MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY CHAMBER MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY
21 AUGUST 2003 AT 17H30 IN THE ESKOM BOARDROOM

Present

Thembile Ntsizi (President), M Dreyer NW School of Design, E Phillips, Oneboy Moloalwa Tirelo Utilities, Trudie Smit Info Works, Gabri Cronjé MTN, Heather Pappas Digicore, Liz Smith BMF, Amareza Buys Vaal Triangle Technicon, AK Khuzwayo Klerksdorp City Council, Colin Hyman Old Mutual, Freda van Wyk. M W Damoyi, T I Tshabalala Anglo Gold, Wynand Dreyer Vaal Maseru, Johan Pretorius DPS, Gerard Naus SCBD, Casper Minnaar Independent Minds, Suné Rowan Advalue, Martin Lekutle Elite Toilet Tissue Manufacturers, Andre Oosthuizen Old Mutual.

Apologies

Ronnie Groesbeek, Susan Botha, Eaan Algera, Joubert Barnard, Ferdi van Niekerk, Elize Brandt, Johan Bezuidenhout, Tammy van Rensburg, Izak Bredenkamp.

WELCOME / APOLOGIES

The president welcomed all present, and extended an invitation to the meeting to pose questions.

A special welcome was extended to members attending the meeting for the first time:

Wynand Dreyer from Vaal Maseru and Martin Lekutle of Elite Toilet Tissue Manufacturers.

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MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES 17 JULY 2003

Correction pointed out by AK: reference to Proudly South Africa, should be Proudly South African. Minutes was accepted proposed by AK and seconded by Elsa Phillips.

Collin requested some feedback on the BEE Conference. Marlene reported that it was a very positive and interesting conference. It was a real eye-opener. Mr Bheki Sibiya's presentation was well received and very motivational.
A much more positive understanding of BEE was created by the various speakers.

Ben Mosala felt that smaller organisations should unify with larger business organisations and become a united voice within one organisation. Thembile expressed the view that in business there should be no differentiation of colour, but only business people, regardless of the person in charge.

Collin suggested that when businesses are nominated for the annual awards, one of the required criteria should be a component of black empowerment, within the company and the implementation of an equity policy. Marlene felt that it should only be implemented in the 2004 nominations as the entire concept is only taking shape at present and smaller companies do not comply yet.

Collin suggested that the organisers of the Air Show be congratulated on the success of the event. The Chamber office will send out a letter. RG

Elsa requested that feedback on the survey of skills requirements be submitted by the beginning of September, as a meeting between the Colleges will then be held.

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FEEDBACK (PORTFOLIOS)

• a) Education

  Elsa mentioned that the OBE system in Education went through a phase and that it is about to change to a new curriculum. Most of the textbooks used in the OBE system are outdated and have to be reprinted. There are no guidelines to which these books should be printed. She asked Business to take a firm stand regarding education so that the standards can be bettered.
  
  She felt that due to the implementation of the OBE (outcomes based education) system there is a lack of discipline in schools.

  Marlene and Amareza both felt that the gap between matric and tertiary education is too large.
  
  Learners are not well enough equipped for the transition into self-motivated study and lack commitment. There should be a bridging year to introduce students to tertiary education. The availability of suitably qualified candidates for the job market has a great impact on business, thus the importance that business reveals their requirements to colleges and universities in the area. An excellent example of co-operation between business and education is the involvement of Oranje Toyota, in the training of learners at the Technical High School.
  
  

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SEMINARS / ACTIVITIES / FUNCTIONS

• Liz mentioned the "Women in Business" luncheon, which will be sponsored by Absa and hosted jointly by chamber and BMF.
  
  

FUNCTIONS

• Mervyn Niland 1 Day MBA held on 19 March was fully booked out and enjoyed by everyone who attended. Comments were that it was extremely beneficial and informative. The Chamber will endeavour to book him for another session later in the year.

• The Promotion of Access to Information Act Seminar was held on Wednesday 26 March - Zytek will send the presentation to everyone who attended the seminar, in electronic format.

• Business Week - Mopani-Salga Development Train 19 - 22 May
  Casper Minnaar, who represents chamber, attended the meeting to appoint a committee to be in charge of all arrangements. The Business Week will now be held later in the year to coincide with the launch of the Transport Museum. North West Business Forum (NWBF) will also participate. Details will be made available as soon as we have more information.
  
  

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GENERAL

Ben mentioned that a BEE function, organized by BMF would be held on 26 September. He appealed to business and the community as a whole to support the function; BMF will also host a Women's Celebration day on 28 Augustus.

Report on council events & activities AK mentioned said that meetings would be held on 2 September, throughout the KOSH area to obtain feedback and input on the Council's proposed policy on Hawkers. The policy will be forwarded to Chamber for written submissions. He congratulated those businesses that won PMR (Professional Management Review) awards.
He also confirmed that the account for banners that was ordered for the inauguration of the executive Mayor, was written off.

Council has taken a decision to put up CCTV cameras in the CBD as a crime prevention measure. Collin questioned the practicality of this, as many businesses are moving out of the CBD.

AK also informed the meeting that appointments for vacancies advertised, have not yet been finalized.

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The meeting concluded at 18h30. Next meeting Thursday 18 September.

The President invited everyone present for refreshments in the adjoining hall.