APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: PROF MPILO PEARL SITHOLE

The Board of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Mpilo Pearl Sithole as the second Chief Executive Officer of the Institute. Professor Sithole will assume office on 1 April 2026, succeeding Professor Sarah Mosoetsa, who previously served in this role.

This appointment marks an important and exciting moment for the Institute. The Board looks forward to Professor Sithole’s leadership in guiding the NIHSS as it navigates the evolving higher education landscape and continues to strengthen the role and relevance of the humanities and social sciences within South Africa and beyond.

Chairperson of the Board, Professor Mogomme Masoga, commented, "The Institute is currently engaged in a process of reflection and renewal as it reimagines its position and contribution within the broader higher education and knowledge ecosystem. In a rapidly changing global environment, the humanities and social sciences are increasingly called upon to respond to complex societal challenges, adapt to shifting global dynamics, and reaffirm their central role in shaping the knowledge economy.

Professor Sithole brings a wealth of scholarship, leadership experience, and intellectual contribution to the Institute. She is widely recognised as one of South Africa’s distinguished social anthropologists, with research interests that span governance, gender, development, and social inequality".

Professor Sithole completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Durban-Westville and later obtained both her Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Cambridge.

She has made significant contributions to transformative scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Her work engages critically with questions of knowledge production, reflexivity, and what she has described as “intellectual choreography”, examining the power dynamics that shape academic discourse and the role of scholarship in addressing societal challenges.

Her book Unequal Peers (2009), together with numerous scholarly publications, reflects her longstanding engagement with issues of traditional leadership, development, and the role of the social sciences in advancing social change.

Professor Sithole has held several senior academic leadership positions, including serving as Campus Vice-Principal at the University of the Free State (QwaQwa Campus). She has also contributed to public service as a Public Service Commissioner in KwaZulu-Natal. Currently based in Durban, she works as an independent researcher and consultant.

In recognition of her academic contributions, Professor Sithole was awarded the Women in Science Award in 2011 by South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology. She is also an Academician of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and serves on UNESCO’s MOST (Management of Social Transformations) Scientific Advisory Committee for the 2022–2025 term.

The Board and the Institute look forward with great anticipation to this new chapter in the leadership of the NIHSS and to the contribution Professor Sithole will make in advancing the mission and impact of the Institute.