In my last letter, I discussed the lack of skills available to operate and maintain our infrastructure. This month, I present a more specific look at the critical skills required in manufacturing, which were not identified in the draft Critical Skills List.
Johan Maartens.
First though, let me make it clear that by maintenance I do not simply mean fixing breakdowns and doing preventative maintenance. I am also talking about planning for the future. Planning additional dams to cope with population growth, more sewage treatment works, additional energy resources, etc.
With this strategic view of the future in mind, one of the most important skill sets overlooked in the draft list is that of the managing director (MD). South Africa is in the unfortunate position that it is totally reliant on international companies for the supply of sophisticated 4IR technologies. Furthermore, it seems that people assume anybody with a few years’ experience can fulfil the role of MD. We do not seem to understand that the MD must have a full overview of the technologies within his/her company – not just what is available today, but what is being developed for the future, the strategies to maintain a competitive edge, etc. To manage any company, especially an international one riding the wave of future technologies, a person does not only need a qualification and some experience, but also the vision and integrity to handle such a role.
In the current draft skills list, the focus seems to have been on positions that are currently vacant and advertised in one form or another. South Africa does not need more employees, we need entrepreneurs, people like Elon Musk, Bill Gates etc. Nothing in that list suggests that people with such ability have been classified as having ‘scarce skills’.
In future letters I will discuss the various professional categories and grades and the implementation of these. The era of the professional has arrived!
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SAIMC
The Durban branch of the SAIMC was pleased to welcome Vusi Sithole, managing member of Hybrid Control Corporation in Richards Bay, who presented\on the very pertinent topic of ‘Infrastructure monitoring and control for water loss management’.
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SAIMC
We say it every year, and we’ll say it again: May in Durban is hard to beat; but 9 May, when the Durban Golf Day teed off at Kloof Country Club, was something else. With sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 20s, it was a fantastic day, full of fun and great energy.
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SAIMC
Horst Weinert, head of Didactic at Festo Southern/Eastern Africa, will be sharing some of Festo’s Didactic experiences of working across industry and education. He will cover training for productivity and employability in the public and private sectors, discussing especially the potential for inter-company training centres.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The local Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC recently hosted a Technology Evening at Bryanston Sports Club on 9 April 2025.
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The April technology meeting for the Durban branch of the SAIMC was kindly sponsored by ProRisk, a subsidiary company of the Proconics Group of Companies. Process safety engineer, Guillaume de Swardt gave a fascinating presentation on the power of operational risk control by utilising CFD software.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council KS4I event SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
The SAIMC User Advisory Council started 2025 with its first event in the ‘Knowlege Sharing 4 Industry’ event series on the 19th of March.
Read more...Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry
SAIMC
In proud partnership with Innomotics, SAIMC will be hosting the first Knowledge Sharing 4 Industry event for 2025.
Read more...Getting your OT data into the cloud – the why and the how
SAIMC
As users recognise the benefits of a digital transformation strategy for their industrial plants and systems and start to adopt it, they soon face the challenge of getting operational technology data securely and reliably to a cloud service provider of their choice.
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