The Annual General Meeting in March welcomed Terry Taylor as the new Chamber President, Gordon Thompson as 1st Vice and Simphiwe Kondlo as the 2nd Vice President. Gavin Le Roux remained as Treasurer and John Smith moved to Immediate Past President. New members to the Executive committee are Dr Adéle Moodly, Mike Francis, Tanya Coetzee and Jacqui Mauer.  In all, the new executive comprises a wonderfully diverse mix of experienced, new and recent members. It also represents a good mix of our nation’s demographics but lastly and most importantly, represents the skills, experience and dedication needed to lead a voluntary non-profit association such as the Border-Kei Chamber of Business.

Perhaps just to dwell a little on the relevance of such a committee, one needs to reflect on the primary goal of the Chamber, and that is to “promote, protect and advance the interest of the members.”

This can only be achieved if the leadership reflects the membership. All too often, the question is asked of Chamber; what does my membership give to my company, or more bluntly put, how are my interests best served?

Now is as good a time as any for you to ask the new leadership what they are doing for you. However, please also consider what you can do for Chamber because the one thing that makes this Chamber succeed is the unselfish and dedicated support members from all sectors either give or contribute to the affairs of Chamber. Chamber will not sustain or grow on the membership contributions only. As I have often said, membership is only one cup of coffee a day!
Annual Report

I would like all members to take the time to read the Presidents annual report presented in March. He reflected on the Chambers activities, achievements and most importantly the challenges - both current and into the future. Never has the issue of leadership in society, especially the public sector been so challenging, tiresome and, at times, frustrating.

Chamber has spent countless hours attempting to unravel and engage with the leadership of the Province and at a local level, simply to make doing business easier and less costly. The myriad of challenges with the municipalities is at the core of these issues and whilst many members may feel Chamber has sat by as Rome burns, never more is there a mistaken perception.

In some ways we have succeeded to elevate some key issues, while we have been less effective in others. Uppermost in our minds is the battles we believe we can win – and the battles we know we will NOT win. Obviously Chamber has endeavoured tirelessly in the former, and with no less enthusiasm but with less success, the latter.

The Future

Strategic planning is one of the most time honoured and traditional activities, next to budgeting that will give clear guidelines to where you wish to be in the medium and long term. It not only sets your goals but also timelines and measurements to assess your progress.
Chamber is aware that a number (besides our own planning exercise) of key activities affecting the Region will come under review in the forthcoming months. Foremost are the City Development Strategy (CDS) and the Provincial Industrial Policy.
Both will call for representation. Both will do better if supported by business. We as investors NEED to be involved.
This call is a clarion call. It’s a message to every member to give your input. Accordingly, if you or your company would be interested in taking part or being involved, please contact the Chamber and express your interest and area of expertise.

Communication

Last month Chamber engaged Darryn Allan to assist Chamber to improve its communication with members. In May we will also have an intern from Canada working with us for three months – to assist with Trade and international relations. We invite all members to support both activities. Please follow the Hi-lite, web site, facebook, e – news letter and other communication media. We would dearly like to speak about YOU. Please give us your news... its time we started boasting what a great family we are. Alternatively, get in touch and share the issues closest to your business.

Les Holbrook