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City-press.news24.com - City Press
Upping the economy’s mettle
Ave: R98 587
06 August 2016
Article link: http://city-press.news24.com/Business/upping-the-economys-mettle-20160729
The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) decided some time ago that it couldn’t sit back and
watch South Africa’s manufacturing sector implode; it had to roll up its sleeves and actively get
involved in rescuing and reinforcing it.
This is according to Abel Malinga, the executive in charge of mining and metals industries at the IDC,
who says the strategic shift – from mere facilitator of development finance to proactive participant in
the economy – was imperative if the country wanted to arrest its slide into deindustrialisation.
“We needed to be more proactive and have a better understanding of the sector. Our economy is part
of the global village, so our sectors also have to be globally competitive.”
The development finance agency is stepping in to spur the export of local expertise and machinery to
the growth market that is Africa, while nurturing the local automotive sector, and ensuring that
upstream and downstream steel operations modernise and innovate to survive and become
competitive.
“As a division, we want to be at the centre of economic growth and transformation of the economy,”
he says. “Because being at the centre means you’re able to look in all directions. If you look at the
constraints facing industry, we have to look at what government can do to unblock those constraints.”
It’s no secret that mining and metals are under immense pressure in South Africa. The steel industry
in particular – “the lifeblood of any industrial economy” – is under threat from cheap imports resulting
from a global oversupply of the metal, and mines are downsizing, shelving plans for expansion or
closing down altogether as the global commodities slump continues.
That’s why Malinga’s division is focusing its energies on two areas to help industrialise the South
African economy. One of these is localisation. “There are a lot of important products we have the
opportunity to produce, but we are not competitive,” Malinga says. “We need to address that aspect
of the downstream value chain [the processing of raw materials into final products].”
The second focus area is working with existing players to modernise operations and ensure their
competitiveness – and encourage government to procure as many local products as possible for its
infrastructure projects.
The steel industry requires special intervention, in part because the country has lagged behind global
steel developments, and energy and logistics costs have skyrocketed while environmental concerns
have taken centre stage.
Seifsa.co.za – SEIFSA
Speech by SEIFSA CEO Kaizer M.Nyatsumba,on the occasion of the presentation of the 2015 company
of the year award to Voith Turbo.
.
Ave: R32 135
16 August 2016
Article link: http://www.seifsa.co.za/70-speeches/573-speech-by-seifsa-ceo-kaizer-m-nyatsumba-onthe-occasion-of-the-presentation-of-the-2015-company-of-the-year-award-to-voith-turbo.html
Thank you very much, Charl, for the invitation and that introduction. My colleagues and I are delighted
to be here with you on this important occasion.
Before I proceed to present Voith Turbo with its richly-deserved 2015 Company of the Year Award, I
would like to take a few minutes to talk generally about the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence, by way of
context. At a time when the world has become so intricately intertwined in every conceivable way and
when globalization and technological innovation are galloping at a frightening and previously
unforeseeable pace, innovation remains one of the few possible enduring sources of sustainability, let
alone competitive advantage.
We experience phenomenal changes almost on a daily basis. Some of you will no doubt relate to how
few of us are able to take full advantage of the technological advancement in our mobile phones, cars
and other high-tech products or gadgets, and how often we have to turn to our children for assistance
to navigate such innovations.
In their book, No Ordinary Disruption: The Four Global Forces Breaking All The Trends, McKinsey
Global Institute Directors Richard Dobbs, James Manyika and Jonathan Woetzel warn about “four
forces colliding and transforming the global economy: the rise of emerging markets, the accelerating
impact of technology on the natural forces of market competition, an aging world population, and
accelerating flows of trade, capital and people.” They stress that any business or country hoping to
remain in business or competitive simply has no choice but to understand, embrace and anticipate
these powerful forces and to move either in tandem with or, whenever possible, ahead of them.
Innovation, then, is the name of the game. If there is any business out there to which that has not yet
become clear, that business is seriously in danger of being left behind.
That is the context in which, two years ago, we launched the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence. We
launched these Awards in order to recognize the excellence that we know exists within the metals and
engineering sector in Southern Africa, and to encourage many other companies to embrace innovation
and to excel. The inaugural SEIFSA Awards for Excellence took place on 27 May 2015 at Emperor’s
Palace, on the first day of the Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba, and the 2015 SEIFSA
Awards for Excellence – at which Voith Turbo was one of the proud winners – took place at the IDC
Conference Centre on 27 May 2016, the second day of the 2016 Southern African Metals and
Engineering Indaba.
There are seven categories for the Awards, and any company in the metals and engineering sector in
Southern Africa is eligible to enter. There are clear criteria for each one of these categories and judging
panels made of independent experts adjudicate in each category. Those categories are:
 The Artisan of the Year Award;
 Health and Safety Award of the Year;
 The Most Innovative Company of the Year;
 Best Customer Service Award of the Year;
 The Most Transformed Company of the Year Award;
 Best Corporate Social Responsibility of the Year; and
 The Environmental Stewardship Award.
In addition to these seven categories for which companies submit entries, we, the SEIFSA Executive
Committee, also offer what we call the CEO Awards to a member Association of the Year, a member
Company of the Year and individuals whose service to the sector deserves recognition. For instance,
our former Presidents, Scaw Metals Group Executive Chairman Ufikile Khumalo and Duys Engineering
Chairman Henk Duys, were the individuals so honoured for 2015. For 2014, former Cobra Watertech
CEO Tubby Boynton-Lee received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
At the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence Ceremony on 27 May this year, your wonderful company, Voith
Turbo (Pty) Ltd, was announced as the deserving winner of the SEIFSA 2015 Company of the Year
Award. This is an honour conferred on a member company that, in the calendar year under review,
has made a significant contribution to Supplier Development, which is key in the equitable and
sustainable growth of the country’s economy. Companies are required to spend 3% of their net profit
after tax on Supplier (2%) and Enterprise (1%) Development. Although it is not a particular
requirement, Voith Turbo was intimately involved in the process of developing five black owned
suppliers and invested a considerable amount of time and effort, over and above the financial
investment. The manner in which Voith Turbo immersed itself in the development of these small
companies while excelling in its own right, made it stand out and earned it this prestigious award.
On behalf of my colleagues on the Executive Committee and the SEIFSA Board, I congratulate Voith
Turbo on winning the 2015 Company of the Year Award. We are immensely proud of you and are
honoured to be associated with yourselves. May you grow from strength from strength.
In conclusion, if I may, I would like to express the hope that we may see Voith Turbo entering for one
or more of the other categories for the 2016 SEIFSA Awards for Excellence, which will be presented a
function to take place in April/May next year. We look forward to your company’s continuing
involvement in our unrivalled annual conference, the Southern African Metals and Engineering
Indaba.
Congratulations, Charl and your team. Well done.