Thursday, 12 March 2009
Protea Hotel, Sea Point

The AGM was followed by a presentation by the 2008 BWOYA Winners.

Welcome

Ferose Oaten, Chairperson of the BWA, welcomed all the members present.

A special welcome was extended to:

• Chichi Maponya and Mardia Van Der Walt Korsten, the 2008 BWOYA Winners
• Ferose also welcomed Basetsana Kumalo, the BWA president, and commended Bassie on her strength she has shown as a leader of the BWA
• A thank you was also extend to Sumaya Adam of Nedbank
• She also reminded all present that the packs included RBAA nomination forms and asked all to nominate a phenomenal woman

Ferose Oaten thanked the sponsors of the event:

• Premium Consulting
• Protea Hotels
• Faranani Facilitaion Services
• Phanda Personnel
• Nadia Regal

Apologies

• Pam Golding
• Logandree Gounden- Pead
• Sue Lipschitz
• Barbara Court
• Sunny Stout Rostron
• Zelda Mycroft
• Debbie Byren
• Michelle Booysen
• Zosh Kihl
• Yvonne Finch

Proxies

• Robyn Hey
• Christine Rudman
• Louise Van Rhyn

Voting Strength

Ferose Oaten established the voting strength, and indicated that at the present time, the BWA Cape Town membership is 290, 15% was required for a quorum. We have 48 members present which means that the quorum has been established.

New Agenda Items

No agenda items added.

Minutes of the Previous AGM

Copies of the minutes were reviewed.  The adoption of the minutes was proposed by Truida Prekel and seconded by Gita Lison.

Matters arising

Truida Prekel requested feedback on Zosh Kihl’s suggestion of a HELP event for young entrepreneurs. Ferose highlighted that a number of these events under the HURDLES and HELP banner were hosted in 2008.

Chair Report

A full document was handed to the members present.  The following were the main points covered:

• The branch doubled its audience reach at events
• This increase mainly due to the Women’s Show as well as 2 events that we co-hosted with Nedbank and the Old Mutual Leadership forum
• BWA will face  the same challenges that the rest of business are facing during the global economic crisis, so it may be a tough year for the organisation

The Launch of the  Mentorship Program on Tuesday, 17 March 2009 was highlighted. Ferose introduced the existing BWA Committee:

• Ferose Oaten  Chairperson
• Nina Joubert  Vice-Chairperson, recently elected and Treasurer
• Gita Lison  Zahida EbrahimÂ
• Jane Notten  Rene Bonzet Â
• Caren Willett  Elspeth DonovanÂ
• Anneline Black  Logandree Gounden
• Phumeza Mgxashe Zosh Kihl
• Yolandi Pretorius (Nedbank Champion)

Yvonne Finch, the immediate past Chairperson, continues to serve on the committee for guidance and support, and has facilitated the RBAA judging process for a number of years.

Ferose also highlighted Jane Notten’s book, which is dedicated to the special women of the BWA (on sale at the AGM). A special thanks was given to PriceWaterhouseCooper and Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs for assistance and constructive contribution to the BWA throughout the year. The Chair’s Report was proposed for acceptance by Truida Prekel, and seconded by Elspeth Donovan.

Treasurer report

The report was presented by Nina Joubert, and she said that the report was unaudited, and that the auditors are currently completing the Head Office audit.  The audited financials would therefore be presented at the National AGM at the end of March, and would then be available to all members.

The report was proposed for adoption by Jane Notten and seconded by Janine Nel.

Committee for 2009 - 2010

Ferose Oaten explained that 12 women may serve on the BWA committee, and that 3 would be stepping down after serving for 4 years.  In addition, there are 3 more vacancies.  Nominations had already been received for:

• Caroline Mack
• Millicent Wolmarans
• Beverley Schafer

The house accepted all 3 new committee members.

Ferose thanked Elspeth Donovan and handed over a gift and asked new members to stand and introduce themselves briefly. Nina Joubert suggested we ask the membership present if anyone wished to be co-opted onto the committee for 2009. The following ladies volunteered:

• Akanksha Malik
• Marisa Kaplan
• Nothemba Gugweni
• Zukiswa Mandlana

The above mentioned ladies would be co–opted onto the committee at the first BWA committee meeting in April.  Proposed by Caren Willett and seconded by Anneline Black.

General

Truida thanked Ferose for her role as Chairperson of the Cape and as Vice president of the BWA  Nationally.

Closure

The official proceedings of the AGM was closed at 6:10pm and the presentation introduced.

Ferose introduced Basetsana Kumalo, who in turn introduced the two BWOYA winners who shared their phenomenal stories of success with all present.

Thanks

After the presentations, Nina Joubert paid tribute and thanked Mardia, Chichi and Bassie on behalf of the BWA. She concluded the proceedings by thanking the members for their support and attendance.  She also announced that the BWA would be hosting a Corporate Fashion Show and asked for volunteers for this project.

Notes

The introduction of the BWA Membership Certificates was made and members were asked to collect their certificates on leaving the AGM.