Current Edition >> Archive Section >> Special Features >> 1 - 17 December 2003
Halfway between Senekal and Ficksburg at the foot of the Eastern Highlands, Rosendal is a quaint village with huge open erven amidst lovely surrounding mountains. No wonder urban dwellers looking for a week-end hideaway and “foreign” investors are showing increased interest in the place. As such one can only conclude that Rosendal at present is a gem being discovered. If you don't know the town, go and have a look yourself and you'll understand the reason for this special feature. See whether you agree with us that Rosendal has great development potential - almost à la Clarens, but not quite, because it has its own boundless character.
Lavender Fair huge success !
Considering the smallness of Rosendal and that it was held for the first time, the Lavender Fair of Saturday, 29 November 2003, was relatively a huge success. Danie Louw of the Free State Business Bulletin attended and reports that with-it arts & crafts and other originally-created products from the town and region were on display, together with a lot of home-made and-brewed as far as food and beverages are concerned and a lively program for young and old. Amidst the picturesque surroundings, the Fair made for a highly enjoyable Saturday. Also in attendance, with his own stall of arts, crafts and antiques, was actor Chris van Niekerk of “Krokkedil” fame in die soapy “7de Laan”.
Erfpryse styg
Hoewel 'n baie klein dorpie, lyk dit of die natuurskoon van die omgewing uiteindelik deur gegoede stedelinge en ander beleggers in 'n proses is om ontdek te word en is eiendomspryse op Rosendal besig om aanmerklik te styg. 'n Tipiese onbeboude erf van 2 970 m² kos deesdae enige iets tussen R25 000 en R40 000, afhangende van die presiese ligging. As sulks hou dit beslis goeie beleggingswaarde in. Vir navrae oor eiendomme te Rosendal, kan Nelmari Inglesby geskakel word by (058) 211 0753 of 083 759 6777.
Products from poverty project making their mark
Traditional seshswe mat-beaded products produced by Porcupine Designs, a privately owned poverty alleviation project at Rosendal, are making their mark in the open market. Being produced by local young unmarried mothers, the products are branding themselves as an ideal tourist item - the unusual combination of seshwe and beads into caftans, skirts and shirts is proving to be quite popular. During a recent visit by Pres. Mbeki to Switzerland, these garments were worn by some members of the SA entourage. Some of the beaders has already started their own little business by making clothes in their community.
More info of the project and the products from 058-2110 753.
The Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Services SETA), established in terms of the Skills Development Act, is mandated to ensure that the skills needs of the services sector are identified, provided for, assessed and that successfully skilled people are certified as competent, and to reimburse training levies payable by all employers. To achieve this, the Services SETA is structured into 10 services chambers, viz. Business / Marketing / Cleaning / Postal / Domestic / Personal care / Hiring / Project management / Labour recruitment / Property. Headquartered in Johannesburg, the Services SETA has various regional offices, inter alia in Bloemfontein.
Following the aforegoing, the SME Department of the Services SETA in the course of this year presented a 12 module training programme in the Free State to address basic skills strategies for SME's. Altogether 87 employees (representing 42 SME's across the Service Sector in the Free State), completed the programme and on 25 November 2003 were awarded their certificates at a ceremony held at the Services SETA offices at 49 President Steyn Avenue, Westdene, Bloemfontein. Addressing those present at the awards ceremony, the Regional Co-ordinator of Services SETA, Bloemfontein, Zelda Potgieter, outlined the matter as follows:
“To thank everyone for their hard work, commitment and attendance, the SSETA is handing out certificates of attendance today, in co-operation with CACC College. As you know, they were our accredited training providers for these 12 modules. In 2004, this continuous and Professional Development (CPD) training will be running again.
Each module will be aligned to unit standards and will have a credit value to it, which will accumulate towards a qualification. In other words, each person will need 120 credits to make up the qualification and they can attend any module at any time. The vision of the SSETA is : To install in SA's working communities a tangible, trainable, certifiable and accountable measure of service excellence, which it will be proud to benchmark against comparable international standards of services. The SSETA has been tasked to introduce Investors In People (IIP) to it's stakeholders. IIP is an international standard which recognises an organisation's commitment to the training and development of its employees as these are after all the key to your success !
Just a few benefits of IIP:
To directors : Improved productivity. Reduced labour turnover.
To middle management : Creates an urgency. To realise change and transformation. Attract and retain employees.
To employees : Focus on personal development. Better working environment.
To those SSETA member companies that are interested in getting their IIP standard, we have an IIP advisor (Anne Naidoo) at our office on 5 December. She will be doing a presentation on IIP and the benefits it entails to your organisation. Please contact our office if you should be interested. And then, lastly, to help your SME grow, the SSETA is offering various learnerships across our different chambers. This is an opportunity for your SME not only to grow, but also to give your current staff (18.1 learners) an opportunity to obtain a qualification, or to give an unemployed learner (18.2 learners) the opportunity to gain work experience and obtain a qualification. In this way, your SME can contribute to developing a skilled labour pool for future employment. The chamber manager of our SME department, Ms. Peta Broomberg, could unfortunately not be here today, but on behalf of SSETA we have Ms. Flora Shale of the ESDS Unit of the Dept. of Labour to hand out our certificates of attendance. Also officiating, is Prof. Maimela of CACC College, Johannesburg.”
