Portfolio

Lethabo
Machabaphala

Marketing and Communications | Stakeholder Engagement | Higher Education

Marketing and communications professional with over a decade of experience in higher education branding, stakeholder engagement, and integrated faculty communication strategy, including more than four years managing faculty-level marketing and communication at the University of the Free State. This portfolio presents documented evidence of campaigns delivered, platforms built, stakeholders engaged, and communities served, prepared for review by donors, universities, government departments, and development agencies.

Emaillethabomachabaphala@gmail.com
Phone061 584 3780
LocationBloemfontein, Free State
Professional headshot of Lethabo Machabaphala
01 · Professional Profile

A practitioner who builds visibility, trust, and pathways

Marketing and communications professional with over a decade of experience in higher education branding, stakeholder engagement, and integrated faculty communication strategy, including more than four years managing faculty-level marketing and communication at the University of the Free State. Skilled in developing recruitment-aligned communication campaigns, producing faculty publications and digital content, and managing website and social media platforms to support institutional visibility and enrolment objectives.

Experienced in internationalisation reporting through active membership of the UFS Internationalisation Committee Forum, in committee-level governance reporting, and in budget, vendor, and event management within institutional risk and compliance frameworks.

Proven ability to lift digital performance and stakeholder participation through data-driven content strategy. Committed to protecting and advancing faculty and institutional reputation across all communication platforms. Every claim in this portfolio links to a source document, a published platform, or a photograph from the field.

Leadership approach

Reports into senior governance structures, manages external agency relationships, and has led a team of four communication specialists and two agency partners in a prior corporate role.

Governance & reporting

Represents faculty on the Internationalisation Committee Forum, contributes to the Reputation Management Forum, and provides communication support to Faculty Board and executive structures.

Communication style

Plain language, UK English, audience-first. Writes to be understood on first reading, whether the reader is a matriculant, a dean, or a donor.

Development impact focus Youth access to education and careers, digital inclusion, and institutional communication capacity in the Free State and beyond, alongside a decade-long track record of measurable results in recruitment, publications, and digital performance.
02 · Core Competencies

Nine practice areas, one integrated function

Grouped as they appear across a decade of higher education, corporate, and independent consulting roles.

Student Recruitment & Enrolment Marketing

Recruitment-aligned campaigns for community-facing and postgraduate programmes, lifting participation by an average of 25% per cycle through targeted stakeholder mobilisation.

Faculty Publications & Content Development

Newsletters, digital content, and print publications produced on a structured editorial calendar, cutting publication cycle time by 30%.

Digital Platforms & Social Media Management

Website and social media management lifting digital compliance, accessibility, and engagement through a data-driven content strategy.

Internationalisation Reporting & ICF Liaison

Faculty representative on the Internationalisation Committee Forum, compiling reporting via the institutional toolkit and supporting international partnership communication.

Stakeholder & Alumni Engagement

Sustained relationships across faculty leadership, professional services, students, alumni, and government and community partners.

Event Coordination & Risk Compliance

Faculty events and engagements coordinated in line with institutional risk management and event procedures, including contingency planning.

Budget & Vendor Management

Annual marketing and communications budget and supplier procurement, coordinating designers, photographers, and print vendors within financial governance.

Brand Governance & UFS Compliance

Brand standards, communication policy, and consistency maintained across all stakeholder touchpoints and institutional platforms.

Committee & Executive Reporting

Reporting support to Faculty Board and executive structures, with strategic input to the Reputation Management Forum.

Grouping reflects the structure of the accompanying CV; every item above corresponds to a documented role or committee membership.

03 · Professional Experience

A career told through outcomes

Each role is presented as a challenge, response, and documented result, drawn directly from the accompanying CV.

Marketing and Communication Officer

University of the Free State, Bloemfontein · Faculty of Theology and Religion and Kovsie Phahamisa Academy
Feb 2022 – Present

Challenge

Two academic units needed aligned marketing, brand governance, and stakeholder relations reporting into senior governance structures, alongside external agency management.

Objective

Develop and run an integrated faculty communication and marketing strategy aligned to institutional brand standards and enrolment objectives.

Actions taken

  • Manage the annual marketing and communications budget and supplier procurement, coordinating designers, photographers, and print vendors
  • Represent the faculty on the Internationalisation Committee Forum, compiling reporting via the institutional toolkit
  • Provide communication and reporting support to Faculty Board and executive structures, and contribute to the Reputation Management Forum
  • Manage and update the faculty website and social media platforms via a structured, data-driven content strategy
  • Coordinate faculty events in line with institutional risk management procedures, including contingency planning

Innovation

Designed a structured editorial calendar and standardised brand governance protocols for designers and print suppliers.

