President’s report
Ending 30 June 2022
SAIRAC 71st National Council AGM held in Port Elizabeth on 11th August 2022.
President’s report for the period 1 July 2021 ending 30 June 2022
By JACO PIETERSE
Can I please ask for a moment of silence in remembering our members who sadly passed away in the last year as well as all the lives lost due to the Pandemic?
| PERIOD JULY 2021 TO JUNE 2022 | RECEIVED NOTICE | |||||
| 1128 | Mr. | F.A. | Loffler | JHB | ASS.member | March 2021 rcd 25 Aug 21 |
| 4450 | Mr. | S.V. | Mohabir | JHB | ASSOCIATE | Covid rcd 23 Aug 21 |
| 709 | Mr. | C.M. | Kelly | JHB | X-F | June 2021 rcd 28 Sept 21 |
| 3974 | Mr. | C.P.P. | Van Der Walt | JHB | MEMBER | December 2020 rcd 28 Sept 21 |
| 4313 | Mr. | T.A. | Mdege | JHB | ASSOCIATE | 9 July 2021 rcd Nov 2021 |
| 3815 | Mr. | L. | Abrahams | CT | ASS.member | 30 July 2021 rcd Dec 2021 |
| 904 | Mr. | B.R. | Meaker | PE | X-F | rcd 14 February 2022. |
| 3420 | Mr. | B. | Erasmus | PE | X-Am | rcd 14 February 2022. |
| 1116 | Mr. | W. | Brown | CT | X-F | 6 March 2022 rcd 8 Mar 22 |
| 1114 | Mr. | S. | Deutschmann | JHB | X-Am | 2019 rcd May 2022. |
| 4663 | Mr. | O. | Bekker | JHB | ASSOCIATE | November 2021 rcd May 2022 |
| 3159 | Mr. | G. | De Villiers | JHB | ASS.member | April 2022 rcd May 2022 |
Council Meetings
National Council met on six occasions.
- AGM 27 July 2021
- NCM July 2021
- NCM November 2021
- NCM February 2022
- NCM May 2022
- Frigair Breakfast 2 June 2022
Membership
The total National Membership decreased by an average of 1.% in the past year.
30th June 2022 30th June 2021
Students 2 6
Associates 233 218
Associate Members 293 301
Members 417 430
Fellows 52
Total 997 1010
The geographic distribution of membership as at 30th June 2022:
Cape Town 23%
Johannesburg 49%
Durban 17%
Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) 10%
Foreign 1%
Of the 997 members, 17% are exempt from paying membership fees in accordance with our Constitution. Members over the age of 65 and those with 20 years of membership and being over the age of 60 years are reminded of this provision.
The SAIRAC membership forms only a small part of the HERVAC and allied fields active persons.
We continuously drive to involve more of our industry to become members of SAIRAC.
Website
The SAIRAC website is doing well, we have the industry involved in advertising on the website and with the generated funds assist to maintain the upkeeps of the website.
The website and our other social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter is being updated regularly by Novarand.
Official Publications – RACA Journal
Thank you to the RACA Journal for continuing to be our industry’s mouthpiece! SAIRAC will encourage our members and industry to circulate or inform Interact media the publishers of the RACA journal of any newsworthy items for their consideration.
Thank you to the Interact team for the 70th Anniversary Platinum Jubilee edition to remember the past 70 years and what to look forward to.
70th Anniversary Celebrations
All the SAIRAC Centres and National had planned functions for the 70th year of existence but regrettably had to postpone due to the resurgence of the pandemic in June 2021. All the Centres in fact did celebrate in October 2021! Myself, Grant and Robert from National attended all the Centre celebrations, it has been events to be remembered for a long time to come.
Administration
The Centres Committees and National Council of SAIRAC remain a voluntary service and I would like to thank all involved for their hard work and the time they contribute to SAIRAC and serving the industry.
Spoor and Fisher have been appointed to register the SAIRAC Logo, name, and the Frigair Conference and Exhibition as SAIRAC’s trademarks. This is a tedious process and we are awaiting the registration.
The SAIRAC Building a Future Brochure has been updated on 5th May 2021 and is available for distribution throughout the Centres. It is a revised general brochure, documenting the purpose and mission of SAIRAC, as well as an overview of the activities of SAIRAC.
Council arranged with some of the wholesalers to place a SAIRAC advertising stand on their sales counters which will have SAIRAC’s news and events available for the industry and will be kept up to date by the respective Centre committee members. The stands have been sent to all the Centres and will be placed in due course, due to the pandemic this process got delayed but is now back on track with Robert and Gregory having made arrangements with the wholesalers at the Frigair expo.
ECSA
SAIRAC is recognised by ECSA (Engineering Council of South Africa) as a Category A Voluntary Association and CPD Licensed Body to Section 4 of the CPD standard. (ECSA-01-STD)
Meaning that SAIRAC does register our Enrichment courses with ECSA and SAIRAC can offer CPD points for our courses.
ASHRAE
SAIRAC and ASHRAE South African Chapter has officially signed the amended M.O.U at ASHRAE’s AGM held in Midrand and via an online platform on 27th May 2021. ASHRAE SA Chapter and SAIRAC agree to support the MOU to advance and promote the mutual interests of their respective members and employees. We are committed to working together toward the following activities and goals:
- Consistent Leadership Communication
- Conferences and Meetings
- Chapter Collaboration
- Advocacy
- Publications
- Education
- Technical activities coordination & Research
We are looking forward to a long-lasting relationship!
Frigair Exhibition
The 2021 Frigair Exhibition had to be postponed to June 2022 due to the Pandemic and the restriction of public gatherings being in place.
