At the 112th Annual General Meeting of Master Builders Association North held in Midrand on February, Tony Riley, a senior executive of retail giant Massbuild, was elected as the new President, in succession to Charl Venter.
The MBA North also elected two new Vice-Presidents: Jason Wilmot, Managing Director of Hard Hat Equipment Hire; and Musa Shangase, Commercial Director of Corobrik. It is of interest to note that the new President and Vice Presidents are all from the supply side of the construction sector.
Also present at the function, which was well attended by Association members, were a number of Past Presidents: Nico Maas, Eunice Forbes, Neil Duncan, Lee Smith, Pieter Rüde and Terry Hinton.
MBA North Executive Committee members for 2016/2017
Wayne Albertyn – Gothic Construction
Rob Blackbeard – Steel Studio International
Bradley Boertje – Liviero Building
Leon Botha – Murray & Roberts
Peter Buchel – Buchel Hardware
Deon Calitz – WBHO Construction
Penny Cornelius – Pro-Plan Construction
Jose Correia – Tiber Construction
Danie de Villiers – Edilcon Construction
Joao Dos Santos – Archstone Construction
Ian Duncan – Kevin Bates Flooring & Carpeting
Werner Kroon – W F Kroon Projekte
Andrew MacFarlane – Damp King
Bongani Malazi – Ubuhlebethu Business Enterprise
James Martin – SA Paving
Michael Moloto – M2M Projects
Sello Mokawane – SNS Plumbing and Projects Specialist
Marie Sono – Thabi-Mari Property & Associated Services
Rose Ts’enase – Bashoeshoe Investments and Projects
Liana van der Walt – Edelweiss Glass & Aluminium
Hennie Wolfswinkel – H J Wolfswinkel (Pty) Ltd
At the meeting, Honorary Life Membership was bestowed on building industry stalwart and hardware retailing veteran, Peter Buchel.
Charl Venter, immediate past president of MBA North, described Buchel as one of the MBA’s “unsung heroes”. Venter says Buchel has, for many decades, played a leading role as an executive committee member of what is now MBA North, and its predecessors. “Peter has always shunned the limelight and has never served in a presidential capacity in our association, although he is eminently qualified for such a leadership post. But he has over many decades given what must be thousands of hours of his valuable time to the MBA cause and is truly a building industry icon in our region, well deserving of this special honour.”
Mohau Mphomela, Executive Director of MBA North stated: “Peter is still undoubtedly one of South Africa’s ironmongery gurus who has provided invaluable advice and equipment for the construction of thousands of buildings – large and small – all over the Southern African sub-continent. Peter has been a pillar of Master Building, and we felt it timeous that such passionate ‘behind-the-scenes’ support of the MBA cause should be recognised.”
Guest speaker, ABSA economist, Miyelani Maluleke, warned that the construction industry is facing an extremely challenging year. “With government spending on infrastructure slowing down, the private sector investment at least has remained buoyant,” said Maluleke. “All signs lead to a tough year ahead and the building industry may find itself following the example of civil engineering that is undergoing a process of ‘right-sizing’, while pursuing more lucrative contracts across the country’s borders. But be warned: choose your African destination carefully. The end of the commodities super cycle, and the drastic drop in the price of oil, have also left many other African countries in a very precarious economic situation,” he added.