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The improvement of soil and plant health throughout Southern Africa is the overriding mission of everyone at Zylem.

We are continually inspired and motivated by our partners, growers, consultants and other players in the agricultural industry to source or produce innovative products and services, which will assist them to be more profitable and effective in their sustainable farming endeavours.

Our vision is to provide an integrated service to agricultural and horticultural communities in the region, facilitating cost-effective, sustainable biological farming practices, with the assistance of professional services such as Brookside Laboratories Inc (USA), a world-class facility; and by researching and developing new, improved products.

 

Meet the Team

Justin Platt

Justin Platt

Founder, owner and Managing Director of Zylem
Primary Southern African representative of Brookside Laboratories Inc. Justin has a BSc in Plant Pathology and Botany from UKZN and has been involved in the agricultural services industry since graduating in 1979. He is passionate about sustainable agriculture and devotes considerable energy, not only to continually building his knowledge and experience, but incorporating it into...
Gill Platt

Gill Platt

Administrative Manager
Gill became Zylem’s Administrative and Financial Manager in 2005. Her background is in the advertising, marketing and PR field, which had been her focus since graduating with a BA from UKZN in 1980. Prior to joining Zylem, Gill completed a diploma in Business Management at Varsity College to equip her for her new role.
Nosipho Mbele

Nosipho Mbele

Trainee Junior Technical Manager
After growing up on a farm in Donnybrook, KZN, and completing her primary and secondary education in the area, Nosipho completed her MSc in Horticulture at UKZN, graduating in 2018. Her thesis evaluated fruit growth and development of avocado varieties such as Hass, Fuerte, Gem and Ryan over an extended harvesting period. She joined the...
Brenda Coleman

Brenda Coleman

Bookkeeper
Orders and Brookside Laboratories administration A long serving and loyal employee, Brenda has been our Bookkeeper – and a great deal more – since joining Zylem in 2008, after returning from a stint in Australia with her family. She is also responsible for Brookside-related business, as well as orders and stock control, and has developed...
Estelle Schoeman

Estelle Schoeman

Logistics and Office Administration
Her smiling face and cheerful voice have been greeting visitors and callers to Zylem since 2014. Estelle is our ‘front of house’ person, responsible not only for all our office requirements, but very importantly, co-ordinating our logistics. She is in charge of our seed potato sales and works very closely with our growers and transporters...
Thulani Phakathi

Thulani Phakathi

Trials Assistant and General Maintenance
Indispensable for his versatility in field and maintenance work, Thulani has been involved with the Platt family and Zylem since his early 20’s. He is continually upskilling himself and can turn his hand to numerous aspects of our business; from assisting with trials, to sorting and grading seed potatoes, preparing samples for analysis at Brookside,...

Meet Our Brookside Laboratories Consultants

Rory Milbank

Rory Milbank

Brookside Laboratories Consultant
Rory Milbank of Eco Agri Solutions and Paula Lourens of Vermi Solutions have also qualified to become Brookside Laboratories consultants, under the auspices of Justin Platt, and look after a wide variety of clients throughout Southern Africa. Rory’s primary focus is on holistic agriculture, soil rehabilitation and the development of soil and plant health. He...
Paula Lourens

Paula Lourens

Brookside Laboratories Consultant
Paula offers independent soil recommendations, precision sampling and data processing. Her philosophy – “Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it will grow our food, our fuel and our shelter and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it.” Vermi Solutions office:...

Find out more about soil health and chat with us today!