Our Leadership > Thabang Sophie “Peppy” Kekana
As MD of one of the few black women-owned law firms in the country, Peppy is fully aware of the barriers to meaningful gender equality and the glaring shortage of women leadership positions in the legal sector.
She is conscious of the fact that big corporate companies and government departments are still finding it difficult to put their biggest legal projects in the hands of woman-owned firms.
This has strengthened her determination to make sure that young women and men are given an opportunity to lead, so that they can inject fresh energy and the latest innovations into the profession.
KHR Inc.’s Managing Director, Sophie Thabang “Peppy” Kekana, has been at the helm of the KHR ship since its inception in 2002. Her warm and affable disposition makes both staff and clients feel comfortable around her and her inspiring and visionary leadership embodies the essence of ubuntu in the most authentic manner.
Her proven ability to set a clear vision and see it through to manifestation has ensured consistent growth and exciting future prospects for the firm. What is more, her leadership qualities and commitment to transformation have earned her influential spots in some of the legal profession’s most powerful bodies.
Peppy is a pioneer who has single-mindedly sought to change the negative narrative about black female leaders. Self-awareness and clarity of mind have sharpened her ability to keep her ear to the ground, adapt strategies when necessary and identify opportunities to positively impact the world around her.
In her thirty years in the legal profession, she has influenced major decisions that have resulted in ground-breaking changes. She has also built solid personal and professional relationships that have further expanded her sphere of influence.
Peppy makes no secret of the joy she derives from knowing that she is uniquely- positioned to make legal representation accessible to everyone, from individual clients to large corporates and multinationals.
In her own words: “We apply a multi-angled client-centric approach in assessing matters, which assists our clients in making qualitative and cost-effective decisions. This comes from the understanding that every client matters. That is why our services are tailor-made to meet the unique requirements of every client. We are conscious of the need to produce favourable outcomes for our clients, whilst ensuring that the costs of legal proceedings are kept to a minimum.”
Peppy’s current passion is grooming the next generation of leaders and empowering them to master the ins and outs of the business side of law. Looking ahead, she sees herself adopting a consultant role so that she can continue to guide the KHR team and push them to greater heights, and also expand her sphere of influence to train other new entrants in the legal profession.
Ms. Kekana was admitted as an attorney in 1994, following which she was appointed as a legal advisor at the Health Profession Council of South Africa until 1996. She later joined Seriti, Mavundla and Partners as an associate and was made director in 1998.
From 2000 to 2002, she served as director at Huntley Kekana Seth. A highlight of this period was her involvement in the restructuring of arms manufacturing giant Denel.
She was appointed as an acting judge of the High Court, South Gauteng Local Division, from 2006 to 2018. She was also a member of the board of the South African Restructuring of Insolvency Practitioners (SARIPA) and a director at National Liquidators (Pty) Ltd. She is currently the Chairperson of the board of the Legal Practitioner’s Fidelity Fund (LPFF).
On application by the Financial Services Board, the Pretoria High Court appointed her as a curator of the Municipal Councillors Pension Fund in December 2017.
Her other areas of expertise include insolvency law, corporate and commercial litigation, personal injury litigation, investigations and compliance reviews, insurance law, medical malpractice litigation, corporate governance, and pension law. She holds a B. Proc. (UNIN), LLB (VISTA) and Certificate in Management of Petroleum Policy and Economics (WITS).