Results

+25% average participation increase per recruitment cycle · −30% publication cycle time · live faculty platform at www.ufs.ac.za/theology

Lessons learned

Recruitment is won in message discipline, and a faculty's digital compliance and accessibility improve fastest when content strategy is data-driven rather than ad hoc.

Evidence produced

Campaign plans · editorial calendar · budget and procurement records · ICF and RMF reporting · live faculty site EV-A1 to EV-A4 · EV-C1 to EV-C4 · SRC-06

Corporate Communications Manager

GoTo Communications, Polokwane
Apr 2019 – Jan 2022

Challenge

A portfolio of public and private sector clients needed consistent brand governance and communications strategy across a team of specialists and agency partners.

Objective

Lead communications strategy and brand governance for the full client portfolio while embedding performance management across accounts.

Actions taken

  • Led a team of four communication specialists and two agency partners
  • Designed and executed integrated marketing campaigns across print, digital, and outdoor media
  • Produced performance reporting and analytics dashboards for client leadership
  • Built and maintained strategic media relationships, managing press releases and stakeholder communications

Innovation

Combined data-driven content strategy with AI-enabled scheduling tools and integrated campaign frameworks across the client portfolio.

Results

+35% average year-on-year growth in client digital platform performance

Lessons learned

A structured brand governance framework, applied consistently, protects client reputation more reliably than reactive campaign management.

Evidence produced

Campaign frameworks · analytics dashboards · media relations records EV-B1 to EV-B3

Corporate Business Director

Gallant Industries, Tshwane
Apr 2018 – Apr 2019

Challenge

An organisation needed executive-level ownership of brand strategy, corporate communications, and stakeholder engagement.

Objective

Grow brand visibility and revenue through a targeted, integrated media and communications strategy.

Actions taken

  • Led corporate communications, brand governance, and stakeholder engagement at executive level
  • Oversaw external agency relationships and the full production pipeline for corporate materials
  • Developed brand governance standards and communication policy for consistency across touchpoints

Innovation

Tied brand visibility metrics directly to revenue outcomes, giving the executive team a shared measure of communications performance.

Results

+20% brand visibility within six months, contributing to +15% revenue growth

Lessons learned

Executive-level communications work lands when it is measured in the same terms the business already uses: visibility and revenue.

Evidence produced

Brand governance standards · communication policy documents EV-D1 to EV-D2

Marketing and Communications Officer

University of Limpopo, Polokwane
Mar 2015 – Feb 2017

Challenge

A public higher education institution needed sustained student-facing communication and reputational intelligence for leadership.

Objective

Promote academic programmes and support student-facing campaigns, career expos, and stakeholder mobilisation.

Actions taken

  • Monitored and assessed broadcast and print media coverage to generate reputational intelligence for institutional leadership
  • Produced press releases, institutional publications, and campaign reports to editorial and governance standards
  • Maintained strategic media stakeholder relationships and supported public relations and event communication

Innovation

Turned media monitoring into a proactive reputation management input for leadership, rather than a reactive clippings file.

Results

Sustained student-facing campaign delivery and institutional publications across a two-year term.

Lessons learned

Reputational intelligence is only useful if it reaches leadership before a story breaks, not after.

Evidence produced

Press releases · institutional publications · campaign reports EV-E1 to EV-E2

Independent Communications Consultant

Polokwane, Limpopo
May 2013 – Feb 2015

Challenge

NGOs, SMMEs, and community organisations needed communications, branding, and web development without the budget for a full agency.

Objective

Deliver integrated marketing strategy and governance-aligned communication frameworks tailored to each client.

Actions taken

  • Delivered communications, branding, and web development services across a mixed client base
  • Built governance-aligned communication frameworks for each client individually

Innovation

Brought institutional-grade governance thinking to small organisations that would not normally have access to it.

Results

Multiple NGO, SMME, and community clients served across a near two-year independent practice.

Lessons learned

Small organisations need the same governance discipline as large ones, just delivered at a scale and cost they can sustain.

