New Seifsa boss brings ray of hope

Published Nov 8, 2015

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Johannesburg - “I hate to see desperation and a lack of hope in people’s eyes,” said Angela Dick as she looked intensely in the eyes of everyone in a boardroom at her Johannesburg offices.

Her commitment to the upliftment of others continued to dominate the conversation, as she explained what she would bring to her new role as the president and board chairwoman of the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa), at a critical time for the economy.

The 70-year-old national employer federation, which represents the country’s biggest metal and engineering companies, hailed her appointment as “historic”.

She is the first woman at the helm of the organisation, which has the mammoth task of keeping the steel industry afloat amid fears it is on the brink of collapse.

 

Job losses

The country is engulfed by a job loss crisis whose devastating impact will be felt by over 100 000 workers in manufacturing by the end of this year, and the majority are employed by Seifsa members.

This fact she was well aware of going into the post, because her own business is centred on fulfiling the needs of both workers and employers.

“One has to be more creative and innovative. One of the exercises which business is doing at the moment is having a look at the entire value chain and looking at every single process, every single product, analysing it and seeing what may still work and what is not working. And it’s not the reduction of staff that one is looking at,” Dick said.

The government needed to share with business its objectives for South Africa, so that they could plan towards its achievement.

In 1983, Dick founded Transman, a temporary employment service company, taking over an untapped market at a time when “no one wanted to deal with blue collar workers,” as she put it.

The sight of men who had the hopeless look she abhors, waiting outside factories to be picked out randomly by bosses who put them to work immediately, without any formal conversation about their needs nor expertise, moved her.

“People are not machines,” she says, as she continues to tell the story of how she went from being an educator to one of the most revered individuals in SA business.

Despite having grown the company from R850 000 in revenue in its first year of operation, to R768m today, she says there was no particular experience in her life’s journey that prepared her for the Seifsa top post.

“As a very young child, I had a life of complete independence. There was no one else to run back to, so I was always accountable,” Dick said.

Her position at Seifsa has made her the proverbial rose among the thorns as the association’s two vice presidents are both white males, while its board also comprises the same profile.

She was not bothered by this reality, which critics could say reflects a non-transformed industry at a time when racial and gender transformation is at the centre-stage of public discourse.

“I don’t really have a male/female thing at all. I like competence, that’s what I like. I like determination, persistence and above all, I like integrity,” she said.

Raised by her renowned photographer father, Norman Partington in Kwa-Zulu Natal, she says it took a while to realise she was a girl.

Everyone in the room, including her daughter Rebecca who is also employed at Transman, bursts into laughter. Dick also laughs at herself, something that appears to be a norm for the mother of five.

The laugh disappears when discussing the challenges faced by the temporary employment sector due to misinterpreted new amendments in the Labour Relations Act, which sought to regulate labour brokers.

She predicted her company would lose at least R480 000, as a result of knee-jerk reactions by some clients who dismissed entire work forces because they understood the new law compelled them to hire workers permanently after three months.

 

Court ruling

In September the labour court ruled in an interpretation dispute that labour brokers remained employers beyond the three months period, however by the time the ruling came, it was already too late for thousands of temporary or fixed-term workers who were dismissed.

Dick is certain that while some could find their way back into the job market, many would be confronted by the reality of permanent unemployment.

“Unfortunately you do get some organisations, not all, but big corporates where what’s happening at the coalface is not entirely evident at the board of directors’ level.

You have huge gaps where sometimes unfortunately they may receive and I know they have received in this instance incorrect advice, as a result they made decisions which affect people down there, which is what created the job losses and that is very scary,” Dick explains.

As the founding president of the Confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector (Capes), where she still holds a senior position, Dick has knowledge of the businesses which were ravaged by the “scare” over the amendments. Capes represents 1 200 independent staffing businesses across all major sectors in SA.

She counts Transman among the fortunate businesses which survived the storm, despite its projected loss at the end of the currecnt financial year.

This she credits to her intimate knowledge of the operational systems of the company she founded.

“I built this company from nothing,” she said. Her passion for people is inescapable.

“Angela Dick, rise and shine, because you are the indomitable spirit in the face of adversity,” read a framed poem on a portion of the office wall dedicated to accolades and artwork of sentimental value to her.

It was dedicated to her by students from Lethabong High School in Soshanguve, where her company has undertaken to improve the conditions of learners.

“I like people for being who they are. I don’t care what nationality you are, what colour you are, whether male or female or transgender for that matter. I really don’t care,” she said.

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