Indlulamithi SA Scenarios Trust has announced the appointment of its new Board of Trustees. This marks an important milestone in the organisation’s continued commitment to advancing strategic thinking and shaping a shared vision for South Africa’s future by fostering inclusive conversations and evidence based foresight.
The newly appointed Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, economist and researcher Xhanti Payi, takes over from Professor Somadoda Fikeni who has led the Trust since its founding in 2017. Professor Fikeni remains as a Trustee, and continues to work closely with the new Chairperson, including attending key stakeholder engagements in support of Indlulamithi’s work. .
Several notable appointments were made for this new term, Xhanti Payi as Chairperson and three new trustees were appointed.
Indlulamithi also welcomes the following new Trustees:
- Kagiso Masela, who brings over a decade of experience across financial services, ESG and real estate-linked markets. He currently serves as Channel Manager for Sustainability & ESG Solutions at First National Bank.
- Thato Tsita, is an investment banking executive and fund manager with more than 20 years of experience across South African and global markets. She is currently a Partner and Director at Tamela Capital Partners.
- Zimkhitha Peter, is a values-driven entrepreneurial leader with over 15 years of senior executive experience across philanthropy, education and entrepreneurship. She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy SA.
The Board of Trustees provides strategic oversight and governance for Indlulamithi. It safeguards the independence of the organisation’s research and scenario-planning work, while guiding Indlulamithi through the next phase of its 2025 to 2029 strategy.
The Chairperson Xhanti Payi, expressed the privilege and gratitude to take on the role at such a pivotal moment for South Africa.
“This appointment is truly a privilege and comes at a pivotal time in democracy of our country. This year Indlulamithi will embark on Conversations on the Journeys to our Future; a dialogue series based on the 2035 Indlulamithi Scenarios and Barometer. This will entail publishing of popular awareness-raising material & toolkits on various media platforms. In addition, several workshops will be hosted to trigger action among identified stakeholders representing various sectors. These activities are in alignment with Indlulamithi’s Strategic Goal 2 for the 2025 to 2029 period: “Advocate for and Support Social Compacts that promote collaborative governance based on the Indlulamithi scenarios.”
The Board Chairperson further highlighted Professor Fikeni’s progressive and industrious leadership over the past nine years.
“The former Chairperson Professor Somadoda Fikeni led the Trust since inception and has overseen the launch of the two sets of scenarios, five barometers and a set of economic models. He was also instrumental in the formalisation Indlulamithi, as well as resource mobilisation to effectively implement Indlulamithi programmes. As of April 2026, nine of the eleven Trustees are returning to serve a second term, and three new Trustees have since joined the Trust, ” added Payi.
For almost a decade, Indlulamithi has developed some of South Africa’s most closely watched scenario-planning tools. Its original three scenarios – Nayi le Walk, IsBhujwa and Gwara Gwara – were built on extensive research into the drivers of social cohesion. They were also grounded in the conviction that economic growth, without social cohesion, would leave South Africa short of a genuinely prosperous future.
Following the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest of 2021, Indlulamithi refreshed its scenarios. By 2023, the Barometer’s 54 indicators showed the country was gravitating towards a new ‘Gwara Gwara plus’ trajectory. This prompted the launch of a new set of scenarios for 2035: Hadeda Home, Vulture Culture and Weaver Work.
These foresight tools remain central to Indlulamithi’s work under its new leadership. In the period ahead, the organisation will launch Conversations in Journeys into the Future. The dialogue series will be grounded in the 2035 Indlulamithi Scenarios and Barometer, and will be supported by workshops and awareness-raising aimed at stakeholders across South African society.