Plumbing Africa August 2020 August 2020 | Page 15

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 www.plumbingafrica.co.za