Your SAIMC servant-leaders have been as busy as usual this month! With the AGMs behind us, we are busy assimilating the new team members into the various sub-committees I mentioned in my January letter. This structure will lighten the load a bit on some of our council and committee members who have been burning the candle on both ends to keep the ambitious SAIMC ship on course! Council is also finalising the various funding packages for our patron members in line with their suggestions from our very successful meeting with them. We would have liked all the patrons to be present but unfortunately only a quarter were represented, so we have compiled an online survey to get feedback from the remainder.
An unfortunate episode
I am sad to report that on 24 March, a person using the alias of Adre Schoeman sent an email accusing the SAIMC and more specifically its immediate past president, Johan Maartens, of corruption. I am sure some of you have seen this disturbing email, but fortunately we have loyal patron members like Kenneth McPherson who immediately brought it to my attention instead of allowing the speculation to continue.
The SAIMC presented all the relevant information at both the patron members meeting and the AGM on the 26 March. As expected, the cowardly person who made these unfounded allegations did not attend the AGM to present their case against the SAIMC. I will summarise our presentation on this pathetic attempt to discredit the SAIMC and the highly ethical Johan Maartens for those who were not present at the meeting or AGM.
A specialist company initially undertook the secretarial work and managed the SAIMC website. Around 2010, the SAIMC terminated its relationship with this company due to issues that had festered over the years. The last straw was the unrecoverable loss of the entire SAIMC website! Claire Rosewarne then assumed the secretarial work, for the SAIMC on a half-day basis. Late in 2010 Claire decided to pursue another opportunity and the SAIMC, then under the leadership of Johan van Jaarsveld, interviewed three candidates some of whom were proposed by Claire. After an interview process conducted by him and the then general secretary, Vivian MacFadyen, a report was compiled in January 2011 with recommendations for council to decide on. The recommendation was that Ina Maartens be appointed. As the SAIMC does not have HR capacity to deal with employment legislation, taxes etc., it was decided to engage her services, on a half day basis, at a similar rate as Claire, via her company MaartensPro. It was unanimously agreed by council to accept this recommendation. This contract was renewed on an annual basis due to good performance by Ina.
In 2013 when I became president, the new council changed the contract from half to full day in order to provide more administrative support to the branches and council. The rate was increased proportionately and in 2014, MaartensPro did not increase its rate to the SAIMC. The market was tested in 2014 and a comparable service by another company cost almost four times more!
I hope this clarifies this matter and we can now put this issue to bed. We have traced the email to a person in Edenvale, Gauteng, but we have decided that we would rather focus our energy on the positives, so we will not take action against the person concerned. They have been shown to be unreliable and cowardly anyway! The SAIMC would like to thank all those members and patrons present at the meetings for their unequivocal support through this unfortunate episode.
Moving on to brighter things
With that out of the way, I am glad to advise that our branches and council are in full swing arranging golf days and annual functions. Please watch the pages of this magazine for further information. Other exciting news is that our industry calendar is up and running. Please email [email protected] to get your events loaded on this central portal. Ina will be contacting our patron members during the course of this month to gather their data.
We are also still looking for members to join our various sub-committees, so please come forward and volunteer your expertise and time.
Please email me your thoughts on [email protected], so council and I can serve you better.
Working together, achieving more, Vinesh Maharaj, President.
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
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