Chair Report
My final report as Chair for the Cape Town branch of the Businesswoman?s Association is brought to you with pride and a touch of sadness on this the occasion of the 5th Annual General Meeting of the branch. I am delighted to be able to share with you all the successes our branch has enjoyed this year and I will highlight some of the challenges we still face both as an organisation and in the Cape.
During the past year we held 31 functions, events and workshops in a variety of venues. We tried to listen to member?s comments and vary the times of day we held these gatherings and we also took note of requests on subject matter. Whilst we acknowledge that it is difficult to satisfy all of the people all of the time, attendance numbers at all functions have been higher than in previous years, so I guess that we have managed to achieve in this regard.
A highlight in the year was the ?Introduce a Friend? Spring breakfast. A large turnout of enthusiastic members and their guests reviewed BWA membership benefits and much fun and laughter when the ladies who had made, borrowed or ?found? a Spring hat wore the crowning glory and a winning offering was chosen.
The 2005 Regional Business Achiever Awards function was exceptionally well attended and nominees came from a broad category base. The judges once again expressed how difficult it was to choose the final winners and this year there was the additional category of Corporate. The four achievers were, Vinette de Villiers ? De Villiers Van Zyl Inc (Professional), Natalie Soine ? Papillon Training (Start ? Up), Wiebke Lusted - Metropolitan (Corporate), Susan Huxter - le Quartier Francais (Entrepreneur). Each of these ladies joined members at an entertaining breakfast in August at the Winchester Mansions Hotel. They were asked to share their personal journey to success and the morning was enjoyed by all. My thanks to our 2005 judging panellists ? Jane Raphaely, Dr Loveness Kaunda, Wendy Browne, Margerett McFarlane who each went above and beyond to ensure that the most worthy were the overall winners in each category. Everyone expressed how they felt inspired by all the finalists and how they had all felt invigorated by the days input from these motivated ladies.
Yet again my sincere thanks are offered to Vice Chair, Ferose Oaten for all of her sterling efforts in bringing the event together, a responsibility that she has so professionally handled for many years. I should also like to acknowledge Taweni Xaba who was our enthusiastic MC for this occasion. The Regional Business Achiever Awards function was also an opportunity for members to dig deep into their pockets and the raffle held that evening raised a further R 8 000.00 to add to the R 8 000.00 bursary awarded from the proceeds raised from the National Businesswoman of the Year. The two recipients this year is full time MBA students Priashni Pundit and Ursula Diane Smith I?d like to offer my good wishes for a successful outcome to your year of studies.
Our end of year function was held at the Vineyard Hotel and provided members with a relaxed atmosphere to meet old friends and forge new bonds. Grateful thanks go to the MANY sponsors who provided gifts for guests and our raffle and to Kitty Petousis and the Vineyard team for treating us so magnificently. The food was fabulous and their function room is a very special place with its views and internal ambience.
The benefiting charity was the Chaeli Campaign and guest of honour was young Chaeli herself. What an amazing youngster she is ? confined to a wheelchair ? her drive and enthusiasm was an inspiration to us all. The event raised over R 22 000.00 for the Chaeli Campaign with an additional R 2 000.00 being added to the kitty from ?Chaeli? merchandise sold on the day.
Members reported afterwards that the exquisite venue, superb food, fun raffle and getting together with business associates and friends was the very best way to end 2005 but the cherry on the cake was meeting Chaeli, her Mum Zelda and Chaeli campaign Associate, Justine and hearing about the valuable work they do to improve the lives of so many physically challenged youngsters. We salute them and wish them well for their continued future success. Chaeli brought a ray of sunshine into the room that day and for most us we were able to carry it with us long after the event was over.
The business book club has not enjoyed the membership support that we had anticipated this year, which has resulted in the initiative being cancelled for 2006. For those stalwart members who regularly attended I have no doubt that this decision will not be popular but it was uneconomic to continue with the current lack of member interest. However, all branch members will be able to have access to the books in the library for a nominal deposit and rental fee.
