Dear members and friends,
The SA Business Club has an exciting announcement to make, and you have agreed that this will be the next cornerstone in how we operate!
Late last year the SA Chamber of Commerce (SACC) approached the SA Business Club committee with the proposal to join forces and work together to making a real difference within the SA Business community. The committee were delighted at the prospect and after ironing out some technical details, we put the proposal to you to vote on at our AGM. You, the members, have agreed with us that a joint approach is the way forward so we are pleased to be able to announce that as of 1 July, the SA Business Club has upgraded as a legal entity and now falls under the banner of the SA Chamber of Commerce.
What this means for SA Business club members
No change whatsoever. In fact, only good things! Your membership will be migrated to be a member of the SACC under the existing terms and conditions, effective 1 July 2012. The SA Business Club will continue the award winning events, training and social occasions, no change there either.
What will change is that we will now have a louder voice with dignitaries, VIPs, business people and thought leaders so we will be putting on events with more compelling speakers!
What does the SA Chamber of Commerce do
The SACC aims to be an umbrella organization and conduit for trade, community and investment into and out of South Africa. The aim is to bring under a common management agreement, all current organisations to benefit from: knowledge sharing around common practices, sharing of information and economies of scale in logistical management. This will also hopefully bring to an end proliferation of the formation of other such groups as all needs for all communities, in this collective unit, will be met. The SACC is a member-funded, apolitical organisation.
How the SA Chamber of Commerce works
The SACC brings under one management structure activities offered by the SA Business Club, the Breakfast Indaba, Trade missions, SA Business Awards, Mamba Mentors, Board member events, white papers, research and open letters to government, training activities and various ad-hoc activities and events as set up by the Executive Committee and Secretariat.
Who runs the SA Chamber of Commerce
The SACC is directed by a Board of Corporates. The Board members denote the agenda, what the topics for discussion for the year might be, interest areas that need pursuing and, where applicable, areas for lobbying government. The day-to-day activities of the SACC are executed by the Executive Committee who are elected at the AGM by the members of the SACC. The administration of the SACC is carried out by the secretariat. The Executive Committee take direction and leadership on content and strategy for delivery from the Board. The Executive Committee, as voted by yourselves comprises of: Mary-Anne Anderson (Chair), Reg Bamford, Jennifer Johnston, Carmel Suthons and James Durrant.
We look forward to bringing you a few more updates in the next little while but please join us in congratulating the SA Business Club committee and the SA Chamber of Commerce for some hard work behind the scenes in getting this initiative going!
Regards,
Mary-Anne Anderson
Chairperson: SA Business Club and SA Chamber of Commerce
