Good evening special guests, the finalists the special women we wish to honour tonight, friends all protocol observed in true BWA Fashion.
Bloemfontein is renowned for its beautiful roses the gorgeous and well manicured flowers and women, but tonight i will fail dismally if I do not acknowledge the good looking gents in our midst’s.
Husband did national service and shared the lovely young ladies with me – I was green with envy. –tonight as a mature adult in his absence I will agree with him and thank the Lord I have matured.
It is very rare that as women, we afford ourselves the luxury to acknowledge and revel in success – but tonight we will indulge with our finalists and winners.
All growth and accomplishment involves taking a risk …
As Winston Churchill said … success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. The women we salute this evening have excelled - despite the failures and challenges they have faced.
in sharing my story – I want to start with an activity we hate to admit we indulge in – MOANING………
Moaning is a familiar activity we all indulge in at regular intervals, we even allow ourselves to wallow in it to our own dismay and embarrassment. I wish to promote discontent a 2nd cousin of moaning, I want to CHALLENGE you to embrace your discontent.
Cultivate constructive discontent as this is the driving force that makes people search for their dreams. Complacency never brings success.
For 10 years as my husband’s shore skipper I watched him go to sea and addressed the needs of his fisher’s wives and children. I saw their plight, the slow boat they were on to nowhere. I felt uneasy and spoke to all and sunder on the shore and seaside. My moaning and discontent made people feel uncomfortable even my own husband who valued his fishers rebuked me.
Government frowned on my concerns and I was considered a difficult fishwife. A journalist friend intervened when a kind donor wanted to donate R 50 000 into a bottomless pit and asked him to speak to this annoying fishwife. The Rest as they say is history in august 1999 I moved into a small room at the harbour, sat behind a desk and thought what now.
I am uneducated I only have matric, a big heart, big ideas, a loud mouth and no strategy. I could make no sense of all the acronyms government threw at me and went home most nights tired and with a hectic migraine.
Rosalyn Carter tells us that … A Leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be!
I would love to think I fall into that great leader category but alas my industry did not care to go where I wanted them to. The boat owners belittled me and felt I will make the fishers clever and turn them against them.
The fishers did not warm to me because this madam will see we cannot read or write and expose our ignorance.
Government thought I was an annoyance a woman with nothing good to do, go home and take care of your kids and husband their faces told me.
I persevered and lobbied for 5 years and in 2004 they passed a law that all fishers must undergo basic safety and survival training before they can go to sea. Yes now they had entry criteria, previously you only had to be big mouth, tell a good lie or two and use some dagga to relax you out there.
I get sea sick looking at the sea, I cannot swim the most water I knew was at the bottom of “die groot gat in Kimberley” where grew up. What can I teach the fishers? Never underestimate a woman I called all and sunder and a kind gentleman at I&J sent me all their material. A training school in Cape Town sent me there facilitator for the first 3 months. I begged old seafarers to come and do the training. You need a fisher to train another fisher.
Zolani Nonjobe a fisherman knocked on the door and said will you help me to become a skipper, being over confident I said yes. Today 10 years later Zolani is a registered assessor and facilitator a qualified gr 4 watchkeeper on an over 25ton vessel and owns his own taxi. He is one of my greatest successes.
All my staff hails from the fishing industry and they all started as office cleaners and are now either the receptionists or data capturers.
We had to comply with stringent accreditation standards and I battled with most of the acronyms never mind the quality management system. But I needed that to do the training. We battled and obtained full accreditation the first maritime community centre in South Africa, no one came to our party.
I worked hard I networked asked questions and applied for every and any funding. In 10 years I have raised more than 35 million for the maritime industry helped more than 12 providers nationally to get accreditation and trained more than 16000 fishermen from port Nolloth to port st johns. – mr Mandela echoes my belief when he states that training and education is the greatest weapon we can use.
Was it easy no, it was terrible. The days and nights of doing the most boring things just to get money or means to get the training out there. A wise friend told me that a diamond is actually nothing more than a chunk of ugly coal that stuck to its job. Hard work and commitment always pay off.
Today I represent the maritime and small and large fishing companies on the national transport training board. Yes this fishwife from PE – I know most of the acronyms, I still struggle with my English, but my passion exceeds my shortcomings.
Did I make mistakes, more than I would care to admit. Do we still loose fishermen out at sea due to accidents yes, but the accident rate has dropped by more than 60% training makes a difference. Prof Chris Barnard said knowledge is only knowledge when someone knows about it. Shared knowledge is a sure way to immortality.
Looking back I realize that although I opened the school for the fishers and their families, I gained just as much if not more. I grew as a person, I became a business women I joined bwa, I meet the most incredible business women daily, I had supper with Hilary Clinton, this fishwife.
If I can do it anyone can. You have the most phenomenal and to crown it all beautiful women in Bloemfontein and surrounding areas. Females make up 52% of our population.
Ladies we are the culture keepers – we are the foundation of our nation one of Mr Zuma’s closest confidants and advisors is ms Lakela Kaunda, former newspaper editor. Woman are going places we make a difference where it counts: Kofi Annan- says to ensure the success of any community project put a woman in the centre of it.
I wish to leave you with the 5 principles that constitute a good pencil and person:
You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand.
You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but this is required if you are to become a better pencil.
You have the ability to correct any mistakes you might make.
The most important part of you will always be what's inside.
No matter what the condition, you must continue to write. You must always leave a clear, legible mark no matter how difficult the situation.
Everyone is like a pencil...
created by the Maker for a unique and special purpose.
By understanding and remembering, let us proceed with our life on this earth having a meaningful purpose in our heart and a relationship with God daily.
Cultivate constructive discontent as this is a sure driving force.
Complacency never brings success.
You were made for greatness seek it actively.
Thank you
Betsy Ings