Casidra celebrated Mandela Day by handing over 180 packs of school stationery to the value of R40 000 to the Pebbles Project.

These stationery packs were handed over by Casidra’s Public Relations Team to the Fundraiser for Pebbles Project, Rachel Ward da Costa, on Monday, 18 July 2022 at the Pebbles Project offices in Kraaifontein.

CEO Keith du Plessis thanked and acknowledged all staff and donors/sponsors for their contributions during his address at Casidra.

“Our 67 minutes for Mandela Day celebrations started on the 13 July 2022 when we delivered garden compost and tools as well as prepared vegetable gardens at the Raithby Methodist Church in Raithby and the Noorder-Paarl High School in Paarl,” he says.

Stationery for schools

The CEO quoted one of his favourite quotes of the legend himself, Nelson Mandela: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

“We stood together and gave our support to those in need. Let’s continue to do our bit by changing the lives of others. We must make every day a Mandela Day”, says Keith.

Casidra SOC Ltd is a rural development company based in Paarl that works mainly in the rural communities within the Western Cape Province where poverty is rife.

The company seeks to build partnerships that facilitate local resource mobilisation and action, that encourage local participation and advocacy for development efforts, and that foster co-operation among local role-players.

Due to a lack of resources experienced by many communities, Casidra always looks for various donations and sponsorships in order to assist wherever possible.

WATCH: The Pebbles Project

ALSO READ: Casidra welcomes new incoming CEO, Dr Keith du Plessis

Casidra is pleased to announce Dr Keith du Plessis as its incoming CEO, effective 1 June 2022.

Du Plessis’ experience spans more than 19 years in the Agriculture value-chain in various capacities ranging from Research and Development (R&D) to Investment and Trade Promotion.

He spent more than nine years in the Agricultural R&D space at the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) in Stellenbosch and more than ten years as Head of the Agro-processing sector at the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.

His career started in 2002 as a Researcher in the Soil and Water Science Division at ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, where he focused on soil health and biological wastewater treatment systems.

His research findings have been published in scientific, semi-scientific and popular journals and have also been presented at local and international scientific conferences.

In 2009, du Plessis joined the ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij management team as Acting Programme Manager for the institute’s Post-harvest and Wine Technology Division.

In 2012, he joined the Business Development unit at CDC as Sector Lead for the attraction of Agro-processing and Aquaculture investments into the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) where his core focus was to attract Foreign and Domestic Direct Investment in the Agro-processing sector into the Coega SEZ and the larger Eastern Cape.

His portfolio included food and high-value crop processing, biofibres and aquaculture. Du Plessis also developed several projects that required the integration of the supply of raw materials to the production facilities situated in the Coega SEZ.

He led the team developing and implementing the strategy for the multi-billion Rand Coega Aquaculture Development Zone in the Coega SEZ.

Du Plessis holds a PhD and MSc in Microbiology, an MPhil in Environmental Management, from University of Stellenbosch as well as BSc and BSc (Hons) from the University of the Western Cape.

He successfully transitioned from natural science to business management and completed an MBA at the University of Stellenbosch Business School in 2011. Currently, he is pursuing a BCom Law degree through UNISA.

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