SAIMC


SAIMC: From the office of the CEO: Remain in the loop

May 2023 SAIMC


Johan Maartens.

The SAIMC has gained much attention in the last couple of years, and our members need to know where and when they can get involved, and how its actions can benefit them.

On our website, you will notice a new button in the top right-hand corner labelled UPDATE ME!. The menu item will take you to a choice of Sign Up (for new subscribers to our Mailchimp platform) or Change Preferences. If you select Change Preferences, you will be requested to click on a button called Email Me A Link. You can make the necessary changes when you receive the link via email.

If you select Sign Up, you can choose between SAIMC News and Branch News, with various branches listed. You can choose more than one. For our new MESA members and any other members interested in receiving MESA news, select the MESA button under Branch News.

Calendars

Branch general managers are tasked with entering their branch activities in the calendar on our website’s home page. If you do not see this information there, you can request them to update their calendars. On the home page you will also see a link to the various branches. Should you not see the Branch Committee’s details on this page, please get in touch with John Owen-Ellis at [email protected] or myself at [email protected].

Can South Africa survive the onslaught?

South Africa faces many challenges. People in one group are afraid of losing their jobs because of automation, while others are trying to find a way to survive despite all the bribery, corruption, rapes, murders, etc.

We are in general told what to think and what to believe. Most voters and journalists are told that apartheid and white people are the reason for the “greatest gap between the rich and the poor.” If this does not work, they are scared with the concept of artificial intelligence, and automation. For the ‘feeding trough’, artificial intelligence and automation are genuine threats. These technologies require technical expertise and not verbal diahorrea. No manner of long-winded arguments will be able to develop, install or maintain these technologies. They will be exposed for what they are – pure propaganda.

Automated security systems would have made the SAPS obsolete if it was not for the ‘feeding trough’, and lawyers who implement systems requiring lawyers to be used. You cannot evict an unlawful occupier of your property unless you use lawyers, for example; and you can only use the SAPS in crime situations, while private security companies are faster, quicker, better equipped, and more efficient.

Automation, in my eyes, is a minor threat compared to the ‘feeding trough’ that is pulling South Africa down to the world of greylisting, junk status, looting, potholes, load shedding, murders, rapes, etc.

Many entrepreneurs, self-thinkers, and the ‘Economic IQ’ (a new word I just made up) have left the country. I wonder whether South Africa has enough resources to make significant changes next year. I wonder if we could get the passive masses off their rocking chairs and rock this South African boat.

Yours in automation,

Johan Maartens.


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