Highlands Investement Team | South Africa

Meet our team

We have a highly qualified, commercially strong leadership team and a specialist team of agronomists, scientists, pharmacists and engineers oversee our cultivation process.

Jody Aufrichtig

Jody Aufrichtig

Chairman

Jody is a multiple award-winning entrepreneur and business builder creating substantial shareholder value in cannabis, commercial and residential property, private equity, tourism, leisure and other industries. Jody is a South African registered Chartered Accountant and was previously the Managing Director of Canopy Growth Africa.

Mark Corbett

Mark Corbett

Managing Director

Mark is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience building successful start-up businesses in high growth industries. He was previously the Deputy Managing Director of Canopy Growth Africa and prior to that Regional Director – Asia for Union Swiss – owner and distributor of Bio-Oil.

Stephen Stander Project Engineer and Head of Logistics 

Stephen Stander

Deputy Managing Director

Stephen has 23 years of experience in construction and project management and planning. Stephen was previously Director of Project Management at Canopy Growth Africa where he was responsible for developing the first GAP certified cannabis growing facility in Africa. Stephen holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Pretoria

Mark Gething | Highlands INvestments | Cape Town

Mark Gething

Commercial Director

Mark is a commercial professional with more than 15 years’ experience spanning operations and special projects across the value chain. He is passionate about business design and development with interests in commercial strategy, RTM design and implementation, packaging, and technical procurement.

Mark has an Industrial Engineering degree from Stellenbosch University and a Masters in Business from the University of Cape Town.

Taryn Vos In House Legal Counsel

Taryn Vos

In House Legal Counsel

Taryn is a highly skilled commercial and corporate attorney and oversees all legal and commercial administrative agreements for the company. Taryn was previously Head of Legal – Africa for Canopy Growth Corporation. She was an Associate at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc in Cape Town.

Yasin Khan Responsible Pharmacist

Yasin Khan

Responsible Pharmacist

Yasin is a passionate and experienced Pharmacist committed to developing Cannabis in alignment with the highest pharmaceutical standards to ensure product quality and patient safety. Yasin is responsible for all formulations, GAP and GMP compliance, audits, process and product validations, quality management and systems development. Yasin was previously the Director of Quality Assurance at Canopy Growth Africa and prior to that Production Manager at Afriplex.

Boyd Hutchings Agronomist

Boyd Hutchings

Agronomist

Boyd qualified in horticulture from Cape Peninsula University of Technology with a keen interest in medicinal plants and compounds. His studies included time in laboratory environments training in sterile culture and propagation of medicinal plants with his major project being in mushroom cultivation. Boyd was previously Head Agronomist Canopy Growth Africa

Sheshank Pillay | Highlands Investments

Sashank Pillay

Country Manager
Lesotho 

Sashank has had over 20 years’ experience working in both the public and private sectors in Lesotho. Sashank has led multimillion-rand projects in financial, telecom, health and hospitality sectors in Lesotho. Sashank was previously Country Manager – Lesotho for Canopy Growth Africa and he holds a BA from Rhodes University

Tony Budden Strategic and Government Relations Director

Tony Budden

Strategic Advisor

Tony co-founded Hemporium, Africa’s oldest cannabis / hemp company in 1996 and has been instrumental in helping to change laws, hearts and minds in the use of plant medicines in Africa and beyond. Tony is a regular on the cannabis speaking circuit and was recognised internationally as one of the top 100 Global Icons at the Cannabis Business Awards in the USA in April 2020. Tony was previously the Director of Government Relations and Strategy for Canopy Growth Africa.

Teboho Mofo Lesotho Government and Local Relations

Teboho Mofo

Lesotho Government and Local Relations

Self motivated, goal oriented, professional and extremely ambitious! Skilled negotiator, strong leadership skills.  Innovative, self driven with passion for excellence A strategist with 19 years of entrepreneurship in pharmaceuticals, IT, FMCG, medicinal cannabis and telecoms.

Justin Bekker Finance Manager

Justin Bekker

Finance Manager

Justin is a qualified CA who oversees all the financial and IT aspects of the business. Justin was previously the Head Financial Manager Canopy Growth Africa

Gavin Basserabie International Strategy & Corporate Advisory

Gavin Basserabie

International Strategy & Corporate Advisory

Gavin is a Chartered Accountant based in Sydney, Australia. He has over 20 years’ experience in rapidly scaling startup businesses and a history of successful exits. Gavin was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Canopy Growth Africa