I have represented our organisation at several Provincial Government forums this year addressing Women Entrepreneurial issues and for the past two years have served on the Board of WESGRO. At National level I serve on the National Committee for Businesswomen?s Associations on behalf of the BWA. In my private capacity I was honoured to be invited to give the key-note opening address of the 5th International Entrepreneur?s Conference and I have been travelling with the dti Road Show seeking to ascertain the real needs of the female entrepreneur giving an address ?The Status Quo of Women in Business?.
The committee held a valuable series of strategic sessions in an attempt to resolve the membership challenge we always seem to face. We explored how we could reduce membership attrition and looked at how we can effectively increase membership. My thanks to Alison Maytham and Julie Mostert who provided us with a professional facilitator from the Ernst & Young stable. Julie also provided us with ongoing reports on membership numbers and needs together with a strategic marketing overview, all of which have given invaluable support to our continuing efforts to increase membership. Our current membership status in the Cape is 326 which includes 57 Corporate members and we would like to see a real increase of at least 15% during 2006.
The BWA Census continues to be a strong focal point for the organisation and I?d like to acknowledge all those involved in the process for their dedicated hard work. It is never an easy task to gather the information and the results offer a tangible benchmark to South Africa in the progress we are making towards greater female representation in the more significant Executive and Senior Management roles in larger organisations.
Our committee has also held a couple of valuable meetings with the committee from SAWEN and we are hoping that we will be able to provide members of both organisations with a few functions that will bring them together. The ongoing opportunities for all will be significant.
Sincere thanks to my extremely dedicated committee this year. Their efforts have kept the BWA vibrant and busy and for the first time since its formation the BWA nationally and the Cape region has made a significant profit. In addition to my acknowledgements of Ferose, Alison and Julie I need to mention Unathi Magida, who is spearheading the Mentorship initiative that we hope to launch in 2006, Shaheema Chilwan, Tina Thiart, Logandree Gounden, Gita Lison, Helen Gooderson, Kunya Maphisa and recently co-opted members Rene Bonzet and Jill Ritchie. All of these ladies have unreservedly given time and effort into the variety of responsibilities necessary for the ongoing good of the Association.
To our members who have supported the BWA with their regular attendance at functions ? thank you. We look forward to your continued support. Congratulations to Monhla Hlahla, the 2005 Businesswoman of the Year. The Cape looks forward to her visit in March. My thanks to Nedbank for their ongoing support and in particular our Nedbank Champion, Wendy Browne, who was always around to lend support, encouragement and the benefit of her knowledge when we needed it.
Finally I must acknowledge the dedicated often forgotten BWA team at Head Office and our Cape Town coordinator, Cheryl Steyn. Our organisation is a ?Rolls Royce? running with a ?Mini? engine in terms of numbers of bodies doing all the work. Our CEO Tina Thomson?s vision for 2005 was ?consolidation? and this wise move has cemented all the hard work begun over the past few years. Excellent business processes have been put in place that offer the Association and its members the comfort of knowing that the BWA operates with thorough accepted regulatory procedural boundaries.
And to Cheryl, our coordinator and team ?keeper of things on track? I can only offer heartfelt thanks. You all know how energetically she approaches her BWA tasks and challenges ? few see just HOW much additional enthusiasm she puts in to make sure that you the member, we the committee and the BWA receive the very BEST of service. I cannot say thank you to her loud enough ? I?d just like to acknowledge that without her my role would have been impossible and extraordinarily demanding. Her humour and integrity have made even the toughest challenges palatable.
Signing off for the last time, it?s been a roller-coaster of a ride ? I will miss the ups and the downs, but I am truly grateful for being given the experiential responsibility. My good wishes are offered to the new Chair, Ferose Oaten and her new committee. I know the Association will grow under her sound leadership. Thank You.
Yvonne Finch
February 2006