Interessant wat maak besighede werk - wat maak hulle suksesvol en wat maak hulle winsgewend ? Hoewel die formule nie altyd dieselfde vir almal is nie, is daar wel 'n paar faktore wat feitlik klokslag opkom : Vervulling in die behoefte van die kliënt, kliënt-georiënteerde diens, kwaliteit produk en effektiewe bestuur. Word gesels met Des Bosch van Steers, Bloemfontein, dan blyk dit dat wat hierdie suksesvolle besigheid maak werk in die hoogs mededingende kosbedryf, is veral 'n kwaliteit produk (in hul geval vleis) en effektiewe bestuur (wat veral sorg vir top kwaliteit waarde-vir-geld kos, 'n top standaard perseel en diens wat omgee vir die klant). Des het sy eerste Steers konsessiewinkel in 1998 gekoop - geleë by Tolla's Total in Curielaan, Bloemfontein. Later het hy nog twee Steers winkels geopen - in Mimosa Mall en by Baysvillage in Bayswater. Die winkel by Tolla's het hy later verskuif na 'n nuwe doelingerigte perseel op die Showgate Sentrum-terrein.
Laasgenoemde perseel het Des en sy seun, Sean, as huurders op eie koste ten bedrae van R350 000 her-ingerig en doelontwerp verbeter tot 'n Steers restaurant met nie net die mees moderne aansit- sowel as wegneemgeriewe nie, maar ook 'n inry-gerief vir motorisklante. Des en Sean sê dat die Steers by Showgate uitstekend geleë is om nie net volgens die hooftoegangroetes die suidelike voorstede te bedien nie, maar ook die groot getal boere uit die platteland wat gereeld Senwes en die Skougronde besoek. Trouens, die ander twee Steers winkels te Mimosa Mall en Baysvillage, is eweneens geleë op die ander twee hooftoegangroetes tot die stad, nl. onderskeidelik Zastronstraat / Mandelarylaan en Eeufeesweg. Dit maak dit baie gerieflik vir ook plattelanders en ander besoekers aan die stad wat kinders na skole, die universiteit, technikon, ens. bring, of wat kom inkopies doen of kongresse bywoon.
Wat ook 'n besondere diens van Steers is, is grootmaat wegneemkospakke vir personeel van maatskappye in die stad wat oortyd werk tydens veral voorraadopnames, ens. Hierdie grootmaatpakke is teen spesiale korting beskikbaar en word op bestelling by die besigheidspersele afgelewer. Wat egter volgens Des die belangrikste verskil maak, is die baie streng gehaltebestuur wat hulle as Steers-konsessiehouers toepas - op die geregte wat hulle aanbied, op die fisiese perseel en op hulle klantediens. Daaroor het hulle geen kompromie nie. Dan is die vleis van Steers ook net regte egte bief, met geen bindmiddels of ander kunsmatighede in nie. Hul besigheidsfilosofie wat vir hulle werk, sê Des, is dat die klant en sy/haar behoefte die belangrikste is, dat hulle glo in gehalte en dat hulle altyd daarna streef dat 'n klant by Steers in 'n beter gemoedstemming daar moet uitstap as wat hy/sy mee ingestap het.
Considering the high incidence of crime in the Free State and the multi-faceted nature of it, especially as it impacts on the business sector, it was deemed appropriate to do at this juncture this special feature on Security in the Free State 2004. Situated so centrally in South Africa, the Free State experiences the full effect of the unprecedented high level of crime in the country, the highest murder rate in the world and levels of violent crimes like armed robbery and rape, unacceptably high for a civilized society. This means that the risk to run a business without constantly losing your assets to various sorts of crime, not to speak of loss of life, has become perilously high. The bottomline is that spontaneous entrepreneurship, economic growth and social progress are falling by the wayside.
Hence the importance of the Security industry of our day and hence this feature. Facets of crime that effect the business sector in the Free State -including commercial, industrial and farming - most, are amongst others armed robbery and murder, theft in businesses by either customers or employees, white collar crime, vehicle hijackings, stock theft, etc. Most often these can only be countered by professional security services and in this feature you can find security companies able, willing and enthusiastic to offer their services. Do have a close look at what these security companies has to offer and select from them whatever suits your needs best.
Because of the continuous need to know in this regard and the vital importance of the subject, the Free State Business Bulletin intends to follow this special feature on security in the province up with a regular column on security during the course of next year.
Calculating the cost of crime
Ask any South African businessperson and they will tell you that they can feel the heat of the crime in their enterprises. From the theft of cash and goods, to losses sustained through various forms of deception, crime impacts on the bottom line. The most obvious business loss suffered as a result of crime is shrinkage (stock losses due to pilferage). Other costs include the heavy price tag of installing and maintaining security systems, inflated insurance premiums, increased taxation associated with crime-related public expenditure, losses of time and productivity associated with victimization outside of the workplace, and downtime associated with incidents of on-premises criminality. A key issue of business, irrespective of location, is the need to constantly assess risk, establish safeguards to mitigate those risks, prepare emergency responses, and test recovery plans. Strategic risk management is integral to good corporate governance.
Today, security is about much more than simply preventing theft. It's about the assessment of risk to all key resources, and making sure that a business is prepared to deal with those risks should they become a reality. Integral to this is a good security company. The following are some guidelines towards saving thousands of rands when looking to employ a security company :
Size definitly counts
Like a good red wine, security companies get better with age. Beware of fly-by-nights.
Reputation is everything
This is of the essence as a security company will become a large stakeholder in your business.
Play detective
Find out who the security firm's biggest clients are and speak to them about the service that they are receiving.
You get what you pay for
The cheapest option in security firms may be the most expensive.
The happiness factor
Make sure that your security agency treats their employees fairly and tries their best to keep them happy and motivated.
What gets measured ?
A good security company will be able to prove, through a standardized set of metrics, that they are attaining acceptable results. Although there is much more to be added, the above basics might hopefully assist companies to raise their bottom line at the expense of crime.
Back to Main || About Webmaster || Disclaimer || Back
This site is best viewed at 800x600 pixels. This site was optimized for IE 5.5 or higher.
Copyright © 2002 Web D-Zign Inc. All rights reserved.
