I often wondered if I would be competent enough to be in the driving seat of the organisation we all refer to as the SAIMC, or as some like to say; 'Saimec'. After all, the Institute had its origins in the early 1950s and the list of Past Presidents reads like the Who's Who of the process control industry in South Africa. I do not have all the names at hand (The ceremonial 'chain' is still being updated with the name of Graeme Bell) but one only has to look at the more recent names to appreciate the stature of previous presidents; John Crossland, Rod Gray, Mark Tibbenham, Dick Perry, John Immelman, Dave Howcroft, Richard Teagle, Graeme Bell and many more. All of these captains of industry and highly successful career professionals makes me worried that I will suffer by comparison when all is said and done, but it certainly will not be due to lack of trying on my part.
It is indeed a great honour to be in such great company, and as the newly elected President of National Council for 2003/2004 I am committed to help steer the South African Institute of Measurement and Control to even greater heights than ever before. Fortunately, there are a fine group of highly motivated and passionate volunteers serving on National Council to make my task so much less stressful.
In order to properly introduce myself to those who do not know me that well, I felt it appropriate to use this opportunity to reveal some bits and bytes of my background and career path to date: Born and schooled in Bloemfontein, where I matriculated in 1978 at the Technical High School and immediately joined the SAAF as a permanent force member serving at 8 Squadron. After six years I got tired of fixing and maintaining the SAAF's Impala aircraft and left for Sasol 3 to train as an Instrument Mechanician. My career after Sasol saw me employed at firms like Atlas Aircraft (Now Simera), Impala Platinum Springs, ERGO, Rand Technical Services, Mondi Piet Retief, Action Instruments and SA Valves.
My sales career started in 1990 when Mike Littlejohn offered me a position at AFH Devers as a Sales Engineer for Foxboro equipment and from there I worked at various instrumentation firms until the founding of Kubler Africa in December 1997, of which I am the managing director. My first encounter with the SAIMC happened in 1991, and I attended my first branch meeting at the Hewlett-Packard building in Wynberg. At this particular meeting, Alpret was the host and the late Sid Bishop, the real gentleman that he was, introduced me to everybody and explained to me the ins and outs of the Institute.
In 1999 I was nominated to the Johannesburg Branch Committee by Tony Holme, the chairman at the time. I filled the role as Johannesburg branch chairman for two years in 2000/2001 and eventually got nominated to National Council during 2001 as an ordinary member.
While on the subject of branches; with almost predictable passion and the will to be the best, the Johannesburg Branch took the Branch of the Year award for 2002, beating the Secunda Branch by a significant margin. Such a pity that the other branches are not competing for this award at all, I am positive that Durban would pose a serious challenge to the top two, if we can just get their committee to enter, next time Kevin!
Then again, the apparent disregard shown by some branches not attending the Council AGM held on 9 April, would seem to indicate a general apathy and lack of commitment among some of our branch and sub-branch committees. Gentlemen, I appeal to all branches, non-participation in the Institute as a whole is not an option, and your presence at the AGM is required, not requested. We all know that our Institute is run by volunteers, passionate and dedicated individuals who constantly add value and do not hesitate to sacrifice time and effort for the benefit of our members. If these volunteers fail to act when called upon, the well-being and success of the SAIMC is threatened.
I look forward to a vibrant and successful year for the SAIMC.
In closing:
As the Easter Holidays came to a close, hundreds of families were mourning the tragic death of loved ones who lost their lives in road accidents. Commenting on the carnage, a spokesman from the traffic authorities accused South African drivers of being 'arrogant, insensitive and aggressive'. Might be, but what are they doing to solve the problem, aside from hiding behind bushes and bridges trying to figure out how to work their latest laser device? At the same time, a rocket scientist from Arrive Alive suggested the erection of speed humps on our national roads: "This will work wonders in stopping road deaths", he said. Our Transport Minister went on record by blaming the annual road massacre on apartheid. Go figure.
Johan Steyn, President SAIMC, [email protected]
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