The Sephaku board has announced the passing away of Pieter Fourie on May 19. Fourie was the CEO of Dangote Cement South Africa (DCSA), trading as Sephaku Cement, and a non-executive director of SepHold.
He was part of the SepHold founding management who dared to disrupt the long-standing cement industry oligopoly in 2005. He became CEO of SepCem in May 2007 following the company revising the initial minerals exploration model to one focused on selected industries, including cement manufacturing that would provide long-term shareholder value.
Fourie was subsequently appointed a board director of SepHold on 20 November 2009 following the JSE listing, bringing extensive experience in the cement industry defined by longevity and success throughout his career.
His experience and deep industry knowledge spanned several decades and continents. His previous roles included being marketing director of Blue Circle, which was subsequently acquired by Lafarge South Africa, the MD of the cement business unit of Lafarge South Arica and strategic development director for Africa based at the Lafarge head office in France.
His role at Blue Circle included sales, distribution and marketing before being promoted to managing director of the cement business. He subsequently accepted the assignment at Lafarge’s head office in a strategic development role to integrate the newly acquired business in Africa into Lafarge’s portfolio.
Fourie’s positive impact on SepHold, DCSA and the South African cement industry was significant. He is survived by a wife, three children and five grandchildren.
SepHold board chairman Brent Williams says, “We have lost an individual with enormous institutional insight and memory of the cement industry. This is indeed a very sad day for the Sephaku family. Pieter was pivotal in negotiating the relationship agreement with Dangote Industries PLC to establish SepHold’s partnership in Sephaku Cement. Pieter had successfully established SepCem as a formidable cement brand in South Africa at the time of his passing. He had managed to reduce the project bank debt significantly within six years. Pieter’s ever calm and optimistic demeanour never detracted from the tenacity and steadfastness that he always brought to bear with equal ease in shepherding SepCem on the long road towards achieving its strategic goals.”
