excellence, she ensures Nabantu’s systems, processes, and data move in harmony. She strengthens the organisation through tools and practices that drive consistency and accountability, translating data into insight and insight into action. Her work aligns teams into a single, steady flow that sustains long-term operational success.
Kgotso Mathabatha
Consultant: Projects & Delivery
Kgotso carries the spirit of Queen Mmanthatisi of the Batlokwa, a leader known for strength, courage, and steady guidance through change. She brings empathy, flexibility, and collaboration into every space she works in. As Clients and Projects Consultant, she shapes ideas into delivery, guiding projects from early direction through to final outcomes. She supports senior leadership on strategic priorities and builds trusted client relationships through consistent, hands-on engagement. Her work keeps momentum strong and progress visible.
Timika Naidoo
Consultant: Coaching
Timika is a Coaching Consultant and cultivator of human potential. A thoughtful listener who strengthens the human core of our work. Embracing the energy of Nyasha, the “Builder of Inner Worlds,” she guides growth from the inside out. At Nabantu, she strengthens the coaching team through insight, reflection and well-held process. She embodies presence, care and people-centred insight that enables real transformation.
Nyeleti Patricia Chavalala
Junior Consultant:
Patricia brings a steady, determined presence shaped by the legacy of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. She carries resilience, resolve, and a commitment to work that often goes unseen. She develops coaching initiatives, supports projects, and contributes research that strengthens delivery. Working closely with teams, she ensures processes are clear, ethical, and well run, bringing consistency and care to the work that holds the organisation together.
Natalie Deng
Consultant – Mulimedia Designer: Creative Comms
As a Creative Designer, compelling visuals are her strong suit, communicating with focus and impact. Where others see fragments, Natalie sees form. With the spirit of an earthbender and the flick of her hand, she leads visual communication with simplicity and precision, supporting teams with design that lands exactly where it should. Her special ability? Seeing what you need before you do and creating something out of nothing. Pure manifestation of imagination.