At this stage it should be no secret that South Africa is in for a bumpy ride in terms of 2016. So, to kick off our year with an AGM designed to assist members with planning, the branch was addressed on 3 February by keynote speaker, Duncan Bonnet from Whitehouse & Associates, a specialist research company with strategic insight, specifically into Africa. The topic: “2016 – What does it hold for South African companies?” was warmly received by an audience that included a representative from the Capital City Business Chamber.
Duncan presented an overview of development drivers, elections, security, commodity prices, Rand weakness and bureaucracy within Africa, with the aim of assisting the audience to align themselves with opportunities on the continent. Some items which stood out included lack of infrastructure and skills, which both present opportunities for SA companies to leverage their services. Please feel free to request a copy of the presentation by sending an email to [email protected]
Jurie Weidemann addresses members at the AGM.
AGM feedback
As part of the AGM, the committee was elected and introduced including the following portfolios and representatives:
• Chairman: Jurie Weidemann (Allpronix).
• Vice chairman and secretary: Petrus Klopper (AI2SA).
• Marketing: Mark Taylor (DesSoft).
• Sales: Pregs Naidoo (Afrilek).
• Technology: Conrad du Plessis (IFM).
• Tertiary institutions and CPD points: Nico Marneweck (Yokogawa).
• Communications: Louis Hanekom (African Petrochemicals).
• Student affairs: Muhammad Babamia (AI2SA).
• Strategic relationships: Archie Pitso (Levivi).
Site visits/events
The committee hopes to host at least one golf day (around 21 April) and to support some of the tertiary institutions open days (TUT: 12 May), etc. We also hope to host some factory visits to the local industrial hubs and the feasibility to combine these with “Technical Days” is being reviewed. It is envisaged that these will take the form of a ‘Mini Expo’, where suppliers may present their products and services, and training can be hosted to interested parties.
Technical evenings
The committee has identified a host of interesting topics for the year to be presented and hopefully scheduled around what is important in terms of growth, etc. Some of the topics identified include: DCS, IoT, cyber security, condition based monitoring and mechatronics. Feel free to propose additional topics. (All presentations will earn CPD points for ECSA registered persons.)
Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month with the venues and topics communicated a week in advance.
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