LAST THURSDAY saw the official launch of a new era for the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff). Intent on discarding its image as ‘a bunch of whingers’ – the words used by a government official to describe the organisation in conversation with chairman Paul Cheetham recently – Saaff is determined to become the partner of choice in the formulation of key legislation affecting its members and their customers. “We must network at the highest level with government in a positive manner,” Cheetham told a packed auditorium in Johannesburg last week. “We must be seen as allies working together for the common good.” It was a sentiment echoed by keynote speaker at the event, SA Revenue Service Commissioner Pravin Gordhan, who received a standing ovation from the audience who represented a ‘Who’s Who’ of the logistics industry country-wide.
