Message from the President of SAIF – December 2022
Dear SAIF Members, Industry Stakeholders, and Colleagues.
2022 started with so much promise after all the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns and challenges faced in 2021. Industry members were hopeful that this year would bring a much-needed recovery after countries and businesses began eliminating various mandatory restrictions coupled with the increase in COVID-19 vaccinations.
All of us anticipated a return to a somewhat normal working environment. However, the sudden war in Ukraine resulted in a rapid increase in fuel and input costs, negatively impacting both foundries and suppliers.
Raw Material Costs:
South Africa’s raw material input costs increased dramatically, and this raised alarming concerns and questions about the high costs of these materials.
With more borders opening, we saw temporary relief due to increased shipping movements; however, the strict COVID-19 policies maintained by China caused more delays in the availability of containers due to most terminals closing for weeks at a time.
The costs of accessibility to containers carrying raw materials increased dramatically during this time, making matters worse.
Our local infrastructure then experienced a devastating collapse causing resources to come under pressure and resulting in Eskom reintroducing load-shedding.
Due to this, most entities have had to find alternative methods to continue production without the power supply being interrupted by installing & purchasing alternative sources such as generators and backup batteries at an exceptionally high cost and unsustainable as a long-term solution.
Positive outcomes for 2022:
Although the industry experienced many challenges during the year, there are some positive changes we can reflect on.
A decrease in the steel scrap price and the potential ban on steel scrap exports may provide some relief for further decreasing prices on steel scrap costs.
The institute has and will continue its efforts to support our members, develop relationships and engage with industry stakeholders to support initiatives that benefit our members and local industry as a collective.
SAIF faced challenges, much the same as those experienced by foundries and suppliers, with a positive approach and continued to host various activities throughout the year.
Engagement with various industry stakeholders continued to solidify relationships to benefit future activities on behalf of SAIF members. Examples included re-establishing the NFTN/CSIR Metal Casting Advisory Forum to attend growing concerns within the metal casting & allied industry.
Urgent attention has also gone towards preparing for GIFA 2023, which is taking place in Dusseldorf, Germany, in June. SAIF has written a formal application to the DTIC on behalf of its members requesting support to include a National Pavilion for South Africa at the GIFA 2023 trade fair.
The SAIF Short course program was presented throughout the year with approximately 150 industry workers from Gauteng registered for the various courses and physically attending Saturday training.
Included in plans for the 2023 academic year, the SAIF board members will explore various alternative platforms to facilitate online training courses for students in other provinces and the possibility of providing online training to neighbouring countries on the African continent.
The Annual General Meeting of members held in September 2022 at the Belgravia Bowling Club included, on the agenda, a comprehensive overview of the financial statements for the 2021 period. Although the overall income streams in 2021 showed a significant decline due to COVID-19 restrictions, the institute maintained a stable and positive bank balance at the end of the year.
Mr. Nigel Pardoe, Mr. Kasongo Nyembwe, and Mr. Clive Jones, who served as board members in 2022, were re-elected by members present, and the board welcomes Mr. Andrea Moz as a newly elected board member for 2023.
The board of directors appointed Mr. Nigel Pardoe as the SAIF president for 2022/2023.
The new board of directors has advised that they will address the following concerns in Q1 of 2023.
- Better investment opportunities
- Additional projects to promote sustainable income streams
- Further development of SAIF training programs
- Status & position of the plant and machinery at the Gauteng Foundry Training Centre.
The board has also decided that future planning for activities, projects, and events will now include the participation of members on a Management Committee – formally known as the SAIF Council.
The first nominee elected for the 2023 Management Committee is Mr. Thomas Richards.
The graduation dinner, held at the Belgravia Bowling Club in October 2022, was well-attended and supported, with various SAIF members and employers sponsoring the student awards.
Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, SAIF could not host the Annual Gala Awards Dinner in 2020 and 2021, but we will resume the event in June 2023.
We look forward to this prestigious event, where we can honour and award students and individuals who have excelled in various areas of accolades.
The SAIF board will consider the Belgravia Bowling Club a suitable venue to accommodate future meetings such as Technical Presentation Evenings, AGMs & other events as an easily accessible location that is more central for most members.
We are grateful to the Reading Country Club for allowing us to host two technical presentation evenings on behalf of members facilitating the transfer of technical information and promoting the advancement of the local foundry industry.
Mrs. Nicki Gouws from QTE Training Consultants educated attending members with her Foundry on Wheels presentation. At a separate event, D-Zanetech invited Mr. Ankit Kanodia and Mr. Peeyush Kumar Sinha to enlighten our members on non-destructive testing processes.
Our members-only SAIF Annual Golf Day took place at Reading Country Club on 10 November 2022. The event was very entertaining, and players, sponsors and special guests enjoyed a day of camaraderie and great company.
Congratulations to all the winners, and special thanks to the generosity & support shown by our members to ensure a successful activity to close off the year on a positive note.
Finally, we would like to advise members of the updates happening to the SAIF website.
You can view an updated website at https://foundries.org.za and see that work is already underway.
There is a lot of work going on in the background and our service provider is excited to create a more interactive website for all members and non-members. We are working with a new membership plugin which will be launched in Q1 2023, and we are very excited to add new features and benefits to paying members.
Currently there is a new dashboard that members are redirected to after logging in. It is in a trial phase for now while we work on the best way to show all relevant industry presentations, news and opportunities.
The members list has been cleaned up and there will be a password reset link that will come through to the emails of members that are in good standing as of November 2022.
If you would like to receive membership to the website’s added benefits, please email Marina at mbiljon@uj.ac.za for further information.
Advertising space is always available to all members who have paid their annual fees and we will work on advertising space within the new year. Don’t forget there is a members directory that will show updated business details for all members in good standing and categorized according to their business type.
We are excited for the changes happening so far and look forward to keeping you updated with news, events, opportunities, presentations and more.
On behalf of the SAIF Board of Directors and the Institute, we would like to thank you and we want to extend our gratitude to all members, students, colleagues, and staff.
We wish you all a very blessed Christmas and a prosperous new year, and we look forward to an exceptional year of growth and success when we return from the Festive Holidays on 09 January 2023.