Change is Part of Life’s Evolution

As they say in the classics, “Time flies when you having fun!” But really, where did 2017 go???

Who would have thought in 2017 that in 2018 we would have a new President and who would have thought that our previous president would be going to court to battle Change it out about corruption charges! So in my mind – “ If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies” rings true to my ears! Change is also an important part of life’s evolution.

So here are some of SAPEMA changes that are adding to Association’s evolution:

During 2015/2016 the SAPEMA EXCO had made decision to pursue the change of the Association becoming a NPC; and to then eventually become an NPO. We are proud to confirm that SAPEMA is now a Registered NPC with CIPC and we have recently also received our Tax Exemption certificate.

In November 2017, the Exco had recently motivated the request for the structure of having Regional Branches be dissolved. The reason behind this was to have a unified face to our Industry. While our Inland Region was always active, our KZN Regional Branch always battled to replicate what our Inland Region was able to do. Regional Meetings will continue to be held, however, these meetings will be guided and managed by our Exco. By doing this, we will be able to ensure that all our Members are kept up to date with what we are trying to achieve in the Industry as an Association. It will also allow for a flat and open channel all our Regional Members to engage directly with the Exco.

Our Webpage is currently undergoing a face lift in order to maintain the same momentum of our Association’s changes. Keeping up with Technology and social media networks is key to the success of keeping our Members & Industry up to date. This is a fundamental building block for the marketing of SAPEAM. The new upgraded webpage will go live early May, before the A-OSH Expo.

In order to gain the traction we need in different areas and spheres of our Industry, we have signed an mutually beneficial agreement with Specialised Exhibitions who manage a number of very popular Exhibitions A-OSH, Electra Mining and Madex to name but a few. By doing this we are able to bring more value to our SAPEMA members when engaging or participating at these events.

At the end of 2017, SAPEMA held a Standards and Specifications Symposium for the City of Cape Town Council. We were overwhelmed by the interest and interactive energy that was received from the delegates.

The topics that were presented were:

SAPEMA Who we are and what we stand for – by Deleane Luzzatto (Rebel Safety Gear)
Hand Protection and Glove Markings – Jarryd Swanepoel (UVEX)
Foot Protection and ISO/SANS 20345 – Derryk
Workwear & Reflective Wear – Andre Eloff (then Marburg)
Eyewear and Safety Spec Markings – Jarryd Swanepoel (UVEX)
Importance of Buying Local

The importance of these Key PPE Topics & , the standards and the specifications relevant to these items got the delegates asking relevant and engaging questions to our presenting Members. The delegates consisted of City of Cape Town Procurement Mangers, SHEQ Officers & HR to name a few.

The Symposium was organized by SAPEMA, together with the help assistance of Alwyn Marais of CCT. “I wish, to extend a huge thank you to SAPEMA for the high quality papers delivered and for an event that was well organised and successfully executed. I trust that it will become a fixed event on our calendars henceforth”

Having held this event in the heart of Cape Town, with such a prominent End User, namely the Cape Town City Council and even considering that SAPEMA only recently signed up its very first Western Cape Member this year; this event has proved just how important it is for us as SAPEMA to educate and share this knowledge that we have, being the specialists in our areas of expertise in PPE. We need to ensure that our end users get the right product for the right application and ultimately keeping them safe while doing their daily jobs.

We would like this initiative to roll out to other Regions & other Key End-Users.

We recently held our Annual General meeting in March this year which was well attended by both Inland and KZN members.

We are happy to announce our newly appointed 2018 EXCO Team

Deleane Luzzatto – REBEL Safety Gear – Chairman
Clyde Beattie – UVEX – Vice Chairman
Ravesh Rama – Rama Group
Mike Fremantle – Safeco
Loren Pearson – Du Pont
Andre Eloff – Dromex
Rani Naidoo – 3M
Ruaan Breedt – Quality Safety
Tracy- Ann Killian – SI Quip

As we embark on our exciting yet ever challenging journey, we welcome any members who wish to join in & offer their expertise in any of our many projects. We would also like to urge any PPE Suppliers or Manufacturers, who are not members to join SAPEMA and make this industry a safer place!

So until next time, I will leave you with these fine words “ The Secret of Change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but building on the new.” Socrates