RACA Journal October 2020 | Page 13

Events and Exhibitions SAIRAC JOHANNESBURG’S 56 TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING By Benjamin Brits SAIRAC Johannesburg hosted their Annual General Meeting on 23 July 2020. The meeting was held via the Zoom online platform with over 40 participants, and hosted by Robert Fox, Johannesburg committee chairman. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the committee did not hold their traditional “Christmas in July” event, but offered attending members opportunity to hear guest speaker, Mike Schussler. The schedule of events started off with a moment of silence for D Douglas, who sadly passed away. Further there was discussion around the training schedule before and post the lockdown whereafter Fox offered special thanks to both Maureen Ramuabe and Johannesburg secretary Mariet Pieterse. Grant Laidlaw presented the financials and offered any members who had any queries to direct these to either himself or Fox via email. Two awards were presented: • Best student was awarded to Chad Vercuiel • Most technical talks attended was awarded to Johan Bekker The Johannesburg committee members will remain unchanged for the following term. Proceedings were then handed over to Mike Schussler – renowned South African economic commentator in the media and in academics. Being an economist for more than two decades, Shussler holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Johannesburg. A successful entrepreneur and CEO of an economics advisory firm, he was named the ‘South African Economist of the Year’ twice and he has also been recognised as Small Business and Member of the Year by the Jo’burg Chamber of Business. Well-known for his innovative research from employment to education indicators, Schussler invented and maintains the Provincial Barometers and fixed investment indices which have been widely published. They give insight into economic conditions on a regional basis ‘ the first and only such indices in South Africa. Schussler presented various current statistics and scenarios to members, pointing out both positive and negative aspects for the economy, and hence businesses. As he described it, the whole world is in ‘shock’ both in the supply and demand states, where there has been widespread disruptions in supply chains. He pointed out the Achilles' heel for the South African business community is the red tape, or lack of ease of dong business coupled by the rampant and obvious corruption which leads to lower business confidence (which is subsequently at its lowest level since inception of the index in the mid 70s). However with current standings of cash reserves by business and the positive disposable income of households, and pension savings within the top 12 positions in the world, the private sector has a lot of legs to turn things around. He further pointed out that fixing the problems in South Africa “won’t cost anything financially – the simple changes in how the country is run will result in a turnaround”. Schussler (and other economists in the country collectively) foresee a sharp recovery in the economy in the short term followed by an expected longer three to five year ‘u-shape’ recovery path before levels reach pre-lockdown levels. It must be noted that before lockdown the economy was already under pressure with a weak rand and persisting load shedding that too hurts the overall situation. Schussler noted that in his view, commercial and retail stock was in over supply particularly due to the change in online ordering, and companies opting to allow employees to work from home, and therefore the HVAC sector would expect results to be affected – however on the refrigeration side with the changes in supply and demand in the chain, that cold storage and warehousing would become a hotspot as more goods will be required at a time but likely less often making these facilities required. Shussler ended off his very insightful presentation by offering members a few key points in ways to ensure their business continue uninterrupted though the challenges and opened the floor to any questions. Some of which were his views on the loan from the international monetary fund (IMF) and what investment he would suggest - which he suggested to be the gold index fund and even government bonds that currently offer an 8% return on a 5-year investment. The presentation was recorded and is available to members. RACA www.hvacronline.co.za RACA Journal I October 2020 11