DATE: 19 April 2011
EVENT: AGM & Decoding the Consumer Act
REVIEWED: Louise Van Rensberg from LVR Consulting
CAPE TOWN AGM
The BWA Cape Town branch held its AGM on Tuesday, 19 April 2011 at the offices of Edward Nathan Sonnenberg who also kindly sponsored the AGM.
On arrival we were all treated to scrumptious eats and drinks before the commencement of the AGM.
There was an impressive turnout of members and a few proxy votes were also received. A quorum was declared and the AGM proceeded.
The participants in the RED Dress Quest were introduced and congratulated on being selected. These ladies were also told to remain positive.
The minutes of the previous AGM and Treasurer’s reports were tabled and adopted. Nina Joubert, the BWA Cape Town Chairperson presented a slide show detailing activities and programmes embarked on in the past year as well as a comparison of the current membership with previous years.
After Nina’s presentation the meeting was addressed by Professor Angela Itzikowitz, an executive at Edward Nathan Sonnenberg. Professor Itzikowitz spoke about the new Consumer Protection Act (CPA) which came into effect on 1 April 2011. One of the main objectives of the CPA is to regulate the way businesses relate with consumers, how they market their products and services, and the rights that consumers have. While listening to Angela we realised that the CPA is a new minefield and an area of untested ground. What started as an informal address, resulted in a general discussion session. Due to time constraints we could not discuss the CPA at length, but Angela indicated that she is prepared to have another session with the BWA where the CPA can be discussed further.
All the attendees were in agreement that they would like to have another session with Angela as there are a number of unanswered questions.
Nina explained that there are to be changes in the structure of the new committee as there will be more subcommittees. A number of nominations were received to join the Committee and it was agreed to that all nominees would be elected to the Committee.
Ferose Oaten paid tribute to the late Susan Stelzer who played a big role in the BWA.
It was a great evening and we are looking forward to getting together soon.