ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

CLIFFE DEKKER HOFMEYR INC

20 SEPTEMBER 2016

PRESIDENT’S ANNUAL REPORT

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I report on the affairs of SASLAW for the 2015/16 year as follows.

Membership

The Membership of the Society at the commencement of the year was 1225 (September 2015). The loss of the block membership of Tokiso has resulted in this year’s membership reducing to 1110. The chapters have made a concerted effort in the last few months to attract new members by embarking on vigorous marketing drives. However, the Society is fortunate to have an active membership. Approximately 70% of members in all regions are actively engaged in the Society in some form: seminar and conference attendance, pro bono duties, committee support, speaking commitments, or donations.

The membership numbers per chapter are as follows:

Chapter / Sep-14 / Sep-15 / Sep-16
Eastern Cape / 82 / 66 / 65
Free State / 32 / 42 / 34
Gauteng / 832 / 811 / 757
KZN / 145 / 130 / 124
Western Cape / 212 / 176 / 139
Total / 1303 / 1225 / 1119

Pro Bono Project

The project continues to perform indispensably at the Labour Courtsand is continually refined and extended. The Johannesburg office celebrated its 5th Anniversary in February.Ebrahiem Abrahams has been appointed as additional director and Shamima Gaibie, Nick Robb, Ludwig Frahm-Arp and I complete the current directorate. We thank them for their continued service to the project.

Legal Aid has committed funds to the project to secure the services of a part-time attorney in the Johannesburg Advice office. It is hoped that the attorney will be appointed by the 1 November.More details on the project and its achievements are included in the attached SASLAW pro bono NPC Directors’ report.

Pro Bono – Acting Judge Appointments

A total of 41 SASLAW members offered their services as pro bono judges in the Labour Court in Johannesburg during the December 2015/January 2016 recess, and in the July 2016 recess. The Court and SASLAW are very grateful to these members for their commitment.

Stakeholder Engagement

During the course of the year various members of the National Committee have, representing SASLAW, engaged with:

  • The Judge President in relation to various matters involving the Courts;
  • The Department of Labour , Employment Equity Department;
  • The CCMA in relation to the Pro Bono project and the Conference;
  • The Law Society in relation to the Pro Bono Project and other related matters;
  • Legal Aid in relation to the Pro bono project;
  • International Labour Organisation and the ISLSSL in relation to African Labour Law and the Conference.

Seminars

A total number of 40 chapter events were held during the course of the year attracting a total of 2662 delegates. SASLAW thanks the speakers for their time and expertise and also to the law firms and other organisations who have hosted the events during the year.

African Labour Law Society

As a result of interactions with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and firms who are interested in the development of Labour Law in the African continent, an African Labour Law workshop took place on the 21 July at ENS. 11 countries were represented and there were 43 people in attendance. The event was sponsored by the ILO, ENSafrica and Bowman Gilfillan.

At the workshop, the delegatesresolved to form an association that focuses on African labour law and the collaboration and networking of those involved in the practice and development of Labour and Social Security Law. It was resolved that the African chapter of the ISLSSL (International Society for Labour Law and Social Security – beactivated as the vehicle to achieve this.

As a starting point to serve as a catalyst, the participants have responded to a matrix of questions formulated with the assistance of ENS and Bowman Gilfillan. The initial meeting involved a discussion of the answers to the questions formulated on the identified subjects in each jurisdiction and collaboration with the represented countriesand will now continue in relation to the collating of information in respect of the matrix. SASLAW, with the assistance of the ILO, has agreedto sponsor the preparation, registration and set up of a website and logo for the new Chapter and further SASLAW will, until the Chapter is formally constituted, perform the functions of a Secretariat for the re-activated African Chapter of the ISLSSL. I would like to thank Prof Stefan van Eck, Dr Joni Musabayana of the ILO; Brian Patterson of ENSafrica and Chris Todd and Talita Laubscher from Bowman Gilfillan for their significant contributions.

Young Lawyer’s Society

The 3rd student conference was arranged at Wits University on 3 September 2016 and attended by 45 students from the Universities of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg and Pretoria. Our thanks are also extended to PPS and LabourNet for sponsoring the event and for the 4 speakers who presented at the event. The Young Lawyer’s Society was formalised in early 2016, and is run by a committee which comprises of 9 members from around the country. The committee is headed by Neil Searle and Nic Preston. The members have visited various universities around the country introducing SASLAW to Labour Law students. Relevant articles are sent to the members of the Young Lawyer’s Society.

