The South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) is on an anti-silo drive, closing down the Executive Committee (Exco) leadership structures of its three regional branches as part of a centralisation process involving restructuring and realignment.
Not adequately complying with head office’s “feedback loop mechanism” has been cited as one of the principal reasons why information gathering needs to be tightened up and cemented through data-driven capabilities at Saaff’s head office in Johannesburg.
Saaff chief executive Dr Juanita Maree maintains that the “gathering of empirical data” will better serve Saaff during its deliberations on the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC).
But Jonathan McDonald, former vice-chairman of the now-disbanded Western Cape Exco, has refuted allegations of not trying to sustain and strengthen feedback with head office.
He said that at a meeting held the day before a Saaff function two years ago, he and a fellow Exco member met with Maree and Saaff’s chairperson, Maria du Preez, at the Yacht Club in Cape Town.
He said because it had become clear that Maree was steering Saaff on a new path, the Exco wanted to know how reporting would be conducted, but no conclusive answer had been provided.
“We continued to ask for guidance and they never gave anything.”
McDonald said that whenever reporting came from the regions, “we were simply told that things should carry on as they are”.
He added that whenever the feedback loop mechanism came up, details about new reporting requirements were asked for but never received.
“So, we weren’t doing our own thing. We were doing what we have always been doing.”
Former Saaff CEO Dave Logan has also spoken out against the perception that the regions have been operating in silos, saying there’s more than enough minuted evidence to prove that information from the chapters had frequently been looped back to head office.
McDonald also expressed his concern that well-established regional interventions with customs officials at the Port of Cape Town were now in jeopardy because, since the Excos had been disbanded, regular meetings had been cancelled.
He said what was especially concerning was that the South African Revenue Service (Sars) seemed to be in the dark about what was going on at Saaff, and that questions had been raised as to why regular customs meetings had been cancelled.
Logan supported this concern, saying that it was a well-established function of Saaff to troubleshoot and potentially resolve customs-related matters as quickly as possible.
Maree maintained that such matters should be centralised and that it was not accepted practice for Saaff and Sars meetings to be called and conducted regionally.
McDonald said this doesn’t make sense.
“At the end of every year the WC Exco would have a planning meeting where one of our standing matters was to plan all the set meeting dates for the following year. This was then shared with Sars and Saaff National.”
He said what was especially alarming was that head office seemed to think they could replace consultants, many of them with decades of experience in dealing with challenging cargo complaints – such as customs complexities – with junior interns.
“In December we were rigorously questioned regarding our alignment, value and whether we saw any place for our regional Exco in the new Saaff. We certainly made our points very clear and the representatives from Johannesburg were not happy with the pushback.
“In January we were told that we would no longer be required and they would call on us if they needed someone to advise on a specific issue.”
It signalled the end of the Western Cape’s Exco, he said.
Lamenting the manner in which some regional representatives have been treated, McDonald said that at an earlier meeting in December, one of the consultants was told: “You can be replaced by an intern within a year.
“Most of us have been around the block long enough to understand that you can’t have a junior person resolving problems on the ground with Sars because these discussions can be robust and challenging at times,” he said.
When asked why head office would think it was the correct decision to centralise regional representation at the ports, especially in South Africa where ocean freight frequently ran into issues, he added that head office had never provided any conclusive answers.
“I don’t think there’s anything definitive because I don’t think they have thought this through properly. They’re basically saying that it was time for the regions to be brought under national control,” McDonald said. “The old Saaff constitution made it clear what role the regions would have, and how they should be structured. We asked for this and were made promises that were never followed through on.”
It seemed that the old way of doing things was no longer good enough, said McDonald.
