Elias Monage received a unanimous vote of support to continue as Federation President at the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Friday, 4 October 2024.
Executive Chair of Arabela Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Afrika Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Elias Monage continues his role as the President of the Federation and the Chairman of the SEIFSA Board in a crucial year that will see SEIFSA increasingly engaging with government and key stakeholders around a reform agenda that is fit for purpose for the metals and engineering sector.
The AGM unanimously endorsed Elias Monage as SEIFSA President, Nonhlanhla Ngwenya, Managing Director at MphoNo Energies and Board Member at KSB Pumps & Valves (Pty) Ltd and Chief Executive Officer at Atlantis Foundries Pieter du Plessis as the Federation’s Vice-Presidents.
Other Board members are Dynamic Fluid Control (Pty) Ltd Chief Executive Officer Tumi Tshelo, Frigoglass South Africa Human Resources Executive Ryan Haynes, Reinforcing Steel Contractors (Pty) Ltd Director Ernest Volschenk, Ceive Africa Group Chief Executive Officer Honey Mamabolo, Director and Chairman of various companies within and outside the M&E Industry Malcolm Mcculloch, Actom Group Chief Executive Officer Mervyn Naidoo and Invincible Valves (Pty) Ltd Chief Executive Officer Pam du Plessis.
Monage emphasized that “it could not be business as usual going into the next period,” warning that if the industry was serious about tackling key issues around economic growth and expansion, job creation and the unemployment crisis, “would require robust leadership to accelerate the reform agenda whilst in the process positioning the Federation as the apex employer body in the metals and engineering sector.”
In acknowledging the challenges currently confronting the South African economy in general and the metals and engineering sector in particular Monage stressed the need for all SEIFSA Associations and other stakeholders to work together.
Monage stressed that the metals and engineering sector is crucial to South Africa’s aspirations for industrialisation. However, despite this potential, he added, the sector has been locked in a multi-year recession reflected by production contracting at a rate of 1.3% on a compound basis over the last 15 years. Employment has decreased by 205 926 over this same period.
Monage remarked that the recent electoral outcome potentially marks a turning point for the fortunes of the country. It presents a fundamental opportunity to press the reset button in unlocking the latent potential that underpins the South African economy and by implication, the metals and engineering sector.
SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Lucio Trentini reiterated the sentiment shared by the AGM that in this Board, the Federation has a team with extensive and vast experience. “I am confident that this Board will provide the necessary guidance and use its considerable leadership experience to instil confidence amongst the broader SEIFSA membership as we tackle the many challenges facing our sector,” Trentini said.
