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Associations
SAIRAC JOHANNESBURG
CENTRE CELEBRATES 60 YEARS
Written by Eamonn Ryan
On 10 July 2023 , SAIRAC Johannesburg members turned out for a black-tie event to celebrate the association ’ s 60th anniversary .
Image by Rawpixel on Freepik
All images by © Eamonn Ryan / RACA Journal
Chairman of the SAIRAC Johannesburg committee Gregory
Grobbelaar announced : “ Now as you all know we are not only here tonight for the Centre and National AGM ’ s but also to celebrate our Johannesburg Centre ’ s 60th Anniversary , and may I say that is a huge honour for me to speak on this occasion . It is also a pleasure to celebrate this in the presence of both our members and friends of the Institute . Sixty years ago on 25 June 1963 , the Johannesburg Centre , formally known
The entrance to the glittering venue at Emperor ’ s Palace in Johannesburg . as Transvaal Centre , was formed with Doctors Denkhaus and Hodgson respectively , thus laying the foundations of the SAIRAC Johannesburg Centre we know today .”
“ We , the SAIRAC Johannesburg centre committee , are proud of the prosperity of our centre which would not have been possible without you , our members . We can certainly look back on how much we have achieved throughout the years . Despite difficulties of all kinds , we had the resilience to hold firm in the onset of even the Covid-19 pandemic . Better still , SAIRAC seized the opportunity to rethink our objectives and mission , and by means of online meetings , technical talks and even enrichment courses , we kept our members and trade associates educated - and not only in our centre but reaching into the whole of South Africa .”
“ My wish as current chairman is that prosperity may further smile on our Johannesburg centre , and may it still grow from strength to strength . I look forward celebrating many more milestones with the SAIRAC Johannesburg centre ,” said Grobbelaar .
Robert Fox , SAIRAC president thereafter proposed a toast : “ It ' s a pleasure when you see your institute reach such a milestone – for instance , the umbrella SAIRAC recently celebrated its 70th anniversary - and these are good milestones to reach . So , let ’ s toast to another 60 years ,” he said .
Grobbelaar then recognised the services of such of the past Johannesburg centre chairpersons as were able to attend ( five in number ), and hand out service certificates in honour of them :
• August 1997 to July 1999 , Mr Patrick Burke .
• August 2000 to July 2002 , Mr Allen Curry .
• August 2011 to July 2013 , Mr Grant Laidlaw .
• August 2016 till July 2019 , Mr Jaco Pieterse .
• August 2019 to July 2021 , Mr Robert Fox .
Familiar faces , all as past chairmen .
The next SAIRAC Johannesburg function – educational courses and lectures apart – is the Fellows Lunch in October , which recognises people who have been in the industry for a long time , and to confer on them the Fellow status , in recognition of their long service with a token of appreciation . RACA
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RACA Journal I October 2023 www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za