with a very strong footprint and legacy in
South Africa.
I became involved in the Inland Branch of
the Concrete Society in 2006 because of my
interest in the subject. I was on the committee
of the Inland Branch, and eventually became
the branch chair of the committee — the first
woman in South Africa to hold that position.
After a number of years, I was co-opted onto
the Concrete Society board. All the board
members are involved for the love of concrete
and for the passion of the material. The board
has nine members: the CEO, John Sheath, and
eight elected members. Those members elect
a vice-president to take over from the current
president when the incumbent has served
his/her term. I was elected vice-president in
2014 and during 2016 I was inaugurated as
president for a two-year term.
RG: As president, what responsibilities
do you have?
HT: I am chairperson of the board of directors
so I chair the board meetings, where we
focus on the strategy and discuss issues
of importance for the sustainability of
the Society in terms of membership base,
the portfolio of offerings and/or course
financial sustainability. I also work closely
with the CSSA head office staff, the CEO,
the administrator, and the membership
coordinator on a weekly basis.
RG: Are there any particular areas that you will be
focusing on over the next five years?
HT: To me, the three really important areas
that we need to focus on are innovation,
relevance, and succession planning, which
are all interconnected and crucial for
survival of any business or organisation, not
just the Society.
Innovation is happening at an alarming
rate and if we do not drive and embrace it,
we will end up being driven by it and playing
catch-up. Traditional R&D programmes
should give place to focused development
and investigation of innovative offerings in
terms of materials, processes, and outcomes,
while upholding sound engineering, design,
construction, and material fundamentals.
Relevance cuts across staff grades and
ages, and the challenge is to remain on
the forefront of what is available, what is
achievable, and what is practical. We do not
need to be swayed by every unsubstantiated
innovative fancy or practice, but I believe
that our industry does need to move forward
to remain relevant. As part of this drive for
relevance, the Concrete Society and the
other concrete-related bodies in South Africa
— The Concrete Institute (TCI), the South
African Readymix Association (Sarma), and
36 _ QUARRY SA | SEPTEMBER 2017
the Concrete Manufacturers Association
(CMA) — have made the decision to work
more closely together with the ultimate goal
of consolidation of the various bodies into
one workable entity for the benefit of our
whole industry.
Succession planning is the issue
that concerns me most and one that is
tremendously important to me. When I
say succession planning, I don't just mean
in terms of who will replace me on the
board when my service term is over; I mean
succession planning for the membership of
the Concrete Society. Senior people need
to ensure a thorough understanding of and
respect for engineering principles in the
younger generation, and need to mentor
and groom junior staff members. We have
a responsibility to harness the innovative
energy of the younger generation to ensure
that our industry remains in good hands.
Where relevance and succession planning
intersect, we will ensure that the Society, the
board, the members, and the events reflect
the realities of our industry.
We have already moved away from the
stereotypical staid image of similar bodies
when it comes to our presidents: Prof. Billy
Boshoff from the University of Stellenbosch
was our youngest president ever (2010–
2012), Tseli Maliehe (Ibhayi Contracting) was
the first black president (2012–2014), and
then I became the first female president,
so we are already moving away from
stereotypes. For me, a mission is to make
sure that we bring the youth in our industry
with us — we must make way for, and guide,
the younger generation.
RG: You mentioned some possible consolidation of
concrete-related bodies in South Africa in future.
Can you tell me more about that?
HT: This concept is still in preliminary stages.
The exact model of how it could work still has
to be decided on, because each of the bodies
has a slightly different membership basis
and different mandates. We will have to find
an agreeable, workable solution. A similar
exercise was done in the UK some years ago,
where the different bodies kept operating
according to their different mandates, but
under one umbrella of administrative staff
and shared facilities. We do not know if that
model is necessarily going to work for us,
but we are sure that we will find a workable
model within the not-too-distant future. The
Concrete Conference (TCC) that took place
in August this year, was jointly organised
by the four bodies to serve our different
membership categories, but with a common
goal of spreading the concrete gospel. This
was a huge step to show our sponsors and the
built environment fraternity of South Africa
how joint initiatives can add value.
I can foresee that one day there might
not even be a Concrete Society president
anymore; the role might fall away in a
joint organisation.