Louise Cooke
Q: How long have you lived in Camps Bay?
A: I first rented here for a year in 2010 and then, having looked at properties everywhere else along the Atlantic Seaboard, came back and bought my current home in 2015.
Q: Before the CID Steering Committee, how have you been involved in local community affairs?
A: As soon as I had my own home here in 2015 I sought to understand what structures there were in the community to see where I could best get involved. I came across both Camps Bay Watch (CBW) and CBCSI in that search and am now actively involved in both. I am CBW acting chair and I am a trustee (pending completion of Master’s Office formalities) of the Camps Bay and Clifton Safe Community Trust, which is the entity that funds the Camps Bay Community Security Initiative (CBCSI) and other neighbourhood projects related to safety and security.
In 2018 a group of us in our area decided that we wanted to improve our local security. We decided to implement a night time guard scheme. I lead and administer the scheme on behalf of our contributing neighbours, manage the bank accounts and deal with the security suppliers.
Q: What is your career and professional background?
A: My whole career has been within the fast moving consumer goods industries both in the UK and in South Africa. My professional background is marketing but the last 10 years I was in General Management – first as the Managing Director of Cadbury Southern Africa based in Johannesburg and secondly as the Chief Executive Officer of Parmalat Southern Africa based in Stellenbosch.
I am well used to multi-stakeholder decision making and large company programme implementation and have led multi-country operations involving thousands of employees.
Q: Anything else that we should know about you?
A: I am English and have chosen to live in South Africa after falling in love with the country on my first visit in 1996. I believe that we are better together and there is strength in a community coming together to protect and enhance what we have.
