Rowan Albertyn

Rowan is employed as a technical director and is responsible for land management in the Resources Market. His responsibility is to direct and manage all projects that involves the acquisition of land, obtaining land use rights, and the development of industrial and supplier parks, mine housing and human settlement as a result of the relocation of project affected communities. He is a professionally registered urban and regional planner and has been involved in various housing and other mixed-use developments within South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.

He is the project lead on a few substantial integrated human settlement developments and specialises in the project packaging of developments for financial feasibility in investment readiness. He is a land and legal specialist and has a good understanding of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) and the associated regulations in conjunction tenure legislation in South Africa. Prior to joining Zutari, he was the owner of a professional planning practice called Urban Energy Town & Regional Planners CC.

Key projects involved the strategic inputs to establish agri-villlages in the Mkhondo Local Municipality and align with the Mkhondo Spatial Development Framework and the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, the upgrading of a portion of the Phola informal settlement in Piet Retief, and the roll-out of a comprehensive telecommunication network in the rural regions of Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces. Prior to the establishment of Urban Energy Town & Regional Planners, he was also contracted to the Development Bank of Southern Africa's Siyenza Manje Programme to provide planning support to municipalities under administration in the Mpumalanga Province. The principle purpose was to ensure that the municipalities have the institutional capacity and supporting policy framework to comply with the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act.

This entailed the drafting of IDP reviews in line with the municipality's status quo under administration, drafting policies relating to immovable assets of the municipalities and the disposal thereof, the drafting of terms of references and the procurement of external consultants to provide special planning services to the municipalities. He also provided support to the Municipal Department of Co-operative Governance, conducting audits on various municipal IDP reports and municipal turnaround strategies in compliance with the Municipal Systems Act. In addition, he represented Thembisile Hani Local Municipality as their planning professional at the National Council of Provinces during their time under administration.

Development Manager at Zutari (2026-02 – Present)

• User requirements and user specifications for accommodation units
• Site selection and risk analysis of site options
• Regulatory compliance with local DRC labour standards and ESIA process
• Integration of various Zutari workstreams
• Client alignment

Environmental and Social Risk Advisor at Confidential client (2025-08 – Present)

Confidential Logistics Corridor Environmental and Social Liability Assessment. Responsible for assessing the environmental and social liability associated with a heavy-haulage logistics corridor across Gabon, spanning rail, river and road transport options, and for providing inputs into the corridor and nodal development options under consideration. Advises on the residual social and environmental risks arising from corridor and nodal development within pristine rainforest biomes.

• Assessment of environmental and social liability for logistics corridor
• Analysis of rail, river and road transport options
• Corridor and nodal development options inputs
• Residual social and environmental risk advisory

Development Manager at Zutari (2025-04 – Present)

Hotazel Manganese Mines Housing Benefit Scheme and Town Development Project. Responsible for client alignment and the integration of the various project workstreams. The project involves the revision of the employee housing benefit scheme for housing and assessing the readiness of the town of Hotazel to accommodate the resulting housing demand, should the revised scheme be implemented.

This includes investigating the capacity and condition of the civil and electrical services, as well as the institutional arrangements required to prepare the town for the privatisation of services.

• Client alignment and project workstream integration
• Revision of employee housing benefit scheme
• Assessment of town readiness to accommodate housing demand
• Investigation of civil and electrical services capacity and condition
• Institutional arrangements for service privatisation

Development Manager at Zutari (2024-08 – 2026-02)

Barrick Lumwana Expansion Project – Employee Housing and Industrial Supplier Park Land Development. The project involves the development of an integrated human settlement and an industrial & supplier development park, to address the housing shortage in Manyama town because of a copper mine expansion and to diversity the economy of the region. The project involves the entire development cycle from concept study to delivering of housing units for approximately 2000 residential units and associated social infrastructure, bulk infrastructure, access roads and the affordability analysis to establish the ability of employees to purchase properties.

The professional services include town planning, civil & electrical services as well as contract and construction management. The estimated capital budget for the project is USD$80 million.

• Integrated human settlement and industrial supplier park development
• Housing shortage mitigation for Manyama town
• Economic diversification of the region
• Development cycle from concept study to housing unit delivery
• Affordability analysis for employee property purchase
• Town planning, civil and electrical services coordination

Project Executive at Zutari (2024-06 – 2024-11)

• Contractor camp design on general arrangement level
• User requirements and user specifications determination
• IFC and Ethiopian regulatory framework compliance
• Contractor accommodation design for all job grades
• Security, medical and emergency facility design
• Water and sanitation design
• Elevation designs for earthworks calculation

Site Acquisition, Land Management & Project Executive at Mitsui Corporation (2023-09 – 2024-04)

• Assessment of suitable locations along ROMCO gas line
• 1Gb Gas to Power Generation Plant development assessment
• Route options and capacity assessments to Eskom Transmission network
• Elevation and topographic analysis
• Environmental screening
• Regulatory compliance investigation
• Land valuations
• Land ownership and land rights due diligence

Development Manager / Project Executive at Khumani Housing Development Company (2023-07 – Present)

• Integrated human settlement development
• Housing shortage mitigation
• Economic base strengthening
• Development cycle from concept study to housing unit delivery
• Approximately 500 residential units
• Town planning, environmental planning and civil & electrical services coordination

Development Manager at Cato Ridge Development Company Ltd (2021-07 – 2022-06)

Cato Ridge land development facilitation.

The Cato Ridge

Development is an initiative of the land holder to strategically release land on commercial terms to end users and developers for the development of a large-scale logistics hub and intermodal transport facility. The land holdings comprise 1885 ha of land that is strategically located with high potential for development. Responsible for advising on the land use options, the planning of infrastructure development phases and facilitation of collaboration with government and private third party stakeholders and well as acting as the development proponent in the environmental authorisation process. Involved for 8 person-months.

• Land use options advisory
• Infrastructure development phases planning
• Collaboration facilitation with government stakeholders
• Collaboration facilitation with private third party stakeholders
• Development proponent in environmental authorisation process

Project Leader at Zutari (2019-06 – 2021-02)

• Local economy development and strengthening
• Agri-industrial development
• Community development
• Natural and community assets identification
• Project opportunity packaging for financial feasibility

Master's degree in Town and Regional Planning – University of Stellenbosch (2001)

BA in Geography, Archaeology and Public Development Management (1999)