Saepa spells out priorities for year ahead

The newly elected board of directors for the South African Express Parcel Association (Saepa) has identified customs, security and education as core focus areas for 2013. The new board members – executive director Garry Marshall, Gary Weber, Shaun ter Bruggen, Dave Perunal, Keith Ferreira and Paul Horsfall – were elected at the organisation’s AGM earlier this year. Referring to the stringent new security requirements that affect personnel, equipment and procedures, Marshall said compliance was mandatory so the industry would simply have to implement them. "Fortunately, our industry remains resilient,” he said. He expressed concern at the cutting - from 50% to 20% - of mandatory grants for education, creating a “disincentive” for future training. Marshall said funds were being allocated to allow several learners to complete the newly developed Certificate in Supply Chain Management. Commenting on the revised BBBEE code of the Department of Trade and Industry, he said this was likely to stifle growth, hinder progress towards the stated goals and discourage companies from future participation “We have commissioned a high-powered team to analyse likely outcomes and made an extensive submission to the Minister outlining recommendations,” he said.