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SABI NewsJet August 2010 |
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NEW PERSONNEL |
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Can you believe that we are already setting in motion the arrangements for Congress 2011? Yes, another Congress year beckons, and this time the Mpumalanga Branch will host the most popular event on the irrigation calendar. The venue for Congress has just been chosen: Protea Hotel Kruger Gate. You can anticipate engrossing presentations on irrigation and the latest developments in irrigation and water, great networking as well as abundant opportunities for game drives and Big Five sightings. Watch this space and your SABI magazine for further information and booking information for Congress, where companies can exhibit their goods and services to a great gathering. The event will be registered with ECSA for CPD points. |
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From 23 August 2010, SABI will have its head office based in the Hibernian Towers, in Strand. SABI has traditionally operated from a home-based office but has grown to such an extent that the time arrived, as per our planning, this year for a move to larger offices to house the business of SABI. The new SABI offices are in Beach Road, the Strand, Western Cape in a brand new office block. Please feel free to pop in at the SABI office between 9:00 and 16:00 daily; Unit 211; 1st Floor; Hibernian Towers; Corner Beach Road & Sarel Cilliers Street; Strand, when you are in the area. (If you’ve heard the name Hibernian before and it rings a bit of a bell, it is also a Scottish professional league football club – Hibernian FC!). Please update SABI’s new office number Photograph from: http://hiberniantowers.co.za/ |
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IN THIS ISSUE |
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SABI MAGAZINE EXPANDS! |
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SABI NATIONAL CONGRESS 2011, 2 TO 5 AUGUST 2011, PROTEA HOTEL KRUGER GATE, MPUMALANGA |
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SABI Training recently hosted its first Irrigation Counter Sales Assistants’ Training Course at Elsenburg in Stellenbosch. The 3 day course was well attended with students turning up bright and early on a very crisp Cape winter morning and thoroughly enjoying the course. Previous SABI president Johan Barnard presented the course, which, amongst other aspects, took students on a journey through all the must-have items stocked on the “irrigation counters” of a store – there are more than 5 000 items in a typical irrigation retailers’ catalogue! Johan, with the ultra modern items examined, also displayed historical irrigation technologies to the students – a wooden pipe (pre plastic era!) found on a farm was one of the interesting ones. The successful students will be presented with their Certificates at the next SABI Western Cape meeting – well done to you all. |
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FIRST SABI COUNTER SALES ASSISTANTS’ TRAINING COURSE |
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SABI has joined forces with Batataise Youth Development, a non-profit organisation based in Gauteng, to train unemployed matriculants from three municipalities in Gauteng in the basics of landscaping and irrigation.
The project is largely funded by the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development and undertaken in collaboration with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). The need for skills in these particular fields, were identified following the successful development of vegetable gardens at Gauteng Government hospitals to produce fresh vegetables for the hospital kitchens.
The department recognised that equipping unemployed youths from the largely urban municipalities, could feed the communities with the necessary skills to establish successful gardens not only for food production but also for ornamental and beautification purposes. A very important component of the training will be to equip learners with real skills that can help them to find employment in the irrigation, landscaping or agricultural sector. The program will consist of 5 groups of learners being trained over the next 8 months, each group receiving 3 weeks of theoretical training followed by 3 weeks of practical training to develop the skills that will help them to obtain work. Exit strategies for the learners from the program will include introduction to the various companies serving the irrigation, landscaping and agricultural sectors that may offer employment. |
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SABI APPOINTED AS TRAINING PARTNER FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME |
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Agri SA hosted a Water Conference in Kempton Park on 11 August with the Theme ‘Water use and food security: Policy and practice, where the Minister of Water Affairs Buyelwa Sonjica and Deputy Minister Pieter Mulder addressed the well attended gathering. SABI participated in the Conference, with Isobel van der Stoep and Felix Reinders also giving presentations at the august gathering. The event enjoyed wide media coverage, boosting public debate around water and irrigation issues once again.
A number of resolutions were formulated, said AgriSA in a release on August 13, 2010.