Evidence produced

Client communication frameworks · brand and web deliverables EV-F1 to EV-F2

Community development: career navigation & NGO digital inclusion

Development · Youth · Digital

Challenge

Young people in township and rural schools making study and career decisions without reliable information, while the community organisations serving them lack any credible digital presence funders can verify.

Objective

Build structured career navigation support for learners, and give under-resourced NGOs and ECD centres professional websites and digital tools at accessible cost.

Actions taken

  • Founded a registered Free State non-profit (NPO 262-335) with two pillars: learner career navigation and NGO digital assistance
  • Designed programmes spanning Grade 8 subject choice through post-school pathways, with digital assessments and application support
  • Built and published the organisation's full digital platform, resource guides, and partnership framework

Innovation

Treats career guidance as a communications problem and publishes pilot targets as targets, not results, committing publicly to honest measurement and reporting.

Results

Registered NPO established with live platform, three learner programmes, six partnership routes, and free public resource guides. Pilot delivery in set-up phase. See SRC-04

Lessons learned

Development work compounds through systems. One good workshop helps a room; one reusable, funded programme helps every room after it.

Evidence produced

Live platform · programme documentation · resource guides · NPO registration EV-G1 to EV-G4 · SRC-04
04 · Portfolio Evidence

Evidence register

Every artefact class held in the supporting portfolio. Reference codes match the case studies and Photo Evidence section below; items are available for inspection on request.

EV-01

Marketing plans

Full-cycle campaign and annual marketing plans

EV-02

Communication strategies

Institutional and programme-level strategy documents

EV-03

Website designs

Design versions, architecture maps, live faculty build

EV-04

Social media campaigns

Content banks, calendars, published campaigns

EV-05

Branding material

Event and programme identity packs

EV-06

Newsletters

Published faculty and stakeholder editions

EV-07

Press releases

Press releases and media statements, UL and UFS

EV-08

Photography

Event, campaign, and community project photography

EV-09

Graphic design

Banners, posters, print and digital design work

EV-10

Digital publications

Programme guides, annual reports, digital documents

EV-11

Analytics & reporting

Performance dashboards, ICF and RMF reporting

EV-12

Proposal documents

Project and funding proposals

EV-13

Presentations

Executive and stakeholder presentations

EV-14

Budget & procurement records

Marketing budget and supplier procurement documentation

EV-15

Brand governance standards

Policy and governance documents, Gallant Industries

EV-16

Event programmes

Printed and digital event programmes

05 · Photo Evidence

Documented in the field

Photographic evidence of hands-on delivery: community facilities developed, and creative work produced.

Volunteers and staff establishing planting beds in the community garden at Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre

Community garden at HCYCC

Establishment and development of the garden at the Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre, supporting nutrition and a productive outdoor learning space.

PH-01
Visitors viewing the children's book collection in the library at Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre

Community library and reading club, HCYCC

Library and reading club established at the Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre in partnership with Sasol Library (2024).

PH-02
Graduation wall banner design for the University of the Free State Faculty of Theology and Religion

Banner designs

Large-format graduation wall banner produced for the faculty, carrying the institutional identity and a scannable QR code.

PH-03
Mandela Day 2025 event poster naming Lethabo Machabaphala as Programme Director

Mandela Day 2025 event poster

Poster and running order for the joint UFS Library, Theology and Religion, Community Engagement, and Financial Planning Law initiative, naming Lethabo as Programme Director.

PH-04
Choir and drummer performing on stage at the Theological Day Service in the Odeion

Theological Day Service, performance

Student choir and drummer performing at the Odeion, University of the Free State, during the annual Theological Day Service.

PH-05
Audience of students and staff seated in the Odeion auditorium during the Theological Day Service

Theological Day Service, audience

Students and staff in attendance at the Odeion, reflecting turnout for the annual service.

PH-06
Verification note All six images above are drawn directly from project files rather than stock imagery. The library photograph corresponds to the Sasol Library partnership named in the CV; the Mandela Day poster independently corroborates the Programme Director credit referenced in the case studies above.
06 · Verified Sources

Publicly verifiable references

Live platforms and published documents a reviewer can open independently. These anchor the portfolio's claims to sources outside this document.

