The last quarter of the year is always accompanied by an increased sense of urgency – and 2009 certainly offers no exception. If anything there is greater pressure on businesses to remain buoyant, on employees to multi-task, on students to ensure that they succeed in the up-coming exams, on governments to agree on an efficient response to global warming, and on ordinary South Africans to overcome the effects of the global economic crisis.  Fortunately, as we all know, challenges also serve a positive purpose in that they help to direct our focus, ensuring that we become both more efficient and innovative in our approach to finding solutions – and in doing the right things right!

On this note I would like to wish all students and learners, especially the matrics, every success in their preparations for the year-end exams. South Africa needs well-skilled, capable human resources, and I am confident that our youth will embrace every opportunity to enhance their capacity to become active contributors to growing our country and its economy.

Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) has shown its commitment to help promote the principles of good corporate governance amongst businesses through the establishment of a forum which will address related issues.

The Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) has welcomed the South African Revenue Services (SARS) programme of action aimed at “ensuring compliance with the Customs and Excise Act while protecting the local clothing and textile industry against unfair business practices”. 

Entrepreneurship is recognised as a key driver of innovation and growth in any economy. To address this need and to ensure that small businesses in South Africa can progressively increase their contribution to the South African economy, the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and Wits Business School have embarked on a collaborative and strategic partnership.  This was signified through the recent launch of the Centre for Entrepreneurship aimed at contributing to the national goal of wealth and employment creation.

A Proudly South African welcome to the following companies or entities which have recently joined the ranks of South Africa’s Buy Local campaign:

Proudly South African congratulations to the following members who have excelled at the 2009 Annual Gauteng Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) African Stars Awards...

Clicks Holdings is the premier sponsor for this year’s Journey of Hope Breast Cancer Ride campaign aimed at raising awareness and educating women about the value of early detection and managing of this disease.

Proudly South African esSAy gifts has launched an exquisite range of gifts and promotional items, predominantly crafted by hand, which can be ordered directly from them during the next four months.  Described as a strategic marketing partner to its clients, esSAy gifts “seeks to build relationships based on excellent service, reliable delivery, quality proudly South African products and innovative gifting solutions”.

A team of staff from Pinetown-based Proudly South African company, greenOFFICE recently made their way to the Open Air School in Glenwood to plant the Tree of the Year 2009 during Arbor Week.  Assisted by students, the Halleria Lucida was swiftly established for “prosperous growth” at its new “home”.  

Clover Mama Afrika’s income-generating sewing project - Denim Drive - has again received a tremendous boost with the receipt of 1870 metres of denim fabric donated by Levi Strauss.  This is in addition to a substantial donation of denim fabric from the same company a year ago.

Proudly South African Xtreme Projects will be celebrating their fifth anniversary during October.  To mark this milestone, this Port Elizabeth-based company will be publishing a celebration feature in the Herald newspaper.

Thanks to the support of the Department of Trade and Industry, a South African delegation comprising of small business exporters from the City of Johannesburg was able to participate in the 39th Annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference and Exhibition held in Washington DC recently.

Through this joint venture, the City of Joburg, Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and industry, the Proudly South African Campaign, Gauteng Economic Development Agency and the event management services of Network International, were able to showcase products of emerging South African exporters selected from the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Budget Conferences invites companies and individual business owners to register for their five-day conference/workshop which will assist attendees in coming to grips with critical issues relating to Risk Management and measures to safeguard businesses against fraud and corruption.

The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) has invited participation in two forthcoming business missions to be led by the Deputy Minister Thandi Tobias-Pokolo.

Companies that have an interest in the latest developments on the 2010 FIFA World Cup and who would welcome a platform to discuss relevant issues relating to this event are invited to attend a morning workshop initiated by FEDHASA.

THE FOUNDATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA (FDA) proudly presents you with the following information that may add value to Africa's development.

Hands on Treatment, the Proudly South African Mobile Massage/Spa Company and HomeGrown Awards winner, have the perfect solution to year-end work-stress and muscle aches and pains.

The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), in partnership with the Information Technology Association of South Africa and Microsoft will be hosting a free breakfast session on 19 October 2009 (07:30 – 12:30, Bryanston) to highlight the necessity of standards in the ICT sector and to shed light on the economic benefits of standardisation in this critical sector specifically.

The City of Tshwane’s 2010 Unit will be hosting a special meeting for all communication and event managers in Tshwane to discuss and assess all events planned for the period of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ next year - that is 11 June to 11 July 2010. 

Member companies and interested parties in the Western Cape are invited to attend and participate in the Responsible Packaging Management Association of Southern Africa’s (RPMASA) workshop – Partnership for Sustainable Business - scheduled for Cape Town on 15 October 2009.

The Responsible Packaging Management Association of Southern Africa (RPMASA), in the interest of promoting a healthy environment and healthy people, has launched the Sponsor a Happy Drum project. 

The SA Quality Institute has developed an impressive line-up of quality training courses for the last quarter of 2009. These include a number of brand new products, such as a discussion on the Management of Quality Process; Process Capability Assessor Training, and the ISO 14001 Overview, to mention only a few.

The Proudly South African Campaign strongly condemns the fraudulent use of its logo as part of an illegal lottery relating to the unauthorized sale of 2010 Fifa World Cup tickets.

The Campaign would like to alert its members, and the public at large, that it is not in any way involved in the sale of World Cup Tickets, or related lottery scam and that any SMS, or e-mail in this regard, especially where recipients are requested to provide personal details, should be treated with suspicion and caution. 

Homegrown designer of international repute, Sonwabile Ndamase, recently joined the South African community in celebrating SA’s Heritage Day in Fiji on 24 September.

South Africa’s International Marketing Council (IMC), custodians of Brand South Africa, has developed various tools and applications that may be accessed to help promote a welcoming and friendly culture amongst South Africans towards all visitors.

Pro-life animal rescue centre FORA must find a new property by Christmas for 600 dogs and 200 cats as the Roodepoort property leased to its founder, Marlene de Beer six years ago by the benefactor has been sold.  FORA has only three months to find a suitable property and relocate all the animals.

Members are also reminded to prominently display the Proudly SA logo on their websites and marketing material. This enables consumers and customers to identify the company and its products and services as being associated with Proudly South African and its uplifting criteria, including high quality standards.

We call on all member companies that have not sent their company logo to our marketing department, to please send through a CMYK High Resolution version in one or all of the following formats: JPG, EPS, TIFF, AI,  PDF, PSD or a FreeHand Vector File

Members are invited to provide information on their events planned for 2009/2010 for incorporation in the Campaign’s online events calendar. Members can also upload their events by accessing the members.

Kindly forward such information to anne@psanet.co.za

Proudly SA members are encouraged to fully optimise the Members Portal to market themselves and their products and services. Use it by uploading information on your products, services, events or special offers. Update the details of your organisation and upload a low resolution version of your company logo. This will ensure that your logo is automatically displayed on the member product/service search facility on the Proudly South African website. Simply log onto the Members Portal with your unique access code and gain instant access to an entire data base of potential customers – free of charge.

Members who require assistance with their access code are invited to contact Nkhensani Malungani at 011 – 327 7778 nkhensani@psanet.co.za.