Panellist

Rikus Delport is Director: Institutional Advancement (DIA) at the University of Pretoria (UP). He joined the university in July 2018. DIA is responsible for the overall management of the university’s strategic marketing, communication, advertising and branding; managing UP’s official communications channels; keeping in contact with alumni; and raising funds.

Prior to his appointment, he was Deputy Managing Director and Senior Director, Client Service at Edelman’s Johannesburg office – the world’s largest public relations and communications marketing firm. During his time at Edelman, he specialised in financial and corporate public relations as well as reputation and crisis management. He provided strategic counsel to some of SA’s leading listed companies and institutions, as well as global corporates, including Tsogo Sun, HP, M-Net, MultiChoice, and the continent’s largest fixed-line operator, Telkom, where he used to run an integrated newsroom.

He has assisted companies across the African continent, including Peace Parks Foundation, M-Net, DStv, PGM, Openserve, SYSPRO, and Glencore with media, issue, and crisis communications training.

Rikus is a former Editor-in-Chief at Media24, Africa’s largest media group, where he developed editorial strategy across print, online and mobile business, and financial publications. He established and implemented editorial standards of excellence, prepared and administered budgets for all publications, and restructured and integrated different editorial divisions across the group’s business titles.

He holds a BA Communications degree from the Potchefstroom Campus of the University of North-West, as well as a master’s degree in Management Coaching (cum laude) from the Stellenbosch University Business School.