It is with great pleasure that the Board of Trustees (the Board) at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (the Fund) announce the appointment of Dr Linda Ncube-Nkomo as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective 03 January 2023.

Dr Ncube-Nkomo has extensive experience in business, the development and consulting sectors, amongst others, where she has served in executive and directorship capacities for almost two decades. In her most recent role, Dr Ncube-Nkomo led the New Love Life Trust as CEO for five years and was previously the Chief Financial Officer for two-and-a-half years. She has served on several boards, including the Old Mutual Foundation, where she currently serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees.

The Board would like to extend its gratitude to Dr Stanley Maphosa, for leading the Fund as Interim CEO, since June 2022.

Chairperson of the Board, Judge Yvonne Mokgoro, says, “This is a new chapter for the Fund that promises to bring about a new approach to our work with a leader who has gained the confidence of the Board in leading the Fund forward. We would like to thank Dr Maphosa for steering our organisation during this transition in the past six months. He will resume his position as Chief Programmes Officer at the start of the CEO’s tenure.”

Dr Ncube-Nkomo says she feels honoured to take the helm as CEO at the legacy institution. “The Fund holds Madiba’s passion for children at its core and has a great history of changing the lives of vulnerable children across the country. This legacy continues today and it is my privilege to work together with the various teams, doing amazing work on the ground, to enable greater impact to those who need it the most.” 

The Fund launched its 2022 – 2017 strategy, Legacy in Action, which focuses on intensifying interventions related to child health, safety, economic resilience, youth leadership and empowerment.

Dr Ncube-Nkomo says that the strategy remains key to guiding the organisation’s activities in the next four years. “Children in our country remain vulnerable to various socio-economic factors including the advent of Covid-19 and its ramifications which continue to pose a great threat to their wellbeing. Our goal as an organisation will be to have a footprint in the most isolated of areas and those children who remain forgotten. I look forward to engaging with the Fund’s donors, partners and stakeholders in taking this mission forward.”