Mr Thomas Malizana Phiri was born on 25 November 1957 in Wallmansthal. He is the director of TPLR and Training Services (Pty) Ltd in Mabopane, north of the City of Tshwane which he founded in 2002.

He worked for Nissan SA between 1982 and 1997 as Human Resources Officer and from 1997 to 2005 he worked for Safropa, dealing with flour production as Human Resource Manager. He was also involved in the drafting of the Constitution for the establishment of PAETA ,now AgriSETA.

Mr Phiri is the first person in the country to submit the Work Skills Plan (WSP) and was rewarded for showing his commitment to skills development in South Africa. He assisted more than 50 organizations with accreditation with various SETAs. He further capacitated these organizations with conducting training in a professional and ethical manner.

TPLR is accredited with AgriSETA and has extension of scope with the following SETAs namely; EWSETA, LGSETA, CETA, ETDPSETA, FP&MSETA, TETA and CATHSSETA.

Mr Tommy Phiri is also the President of Unity Social Club, National Chairperson of AgriSETA Service Providers Forum and Registered Assessor and Moderator with different SETAs. His academic qualifications include: Advanced Labour Law Programme (UNISA), Implementation and Evaluation of Quality Systems (SABS), Advanced Labour Relations Skills Development (Pretoria Technikon), Human Resource Diploma (DAMELIN) and Personnel and Training Management Diploma (DAMELIN).