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.

Du Plessis has a passion for people, and his personal vision is to bring hope and inspiration to everyone he encounters.

About Casidra

Casidra renders project management service to Departments within the Western Cape Government (WCG), local authorities, businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) community-based organisations (CBO’s), academic institutions, other governmental agencies and international assistance institutions.

As the Provincial Government Enterprise for the Western Cape Government, development projects are planned and implemented by Casidra.

Its proven ability and skills, ground level involvement in communities, proven track record and sound financial record-keeping, reporting and auditing make Casidra the preferred service provider.

For any media enquires contact Experience Matshediso on 082 560 5444 or [email protected]

Click here to get your copy of WineLand Magazine (or better yet, why not subscribe?)