Agri SA, op Augustus 13 2010, in a media verklaring, het gesê hulle het die volgende aanbevelings gemaak, vir verdere opvolging deur die organisasie:
· Die langtermyn beskikbaarheid en aanvaarbare kwaliteit van water verseker moet word; · Die Nasionale Beplanningskommissie versoek moet word om waterkwaliteit en die effektiewe benutting daarvan as ‘n strategiese prioriteit van die regering te aanvaar. · Die Nasionale Beplanningskommissie daarop sal fokus om koördinasie tussen staatsdepartemente ten opsigte van die beleidsoptrede gerig op waterbeskikbaarheid en -kwaliteit te bewerkstellig. · Die ontwikkelingspotensiaal (gereserveerde besproeiingsgrond) wat beskikbaar is om opkomende besproeiingsboere te vestig optimaal benut moet word. · Nuut gevestigde besproeiingsboere ondersteun moet word deur toepaslike bystandskemas wat insluit pasgemaakte finansiering en mentorskappe. · Regsekerheid verkry word oor die toepassing van die Nasionale Waterwet, verbandhoudend met wateroordragte en swart ekonomiese bemagtiging. · Die stelsel van navorsingskoördinering met die oog op maksimum doelmatigheid nagegaan moet word. · Daar met kommer kennis geneem word van die ernstige probleme met waterkwaliteit en dat praktiese oplossings soos regrukaksies van rioolwerke by plaaslike owerhede deur privaatinisiatief (kundigheid en finansiering) ondersteun word. · Die impak van waterbesoedeling op die landbou by wyse van gevallestudies en verdere navorsing aangetoon en oplossings daarvoor daadwerklik met beleidmakers ooreengekom word. · Die resultate van studies wat reeds gedoen is onder beleidmakers se aandag gebring word. · Die Departement van Landbou, Bosbou en Visserye versoek word om die voorgenome besproeiingsbeleid te finaliseer. · Die taakgroep soos vermeld deur die Minister van Waterwese, om haar te adviseer oor waterbesoedeling, watermeting, waterbesparing, water- aanvraagbestuur en watergebruikstariewe dringend gefinaliseer word. · Die hersiening van die ‘Integrated Resource Plan’ (IRP) van die Departement van Energie wat alternatiewe energiebronne en spesifiek die vervanging van steenkool as grondstof vir elektrisiteitsopwekking op die langtermyn moet oorweeg, spoedig voltooi moet word. · Landbou se vermoë om hernieubare energie-opwekking te ontsluit, maksimaal benut moet word. · Koste van besoedeling, gebasseer op wetenskaplike analises, volledig vir die rekening van die besoedelaars geinternaliseer sal word · Agri SA ‘n volledige analise sal maak van die redes waarop Catchment Management Agencies (CMA’s) nie as ‘n privaatsektorinisiatief van die grond af kom nie. · Die gebrekkige nasionale begroting vir waterinfrastruktuur dringend met die Minister van Waterwese en die Nasionale Tesourie opgeneem word · Die hersiening van die National Water Resource Strategy (NWRS) sal geskied met volledige deelname van alle belanghebbendes.
Regsoptrede teen die onwettige gebruik van water verskerp word. Agri SA se president Johannes Möller het na afloop van die konferensie versoek dat navraag oor die aanstelling van persone op die Minister van Waterwese se Nasionale Wateradvieskomitee gedoen word, waarvoor die Departement nominasies gedurende April aangeva het. Volgens Möller behoort die Komitee ‘n belangrike rol te speel om gepaste oplossings te vind vir sommige van die voorafgaande aanbevelings.
Volgens Möller sal die besluite nietemin ook direk met onder andere Minister Sonjica en Adjunk-Minister Pieter Mulder, wat beide die konferensie toegespreek het, opgeneeem word. |
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AGRISA WATER CONFERENCE UPDATE |
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"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." |
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Rice Irrigation has recently opened new offices in Somerset East, Eastern Cape.
Gisele Rice says that the new offices in Charles Street are visible and well located. The offices are on the same premises as a petrol service station making it a busy and accessible hub in the town: “I have had many more walk in clients that need random irrigation fittings or pipes. Therefore, I now have a full range of PVC, Nylon and Compression Fittings ranging from 15mm to 250mm sizes; also galvanized fittings and bolts and nuts etc. I also have dripper connectors and accessories on-hand. I am able to help most clients who walk in and need random fittings or pipes. If a client needs any irrigation fitting that we do not have in stock we have it delivered the next day. We often courier orders straight to the farmers.”
Irri-Gator Products Gauteng recently opened its new branch in Silverton in Pretoria, Gauteng. The Gauteng branch will be managed by Johannes Cloete who has been appointed as the regional manager to head up the company's business activities in Northern region of South Africa. Johannes is no newcomer to the irrigation industry and has extensive experience in irrigation control and the automation sector. Johannes is ably assisted by André Petersen who also hails from the irrigation automation and control segment of the industry. Johannes and his team will provide sales and technical support to clients that use Gator control systems and products throughout the region. Irri-Gator say their Gauteng branch will carry all the standard stock lines offered by Irri-Gator Products, including, Micro Sprinklers, Control Valves, Airvalves, Control Systems, Wireless Control Systems, Variable Speed Drives and numerous other components. |
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COMPANY NEWS |
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The next edition of SABI magazine/tydskrif - October/November 2010 - will be presented to you in its new format of A4. Already we are receiving messages of support on the new larger size, with readers and advertisers saying they are looking forward to the greater space, enhanced readability and visual presentation of your favourite – and South Africa’s only – irrigation magazine. Please keep your comments flowing, we’d love to know your views on the evolved SABI magazine. |
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SABI’s NEW OFFICE |
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SABI was recently delighted to welcome a new member to our personnel, Amanda Willemse. Amanda will be based in the Strand at SABI’s HO and Please contact Amanda with your queries at 021 - 850 8220 or email her on amanda@sabi.co.za
Welcome to the SABI team, Amanda! |
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Photographs courtesy of Protea Hotels |
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OUR NEW OFFICE TELEPHONE NUMBER IS 021 - 850 8220 |