Conference

The 19th Annual Conference was held at the Forum, Dimension Data campus from the 22 – 23 July 2016.

Promotion of the event began on the 16th February 2016 with the release of the programme and the Early Bird Registration fees. Fees were kept low to attract delegates from across the SASLAW membership. Having the programme completed and ready for publishing at the time of the first promotion certainly helped in securing the early registrations. The event was profitably concluded for the benefit of the Society and the Pro Bono Project.

The use of an online registration system was well used and proved a simple way for delegates to register online. This saved the administration a lot of time in capturing data. Reports and databases were easy to generate and assisted in managing the event. Most of the registrations came from a direct link on email, but there were some registrations directly from social media platforms, Google search engine and partner/sponsor pages. 232 delegates registered by the Early Bird registration date of the 22 April 2016.

38 Non-members registered for the event and in total 409 delegates registered to attend the event.

The feedback from the delegates was on the whole, very positive. The committee have reviewed the response from the delegates, and will implement changes to the programme and operationally in 2017.

SASLAW’s thanks must go to the sponsors of the event: LabourNet; Juta Law; Lexis Nexis; PPS Insurance; Sabinet; Global Business Solutions; Hortors and Contemporary Labour Law. Without them, the event would not have made the profit it did. The speakers must be commended for presenting well prepared presentations. Thanks to them for sharing their time and expertise with the delegates.

Finance and Administration

The Audited financial statement for this period is attached. The year resulted in a R27000 loss. This was predominantly due to the hosting of the World Congress in September 2015. Historically, the Society has relied on the Annual Conference for some profit in order to, in the main, support the Pro Bono Project. Profit from this year’s conference, which was significant, has effectively restored the financial equilibrium within the Society.

The National Committee has resolved to appoint new financial administrators. These administrators should prove substantially more cost effective and the software platform will greatly assist the administrators and, in particular, the national administrator by the introduction of more automation in the process.

Marketing

The Society and its Annual conference were promoted through the following platforms during the period.

  • The conference was marketed through the SASLAW chapter channels:
  • Website
  • Seminars and events
  • Telephone calls
  • Bulk sms alerts
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc employment newsletter
  • Partner and sponsor website pages
  • Without Prejudice – Barter agreement
  • De Rebus advert
  • HR Future newsletter article
  • Polity newsletter banner advert
  • Annual Labour Law Conference newsletter
  • Pan African Lawyers organisation website and social media
  • Legalbrief Workplace newsletter
  • Skills Portal newsletter

A marketing and membership portfolio on the national committee has been created. The committee member will work with the administrators to increase membership in the regions. As in previous years a marketing plan has been prepared to give guidance to the administrators. The annual survey is useful for measuring activities and confirmed member’s needs, and the administrators have attended a number of useful membership and marketing webinars throughout the year.

Administrators

The Society is managed by administrators in the regions. Our thanks must go to Natasha Miller and Fatima Rustin in Cape Town, Charlie Scholtz in Port Elizabeth, Jeanette Monahadi in Bloemfontein, Diane Cochran in Durban and Clare Fincham in Johannesburg, for their hard work and commitment to the organisation.

Honorary membership

The National Committee is pleased to bestow honorary membership on Tanya Venter, to thank her for her ongoing support, passion and leadership of the Society over many years. Tanya has served on the Gauteng chapter committee as its president, was on the Pro Bono project team at its inception, and sat on the 2015 World Congress Organising committee.

Closing Comments

It has been my pleasure to serve on an exceptionally committed, competent National Committee this year with Shamima Gaibie (Vice President), Peter le Roux, Talita Laubscher, Anastasia Vatalidis, Lance Witten and Stefan van Eck, and with the Chapter Presidents Ludwig Frahm-Arp/Johan Olivier (Gauteng), Jason White (Western Cape), Voreshka Gosai(Kwazulu-Natal), Johann van der Walt/Peter Kroon (Eastern Cape), Morne Terblanche(Free State).

Thanks are also expressed to the law firms who hosted the meetings of the National Committee at various times in particular Norton Rose, ENS Africa and Wright, Rose-Innes for the use of their facilities.

In 2017 SASLAW moves to commemorate its 20th year of existence. Given the objects of the Society, the scope of the Society’s activities and the size and composition of its membership is a testimony to its prominence, vibrancy and effectiveness. It has been a pleasure to engage and serve its members.

Richard Maddern

SASLAW: National President

20 September 2016

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