East Cape Master Builders Association
News from the East Cape MBA of regional dinners, AGMs and social activities
April, May and June are undoubtedly the busiest months of the year in the East Cape Master Builders Association (East Cape MBA) calendar.
This is when the Association holds its regional dinners and AGMs – at which office-bearers are elected and inaugurated; it is also a time during which auditing and judging of entries for the Regional Safety Competition reaches its peak; and a number of social activities such as golf days and annual dinners kick of in the various regions.
At the time of writing a number of these activities have successfully completed, thanks to the continued efforts of the slick East Cape MBA team, whilst some events are scheduled to take place during June through to September.
Port Elizabeth Branch – Annual General Meeting
The Port Elizabeth Branch of the Association held its Annual General Meeting in April. The event was well attended by members and sponsors. Congratulations to Blayne Scholtz and Shaun Bentley on their election as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the PE Branch respectively.
Southern Cape Branch
In George, at the AGM of the Southern Cape Branch of the East Cape MBA, Sheldon Bubanj and Brad Stockigt were re-elected as Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively. Blenheim Insurance Administrators provided the venue and catering for the event.
Queenstown Branch
The MBA hosted its first regional Annual Dinner for the year in Queenstown in May. With Gino Fabbri as the entertainer. A memorable evening filled with laughter was enjoyed by all. Congratulations to Tim van Oosten and Greg Pohlmann who were inducted as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively of the Queenstown Branch having been elected at the Queenstown General Meeting earlier in the year.
East London Branch
In May the MBA had the privilege of handing over a cheque to Sunshine Children’s Home in East London. This was made possible as a result of funds accumulated from the proceeds of the East London MBA Golf Day held at the East London Golf Club in April.
The MBA’s Border Kei Branch met for its AGM at the East London Golf Club on 31 May and saw Ian Cooper of Mpumalanga Construction elected chairman for a second term and Andrew Gericke of Dewing Construction elected as his Vice Chairman.
Grahamstown Branch
The next Annual Dinner to take place will be in the Grahamstown region on the 9 June with Gavin Sharples as guest and motivational speaker.
Further Annual Dinners will be taking place in George, East London and Port Elizabeth where well renowned funny man Barry Hilton is sure to lift the spirits of an otherwise concerned industry.
The East Cape MBA and its regional branches extend their sincere thanks to all of the sponsors for these various events.
On construction in the East Cape Region:
The East Cape MBA notes with great concern that the regular report on private sector building statistics for the region reflects a significant drop in both building plans passed and buildings completed.
The value of buildings reported as completed (at current prices) increased by 14,8% (R1 678,1 million) in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the first quarter of 2015. The largest increases were recorded for non-residential buildings (28,3% or R754,9 million) and residential buildings (11,2% or R726,6 million) .
Seven provinces reported year-on-year increases in the value of buildings completed in the first quarter of 2016. The largest contributions were recorded for Gauteng (contributing 8,1 percentage points or R913,8 million), Western Cape (contributing 4,6 percentage points or R521,4 million) and KwaZulu-Natal (contributing 2,5 percentage points or R287,5 million) The Eastern Cape ( dropped -2.0% R -227.3 million).
The East Cape has in recent years enjoyed a steady stream of notable projects in the region and it is hoped that this upbeat trend returns in the months ahead.