Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) has announced a change of leadership with Neresh Pather, a Director at Mott MacDonald, being appointed President of the association, while Sugen Pillay, Managing Director of Zitholele Consulting, being named Deputy President.
Pather brings more than 25 years of engineering consulting industry experience to the role. He has been with Mott MacDonald for the past two decades, following more than 12 years at PD Naidoo & Associates Consulting Engineers, which was acquired by Mott MacDonald in 1997; he was then the firm’s CEO. His current role at the global engineering consultancy firm, which has 17 offices across Africa, is largely focused on leading the firm’s work in the transportation sector across Africa.
“I am truly humbled by the privilege bestowed upon me to lead our industry. I hope that CESA will be able to renew and reinvent itself to increase our relevance to both our clients and young professionals, who will ultimately take over the leadership of the industry. We will seek to broaden our scope as the industry transforms over the coming years to make sure that CESA becomes more inclusive and relevant and is able to put the industry at the forefront of its mind through effective ethical leadership,” said the new President.
Incoming Deputy President, Sugen Pillay graduated from the University of Natal with a BSc. Hons in Civil Engineering, and has since completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Civil Engineering and an MBA. He is the Managing Director of Zitholele Consulting, a greater-Johannesburg based engineering consultancy.
The Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) is an association of member firms, which represents the interests of the industry, particularly its 540 members and their circa 23,000 employees. The bodies range from large multinational, multidisciplinary suppliers of a comprehensive range of planning, design and project delivery services; to, many small to medium-sized firms that tend to specialize in selected areas of the project delivery process.
They are both set to serve a two-year tenure working on behalf of CESA’s more than 540 associated firms to support the joint interests of the consulting engineering industry.
