Exporters Eastern Cape hosted the organisation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in person recently.
Aptly themed “Resilience”, it was a joyous occasion for many exporters to meet again in person and share their post-pandemic experiences at the 42nd AGM, following two years of attending the AGM online.
Exporters Eastern Cape is a non-profit organisation focused on growing the Eastern Cape export market by representing export companies, freight forwarders, financial institutions and shipping lines.
Despite the challenges experienced due to the global pandemic, Exporters Eastern Cape had a productive year of hosting over 15 online and in-person events, as well as facilitating regular meetings of the Export and Collaboration Forums.
Eastern Cape Exporters Chairman Quintin Levey said both forums met quarterly to collaborate on industry challenges and win as well as public/private partnerships, respectively.
“We want to encourage our members to participate in our events and forums, to add to the value proposition of Exporters Eastern Cape. Thank you to you, our members, for your continued support during the past year,” said Levey.
Standard Bank Head of Eastern Cape Client Coverage and Business Clients, Leigh-Anne de Witt, said her team at Standard Bank, also the main sponsor of this year’s Annual General Meeting, aptly adopted the word “Nyamezela” as their word to live by in 2022.
“Roughly translated the word means the spirit of never giving up and having perseverance and it fits in very well with this evening’s theme of resilience,” said De Witt.
The epitome of resilience was the guest speaker for the evening, Bruce Fordyce, a legendary South African marathon and ultramarathon athlete who is best known for having won the Comrades Marathon a record nine times.
While Fordyce said endurance does start in the mind, it is not something to achieve on your own – in sport and business. “You simply cannot do it on your own – you need a great team to support you. You have got to run with people,” said Fordyce.
He continued to explain how his support team was instrumental in helping him win the Comrades, since they supplied him with important information and encouragement. “Endurance is given to you by the people, your team. That’s the barrier breaker… when your team tells you that you’ve got it,” said Fordyce.
An inspirational speaker, Fordyce encouraged members of Exporters Eastern Cape to continue leading bravely in whatever place they find themselves: “The wind blows coldest in the front; you need to demonstrate resilience and endurance as a leader in the front….”
“And one thing you need to understand about endurance is that there is no finish line for winners,” Fordyce concluded.
For more information on Exporters Eastern Cape and member benefits contact the Branch Manager, Suzanne Loubser at info@exportersec.co.za.
New Exporters Eastern Cape committee members elected during the AGM last week were:
- Celestin Ndhlovu (Isuzu Motors South Africa)
- Sujit Bhagattjee (Transnet National Ports Authority)
- Selwyn Willis (Community Chest)
The full 2022/2023 Committee for Exporters Eastern Cape are:
- Quintin Levey (KPMG)
- Deon Joubert (SJM Flex SA)
- Pravika Chetty (Lumotech)
- Andre Swartbooi (Acoustex Group)
- Selwyn Willis (Community Chest)
- Brenden Adriaanzen (DG Incentives)
- Greg Billson (Enterprise Development Consultants)
- Celestin Ndhlovu (Isuzu Motors South Africa)
- Oyama Sidlabane (Lizwe Fuels)
- Loudeaux Minnie (LX Events)
- Lee-Anne Vasi (Nelson Mandela University Business School)
- Siphokazi Ngombane (NMB Municipality)
- Neil Barker (Oracle Media)
- Sujit Bhagattjee (Transnet National Ports Authority)
- Ronel Marais (Volkswagen Group South Africa)