07 · Impact Dashboard

Delivery at a glance

10+
Years in marketing & communications
4+
Years at UFS, faculty-level
+25%
Recruitment participation, per cycle
−30%
Publication cycle time, UFS
+35%
YoY digital growth, GoTo client portfolio
+20%
Brand visibility in 6 months, Gallant
+15%
Revenue growth attributed, Gallant
5
Roles across a 13-year career
All figures above are stated in the accompanying CV and attributed to the specific role in which they were achieved; see the Professional Experience case studies for context.
08 · Leadership & Strategy

How the work gets led

Cross-functional collaboration

Coordinates academics, designers, ICT, recruitment offices, and external agency partners; led a team of four communication specialists and two agency partners at GoTo Communications.

Stakeholder management

Maintains working relationships across faculty leadership, professional services, students, alumni, communities, and government contacts, matching message and channel to each.

Committee governance

Active on the UFS Internationalisation Committee Forum, Reputation Management Forum, Faculty Engaged Scholarship Committee, and Faculty Board.

Problem solving & decision making

Diagnoses before prescribing. Distinguishes the decisions that need consultation from those that need speed, and documents the reasoning either way.

Innovation

Adopts digital tools and AI-assisted workflows where they raise quality or free time for higher-value work, always with human review of anything published.

Governance & public sector awareness

Works within institutional policy, procurement rules, protocol requirements, POPIA, and institutional risk management frameworks.

09 · Community Engagement

Communication as a development tool

Alongside institutional work, Lethabo applies his professional skills to youth empowerment, education access, and community support. The throughline is information equity: making sure opportunity is not lost simply because news of it never reached the person it was meant for.

He established a community library and reading club at the Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre in partnership with Sasol Library (2024), demonstrating stakeholder collaboration and community-focused programme delivery (see Photo Evidence, PH-01 and PH-02). He also organises an annual clothing drive (2022 to present) and coordinates ongoing donation initiatives.

Focus areas

  • Community library and reading club, HCYCC (2024, with Sasol Library)
  • Annual clothing drive (2022 to present)
  • Youth empowerment and career navigation
  • Digital inclusion for NGOs and ECD centres
  • Ongoing donation initiatives
10 · Qualifications, Memberships & Languages

Education, standing, and reach

Education and qualifications

  • B.A. Communication Studies (NQF Level 7) — University of Limpopo, 2011
  • Nyukela Public Service SMS Pre-entry Programme — National School of Government
  • LinkedIn certifications: Crisis Communication · Business Writing · Event Planning · AI in Business Communication

Professional memberships and committees

  • MACE (Marketing, Advancement and Communication in Education) — active member
  • UFS Internationalisation Committee Forum (ICF) — 2023 to present
  • UFS Reputation Management Forum (RMF) — 2022 to present
  • Faculty Engaged Scholarship Committee (FESCO) — 2022 to present
  • Faculty Board member — 2022 to present
Languages English: Professional · Sepedi: Professional · Sesotho: Professional · Afrikaans: Fair
11 · Career Timeline

Milestones

2011

Foundation

B.A. Communication Studies (NQF Level 7) completed at the University of Limpopo.

2013–2015

Independent consulting

Delivered communications, branding, and web development services to NGOs, SMMEs, and community organisations in Polokwane, Limpopo.

2015–2017

University of Limpopo

Marketing and Communications Officer, promoting academic programmes and managing institutional reputational intelligence.

2018–2019

Gallant Industries

Corporate Business Director, growing brand visibility by 20% in six months and contributing to 15% revenue growth.

2019–2022

GoTo Communications, Polokwane

Corporate Communications Manager, leading a team of four specialists and two agency partners and growing client digital performance by 35% year-on-year.

2022–present

University of the Free State

Marketing and Communication Officer for the Faculty of Theology and Religion and Kovsie Phahamisa Academy; Faculty Board member, RMF and FESCO member from 2022, ICF representative from 2023.

2024

Community library, HCYCC

Established a community library and reading club at the Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre in partnership with Sasol Library.

2025

Mandela Day, Programme Director

Directed the Mandela Day programme at the Heidedal Child and Youth Care Centre, coordinating four university units.

2026

Portfolio consolidation

Compiled this Portfolio of Evidence for donor, university, government, and development agency review.

12 · Future Vision

Where this work goes next

Higher education

Contribute to how South African institutions communicate: honest, audience-first marketing that widens access rather than merely competing for it.

Youth development

Scale career navigation and information access so that a learner's postcode stops determining what they know about their own options.

Digital transformation

Help institutions and development organisations adopt AI-augmented communication responsibly: more capacity, same accountability.

Aspiration To lead communications functions and development initiatives where measurable community impact is part of the brief, not a by-product of it, and to keep building systems that outlast any single campaign.