Dual-listed Southern Palladium has announced the appointment of Advocate Lindi Nkosi-Thomas as a nonexecutive director, effective from June 10.

Nkosi-Thomas, a practising lawyer and senior counsel, is a member of the Johannesburg Bar, having been called to the Bar in November 1994. She was conferred the status of silk by then-President Jacob Zuma in 2009.

As senior counsel, she has been involved in various significant litigious matters and has advised State-owned companies and government on numerous large-scale transactions and legal issues.

Between 2006 and 2023, she served as a Judge of the High Court of South Africa on multiple occasions and continues to do so intermittently.

Among her directorships, Nkosi-Thomas serves as chair of Miracle Upon Miracle (MUM) Investments, which owns the rights to the Bengwenyama platinum group metal (PGM) project through a joint ownership structure in which Southern Palladium holds a 70% stake, and the remaining 30% is held by a company wholly-owned by the local Bengwenyama community.

Simultaneously with Nkosi-Thomas’s appointment to the board, Southern Palladium announced that nonexecutive director Geoff Hiller would step down from his role.

Hiller, a founding director of the company, will remain invested in Southern Palladium and continue to provide leadership advice and support as the project shifts from exploration to development.

"Nkosi-Thomas's appointment marks a significant addition to the board at an important juncture, as Southern Palladium progresses toward project development at the world-class Bengwenyama PGM project.

Her career background and current status as a prominent lawyer in South Africa offers a specialist skillset that is complementary to the board's existing strengths. In addition, Nkosi-Thomas’s role as chair of MUM Investments provides her with a strong knowledge base of the company, in terms of both operations and key stakeholder management.

“We look forward to working directly with Nkosi-Thomas at the board level to maintain direct oversight of Southern Palladium's operational and strategic objectives. I wish to [also] give a special vote of thanks to Hiller, who has made an outstanding contribution to Southern Palladium, and I am delighted that he will remain involved even though he is no longer serving on the board," said Southern Palladium chairperson Roger Baxter on June 11.