Bekithemba (Themba) Gumbo is a Civil Engineer and holds a PhD in water and sanitation. He is a national from Zimbabwe, permanently resident in South Africa since 2001. He was trained in Zimbabwe, England and the Netherlands.

He has more than 20 years of working experience, firstly, during the late 1980’s early 1990’s where he worked for the City of Bulawayo as a water and sewerage engineer. He joined the University of Zimbabwe as a lecturer in 1995. During his ongoing tenure in academia he has been a lecturer, visiting researcher, and external examiner at various institutions and universities in southern Africa. He has published widely in water and environmental management.

In 2004 he worked for the Training and Instructional Design Academy of South Africa (Tidasa) a consulting company based in Pretoria, South Africa. In the beginning of 2005 he joined WaterNet as a Manager, a network affiliated to Cap-Net comprising of 60 university departments, training and research institutes in 17 countries of Southern and Eastern Africa working together to build and strengthen capacity in integrated water resources management.

Before joining Cap-Net in 2011, Dr Gumbo held the position of Project Manager for a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) regional water demand management (WDM) programme being implemented by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).

His passion is on networking, capacity development and empowering young people to take-up a carrier in water and environmental engineering and management. Contact Themba on themba.gumbo@cap-net.org

Cornelis Adriaan (Kees) Leendertse holds an MA in social sciences from the University of Utrecht. He specialized in rural and economic development issues, with special focus on aquatic resources.

After graduation, Kees had several teaching assignments at the University of Utrecht. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988 to assess development project proposals on their effectivity and efficiency. In 1990, Kees started work on a UNDP/FAO project for development planning and management of the Great Lakes in Eastern Africa. From 1992 to 1996, Kees worked with FAOs Fisheries Department at its headquarters in Rome, mainly on the formulation of integrated coastal zone and inland water bodies management strategies.

In 1996, Kees joined WL|Delft Hydraulics. He was ad-interim coordinator of a water resources planning project in Egypt and contributed to the development of a manual for environmental project development. He worked on the conceptualization of economic, social and institutional aspects of integrated water resources management. From 1998, Kees continued to work as an independent consultant on projects related to resources management and knowledge transfer on relevant subjects. In 2002 he joined Cap-Net as human resources development specialist.

Kees has contributed to international forums and published several position papers on social, economic and institutional aspects of water resources management. Contact Kees on kees.leendertse@cap-net.org

Lucas has a National Diploma in Cost and Management Accounting and extensive  experience and skills working for UNDP. He brings a valuable knowledge of support systems, managing finances and familiarity with Atlas accounting system of the UN.

He found himself as a self-starter with iniatives and always seeking new challenges without fear .He is keen on sharing knowledge and information with his colleagues. Lucas can be contaced on lucas.tlhagale@cap-net.org

Shirley has a degree in Psychology and Public Administration from the University of Port Elizabeth.
She is both the procurement and front line person for Cap-Net and as you can see brings a cheerful smile to work each day.

Shirley can be contacted on info@cap-net.org