The Expo took place from the 1st of June 2022 to the 3rd of June 2022 and served as a stimulus to revive the industry. The Exhibition was very well attended with over 3000 visitors recorded.
A special thank you to all Exhibitors, the Industry and visitors helping to make Frigair 2022 a success. Thank you to the Interact Team and Specialised Exhibitions for all the planning and co-ordinating the event! SAIRAC received royalties for being the owners of Frigair amounting to R323,873.30.
Centre Activities
Not even the Pandemic or social gathering restrictions could stop the Centres to offer the SAIRAC members and non-members CPD rated Enrichment courses and technical talks via the Zoom platform.
The following activities took place:
Enrichment Courses On Line
| August 2021 | ROBERT FOX: EQUIPMENT SELECTION FOR REF APPLICATIONS |
| September 2021 | MONTY MONGOMERY: SAFE HANDLING OF REFRIGERANTS |
| October 2021 | JANNIE POTGIETER: ADVANCED PSYCHROMENTRIC |
| March 2022 | ROBERT FOX: LOAD ESTIMATING FOR REF APPLICATIONS |
| May 2022 | FRANCOIS SCHOOMBIE : FANS COURSE |
Site Visits and Social Events
| 10 September 2021 | Durban Golf Day – Mount Edgecombe Country Club |
| 17 September 2021 | Johannesburg Golf Day – Johannesburg Country Club |
| 01 October 2021 | Port Elizabeth Golf day – Wedge wood Golf Club |
| 08 October 2021 | 70th National Jubilee & Port Elizabeth Centre Diamond Celebrations |
| 15 October 2021 | Durban 70th Jubilee Anniversary & Fellows Dinner |
| 22 October 2021 | Johannesburg Fellow Lunch & 70th Jubilee Anniversary |
| 29 October 2021 | Cape Town 70th Jubilee Anniverasry – Devondale Golf & Wine Estate |
| 04 December 2021 | SAIRAC Cape Town Committee Brunch |
| 25 March 2022 | Johannesburg Annual Golf Day – Irene Country Club |
| 19 May 2022 | Cape Town – Golf Day |
Technical Talks On Line
| 19-Aug-21 | Johannesburg Robert Fox – Project Documentation |
| 12 Oct 2021 | Cape Town Geoff Hobbs – Training of HVAC & R Technicians |
| 18-Oct-21 | Port Elizabeth F. Penhall/N. Coumbis & A. Damari Carel Controls |
| 10-Nov-21 | Port Elizabeth S. Friedmann & F. Schoombie – EBMPAPST |
| 30-Nov-21 | Cape Town Michael Olivier – Alternative to conventional refrigeration (Face to Face) |
| 18-Jan-22 | Cape Town Marius la Grange – Review of application tools to make accurate line sizing selections (Face to Face) |
| 20-Jan-22 | Johannesburg Robert Fox – Lighting and Illumination |
| 15-Feb-22 | Cape Town Wayne van der Merwe – Emerson ZX Scroll Condensing Units (Face to Face) |
| 17-Feb-22 | Johannesburg Ron Burns – Smoke Extraction from Cold and Freezer Rooms |
| 15-Mar-22 | Cape Town Johan Janse van Vuuren – Thermal Scanning of HVAC Equipment including Gas Leakages |
| 12-Apr-22 | Cape Town Erik Kiderlen – Cooling Growing |
| 21-Apr-22 | Johannesburg Marius La Grange Heat Exchangers |
| 19-May-22 | Johannesburg Steven Friedmann – EU Energy Related Products |
| 31 May 2022 | Cape Town Luigi Rosettini – Design and Energy Efficiency in Hydronic Cooling distribution systems |
| 23-Jun-22 | Johannesburg Jannie Potgieter – Discuss some of the rules of thumb that is commonly used in the Industry. |
Centre Committee Meetings
| PE | 8th July 2021 Zoom / 16 August 2021 Zoom / 14th September 2021 / 11th October 2021 / 8th November 2021/ 16th February 2022/ 7th March 2022/ 11th April 2022/ 9th May 2022/ 13th June 2022. |
| DURBAN | AGM – 20th July 2022 Zoom/ 16th August 2021 Zoom/ 14th September 2021 Zoom/ 5th October 2021/ 9th February 2022/ 14th March 2022/ 21st April 2022/ 19th May 2022 Zoom/ 20th June 2022. |
| JOHANNESBURG | 21st July 2021/ 17th August 2021/ 16th September 2021/ 21 October 2021/ 19th November 2021/ 20th January 2022/ 17th February 2022/17th March 2022/ 21st April 2022, 19th May 2022, 23 June 2022. |
| CAPE TOWN | AGM – 26th July 2021/ 24th August 2021/ 14th September 2021/ 12th October 2021/ 16th November 2021/ 15th February 2022/ 15th March 2022/ 12th April 2022. |
I would like to thank all the Committee members and Centre Secretaries for the arrangement and planning of the above mentioned events.
Vote of Thanks Outgoing Council 2021/2022
I would like to thank the outgoing Council members for their support and dedication over the past year! Thank you for going the extra mile for our Institute and industry in general. Without your efforts, SAIRAC will not be the sought-after Institute recognised today!
Robert Fox (Vice President)
Marius La Grange (Past President)
Grant Laidlaw (National Treasurer)
Gordon Banks (Durban Chairman)
Craig Hendricks (Port Elizabeth Chairman)
Archie Steyn (Cape Town Chairman)
Gregory Grobbelaar (Johannesburg Chairman)
A special thank you to our National Secretary Ms. Marlene Gamble who one can always rely on to have SAIRAC’s administrative duties up to date and keep the SAIRAC Engine running smoothly!
Announcement new President
Introduce Mr Robert Fox, the new incoming President and gift him with a brown leather file and a Presidential tie.