South Africa: Duan Classen, the Operations Executive of Sephaku Cement, has been appointed as its acting chief executive officer (CEO) following the admission of Pieter Fourie to hospital. The cement producer said that Fourie, its current CEO, had been receiving medical care after suffering a stroke and was responding well to treatment.
Classen has been a member of the executive management in charge of operations since the construction of Sephaku Cement’s plants. He holds a bachelor degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Pretoria, and has previously participated in the Young Managers Development Programme at INSEAD in France and a Management Development Programme at Duke University in the US. Classen completed his graduate engineer training at De Beers before joining Blue Circle Cement in 1997, where he was involved in Blue Circle Cement's integration into Lafarge in 1998. He subsequently worked for PPC before being appointed to DCSA in early 2008.