Year End Address: 22 November 2013 Later today, we are closing office and will, very eagerly I hope, embark on a journey to the destination for our Christmas Function. Traditionally, a Christmas Function also marks the beginning of the festive season and, like in the previous years, it is now appropriate to reflect on the past year during the time of well-earned rest. We should not only reflect on our successes, but also our failures – while in a festive mood, we are invariably tempted to focus on the positive and pleasant events – after all it helps to console us into perhaps fooling ourselves on how great we are. While the intent here is not to dampen the spirit of our success during the spirit of festivities, a fundamental aspect of our future success and survival would be NOT to hide reality of what went wrong. This reflection is important – it will build our resilience. It will strengthen us for a new year. And above all, it will make us wise enough to deal with potential mistakes should they confront us again in future. 2011 Saw us in a very bad spot with regard to staffing. But we overcame. We overcame by pulling together and looking out for each other. Then 2012 came along and smacked upon us a dire financial situation. Thinking back on those two years I still cringe, sweat and experience nightmares. Yet, we showed our strengths, we developed hardiness and we were tough enough to drag ourselves through the economic turmoil and beat the overdraft and we are, I am very happy and especially very proud of you all, to announce, that we all are finding ourselves in a much better position now in 2013, than in the previous two years. We must for the future, maintain this favourable position – one that is a milestone in the history of our company I must hasten to add. For us to sustain the current success into the future we must all realize our goal as consulting engineers and project managers – we are here to shape the world – in whatever seemingly small way, we shape it. We do things that will make things better for communities, for societies and for local economies. So, we are not only privileged to do this, but we are thus compelled to do it right – we are compelled to take responsibility for what we do and we are at all times accountable for our results, our actions and our work outcomes. What bought us to this point? What made us in 2013 what we are? The answers are numerous, the events and occurrences that lead to this so abundant that I will only highlight the critical few: • We were appointed to upgrade the sewerage pump stations in the Bethal district and this R 5 million project eventually escalated into one of R 20 million. Apart from the fees, we now see the fruits of our efforts because as we reach the end of the project, sewerage that has been flowing into the upper basin of the Vaal River over the last decade is gradually coming to an end. This is certainly a great contribution to the people and the environment! This is surely ons of our big successes! There were also challenging projects. • December 2012 saw us losing all our work in Pongola. We have analysed the reasons why and we showed guts to embark on what I think is one of the most intense negotiation processes ever. In March 2013 we regained that business. Not only was the contract reinstituted, but it came with a fee of R 4 million. In the face of adversity, we have here not only rose to the challenge but we also gained sufficient funds from the fees to wipe out the 2012 overdraft; • Our 2012 appointment for the 10Ml Rietfontein Reservoir came to an end upon its completion during this year. Looking back on this project, I would like to remind you all of the three main impediments that continuously confronted us there: the political dynamics within the client, major budget deficits as well as extremely taxing construction challenges. Despite this, we did it and the reservoir has been commissioned and today we look back with pride on our results. This was truly also one of our big achievements; • Then of course, there is also Stinkwater. I am not very sure whether the name is co-incidental, but what I do know for sure is that it often feels for many of us that we did indeed drink lots of that kind of water! To my mind, our success here must be measured against our dedication and adeptness to overcome challenges like the Stinkwater one. Gradually, and very painfully, we slogged on during 2013 and as we approach the end of the tunnel we may afford to relax a little and when we literally see the light in the tunnel, we must congratulate ourselves fully. • During 2012, after much deliberation and uncertainty on the future of their office, Henry and Gideon left our services. It was an extremely critical time in the Ivanplats building project – we were amidst critical stages of planning and design – and a new team had to take over and complete the work. We were also very demoralised by client decisions which affected us to such an extent that we often wondered whether they had the appetite for the project. To our surprise, we were not only excluded from the project by the client, but all work was stopped. We learnt and diligently applied the principle that “the job is greater than the man”. Construction has been resumed and we are looking forward to the successful completion of the building. We shall complete this project on a positive note and we shall bask in the success of the result. Everybody will agree that these projects had many learning points and we coped extremely well. Looking back, I do not think we must dwell too much on the drama and intrigue of each one, but to learn, to become wise and take from it the resilience building aspects and the lessons learnt and then celebrate with glee on their respective completions. Afri-Infra is also a place where people work and people craft their futures. We are all ordinary folk with ordinary problems, we have our successes and we have our failures. We stand together when we fail and we celebrate our successes. Looking back on 2013, one cannot but acknowledge that we have never had it so good as far as our staff is concerned. Failures were absent in the face of the numerous successes, these are: • AD and Jacqueline relocated to Pretoria early in 2013 and AD took on the responsibility of shareholder and director of Afri-Infra. For AD’s willingness and to take on this responsibility, I will forever be grateful because since 1997, I have fulfilled this responsibility alone and have taken on the management of the company singularly – 16 years of that has placed a tremendous responsibility on my shoulders and my personal life came under extreme pressure. For the support and contribution as well as the professional partnering, I thank AD and Jacqueline enormously; • All the 2012 prospective mothers returned for duty in 2013 and their contributions came into full swing. Elmarie, Zelna and Minette are now the proud mothers of their beautiful second children. Currently, Margaret is on maternity leave and we all eagerly await the birth of her first born. We all share in the joy of the welcome additions to their families. • It is indeed a great pleasure to acknowledge long service awards for Joey, Heidi and Francois with 5 years of service, Lisa with 10 years and Michele with 15 years. We regard them as a fundamental part of our success and they have truly institutionalised themselves as members of the Afri-Infra family. • Many of our staff embarked on studies and we wish them every success with the results which we are confident will be favourable – we realise that people like AD, Krynauw, Rossouw, Sihle, Francois, Tshifhiwa, Nico and Bruce had work hard and are very brave to work and develop themselves for the benefit of Afri-Infra. • Francois, in the middle of his final year studies also had the necessary keenness to marry. To him and Madelein we wish them all the best for the future and our warmest congratulations accompany them; As far as 2014 is concerned, it is early days to wonder what it would hold for all of us. The Bible says: “Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life?” My experience has learnt me that there is 100% truth in that and as such, we will find peace by abiding to it. It does not mean we need not prepare and plan for tomorrow, but we need not worry about the day of tomorrow. While the industry still experiences a tremendous downturn, we must set our goals for next year. My main concern is to retain our best staff and to pay them a fair and just reward for their efforts. From you, I would appreciate if could aspire in 2014 to be the best of breed of staff for Afri-Infra. While this is a heads up on my thinking, it is also a guideline for you to adjust yourself for our coming planning session in March. Finally, it is my sincere pleasure to sincerely thank each and every person that, in whichever way, touched Afri-Infra during 2013, for a pleasant and successful year. We wish you a very Merry Christmas, a Blessed New Year, a successful 2014 and above all, Happy Holidays with your families! Thank You!
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 11:10:38 +0000
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