ASSOCIATIONS
13
IOPSA Natexec Committee
Meeting – June 2020
By
IOPSA executive director, Brendan Reynolds
The past year certainly has been an extremely challenging one,
not only for our members but for the world in general.
If I were asked to describe the past 12 months in
three words, they would be: risk, uncertainty and
fear. The world economy has not been in its best
form and the panic caused by Covid-19 is having
a significantly negative effect. Domestically we
have faced additional challenges in the form of
SAA, the water crisis and load shedding. All in all,
it has been a really tough year. Despite being the
eternal optimist, I don’t foresee 2020/21 being any
easier, but fortunately there are solutions to many
of the problems and I certainly hope that we will
see some recovery in the third and fourth quarters
of the year.
The construction industry, and plumbers in particular, have
not been immune to the country’s woes. In fact, they have
arguably been among the most heavily impacted. Covid-19
has led to business failures, job losses and financial distress.
The ‘construction mafia’ issue has not been effectively
addressed despite a focus from government and the media.
While there do seem to be some signs of green shoots, I
think the next six months are going to be extremely tough for
the plumbing industry.
IOPSA has been highly fortunate to be able to weather
this storm so far. Membership continues to grow and
participation at all levels is increasing. We are humbled
by the faith being placed in us by our members and thank
each and every one of you for your continued support and
assistance. We will continue to actively find ways of adding
value to all members.
Financially, IOPSA continues to perform well, especially
considering the state of the economy and the impacts of
Covid-19. The financial and reporting consolidation of the
regions has been completed successfully and I would like to
thank Michelle van Rensburg and all the regional teams for
getting this done. It was not as easy as we originally thought,
but these awesome people managed to get it done. The
auditors have conducted a far more robust audit this year in
order to ensure that we improve our financial controls even
further. I am pleased to announce that once again IOPSA
has received a clean bill of health from our auditors. It is
our intention to start publishing an annual report in the near
future. This will provide valuable information to members
on IOPSA’s performance for the year as well as reporting on
progress being made by each department.
Transformation remains vital to IOPSA and its strategic
direction. While reasonable progress has been made,
the pace has slowed. I attribute this mainly to the novelty
wearing off more than anything else, but we will be tackling
it with renewed vigour. Unfortunately, I have to report that
the Limpopo Committee has been dissolved due to the
committee members’ unwillingness or inability to become
IOPSA members.
Eamonn Ryan.
Brendan Reynolds, executive director of IOPSA.
In conclusion, IOPSA is generally in a very good position to
continue to serve its members and I have no doubt that we
will be able to navigate the tough times ahead and come out
even stronger. PA
August 2020 Volume 26 I Number 06
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