At CESA’s 66th Annual General Meeting held in Johannesburg on Wednesday the 25th November, Sugen Pillay from Zitholele Consulting was inaugurated as our new President for the next two years, succeeding Neresh Pather. He accepted the position stating, “It is certainly an honour and a privilege to serve in this position”.

Pillay, Managing Director of Zitholele Consulting, is registered as a professional engineer with over twenty years’ experience in the design and implementation of projects that cover most facets of civil engineering; and has more recently focused on Project and Programme Management related to multi-disciplinary mega projects and infrastructure programmes. He holds a BSc. Hons in Civil Engineering as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Civil Engineering and an MBA (cum laude).

Pillay paid tribute to outgoing CESA President, Neresh Pather saying, “Thank you to our outgoing president Mr. Neresh Pather for guiding us over the last 2 years through a really difficult period, one that has seen significant changes in the country and certainly in our industry”.

Discussing his upcoming role, he stated, “It is not a position that one takes lightly; and having been involved at the CESA Board level for a number of years now, I continue to appreciate the key role that CESA plays in the industry. We have been through tough times and these difficult and uncertain times are certainly not over yet, which further emphasises the role that CESA needs to play to firstly guide our industry; and very importantly to work with our clients so that as a country we achieve the best outcomes from our spend on infrastructure”.

“Our theme for next year is ‘2020, a time for Reflection, Renewal and Regeneration’, we have reconfirmed our 6 strategic goals, and as the leadership of CESA we are unanimous that our top priorities are firstly - Advocacy, Lobbying and Engagement with our clients, and secondly - deeper engagement with our member companies.

Pillay previously served as Chairperson of the Gauteng South branch of CESA, as Chairperson of the Gauteng branch of the SA Road Federation, and as Chair of both the Education & Training and the Finance & Staff Committees of CESA.