Bult - University of the Free State

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Alumni Alumni Brand Pretorius, an honorary professor at our university. Brand is doing us proud Brand Pretorius, who obtained his M.Com degree in Business Economics at the UFS in 1972, started his career with Toyota SA in 1973. In 1988 he was appointed managing director of Toyota SA Marketing. In 1995 he joined South Africa’s largest motor retailing group, McCarthy Motor Holdings, and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of McCarthy Limited, the holding company of McCarthy Motor Holdings, four years later. He serves on the boards of the ABSA Group, as well as Bidvest, of which McCarthy’s is a subsidiary. He is a member of various advisory boards and is vice chairman of the State President’s International Marketing Council. An honorary professorship in Business Management was also conferred on him by the University of Johannesburg. He is a member of the main board of the National Business Initiative, a member of the READ Educational Trust Board of Trustees and the immediate past president of the South African Retail Motor Industry Organisation. He was nationally honoured as Junior Businessman of the Year (1985), Communicator of the Year (1994), Best Boss (1994), Automobil Man of the Year, the Manpower award of Excellence (1995) and he received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Business Communication by the SA Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (1997). In 1998 the research company Integrity Profi les International identifi ed him as one of the top business leaders in South Africa. He received an Honorary Fellowship from the South African Institute of Marketing Management in 1998. In a survey in 1999 by the magazine Professional Management Review he was identifi ed as the most admired leader in the motor industry. This award was bestowed on him again in June 2000. In February 2000 the marketing magazine The Future’s research identifi ed him as one of South Africa’s three most prominent marketers of the past decade. The South African Institute of Marketing Management honoured him as Marketing Person of the Year. In 2002 he was honoured by the READ Educational Trust for his commitment to the cause of building a literate nation through the Rally to Read project, a national social investment project he initiated. The publishers of the South African Automotive Year Book bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award on him for outstanding service to the motor industry in 2003. He became a member of the SA Automotive Industry’s “Hall of Fame” in March 2006, in recognition of his signifi cant contribution to the industry. In June 2006 he was honoured by the Leadership Forum for his contribution towards leadership thinking and in particular, leadership ethics. The recognition never stops... He is married to Tillie and they have three sons. Do’s and don’ts in tough times “The world is becoming more complicated, more unpredictable. Not everyone has all the answers to the problems. Yesterday’s success does not guarantee tomorrow’s success, as the future is not an extension of the past. The world is more challenging... I have not seen ordinary South Africans under so much fi nancial stress, ever.” – Brand Pretorius, 2008. Brand Pretorius, chief executive of McCarthy Ltd, will deliver the 18th annual Brand Pretorius Lecture of the Department of Business Management at our university this year. An honorary professorship in Business Management was conferred on him in May 1991. Last year in his lecture he upheld a list of do’s and don’ts for leaders and managers in tough times. He said leaders must: • Hold on to their vision and values. Remain hopeful and committed to their long-term objectives. The principals and values are the glue that keeps people together. • Stay optimistic and upbeat. Your task is to give people hope. There is always something to be optimistic about. Provide emotional leadership. Put the emphasis on the things you need to do and can do. Otherwise you can put the company in a downward emotional spiral. • Protect your energy levels and control your stress. Retain perspective, remain grateful. • Hone your self-management skills. Focus only on priorities. We suffer from a sickness called “busyness”, doing nothing in the end. Cut out the nonsense. If it is not of fundamental importance, ignore it. • Make discipline a way of life and tighten all controls. • Cut costs and eliminate waste. Create a culture of frugality. Run lean and mean. • Be agile, make tough calls early. To serve your business correctly you have to make tough decisions. Take action earlier rather than later. • Watch your cash fl ow like a hawk – it is the lifeblood of your business. • Protect your key relationships, particularly with suppliers and your talented staff. • Stay close to your customers. Behave as if you were on the verge of losing your last customer. • Be a visible, inspirational leader. Tough times are not the time to hide and send out e-mails. Go out and shake hands. Find inspiration by walking around, interacting constructively with your people. On the not-to-do list he had: • Don’t quit taking risks. You can do the deals of a lifetime in tough times. • Don’t be infl exible, bureaucratic. • Don’t isolate yourself by throwing your weight around, alienating people. • Don’t assume you know all the answers. • Don’t compromise your ethics and take short cuts. That will be the kiss of death. • Don’t stop thinking and start panicking. • Don’t send mixed messages or stop communicating altogether. Overcommunicate! • Don’t be afraid of the future. If we are, we will freeze up. Rather get involved and do the right things. “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness,” he said. 76 Bult 77
Alumni Johan and prof. Helena van Zyl. Johan wins prestigious competition “Entrepreneurship is fun, laughter, tears, joy, disappointment, pain and pleasure… all the things that show that we are alive,” says entrepreneur Johan Eksteen of Bloemfontein who is the winner in a category of a competition for business plans. “You have to work hard to be an entrepreneur,” he said in a lecture at the School of Management where he has obtained his MBA cum laude. Johan is a winner in the manufacturing category of the Enablis FNB Launchpad Business Plan competition in which venture capital of R50 million is available to entrepreneurs to expand their businesses. More than 6 000 entries were received in the competition. His enterprise exports pelleting machines to Europe, Australia, and Africa and is also making inroads into the USA market. The machines are mobile enough to be used by individual farmers or other end-users and can compact material to one-seventh of the original volume and makes transport of fodder and other organic material more economic. It contributes for less waste and a cleaner environment. – Leatitia Pienaar Kovsies vier week lank fees Kovsieweek is in September met ‘n bedrywige program in Bloemfontein gevier. As deel van die fees is alumni en oud-personeel na verskeie aktiwiteite genooi. Dit het onder meer ‘n damestee, ‘n klavier- en viooluitvoering deur prof. Nicol Viljoen en dr. Johnn Wille, asook twee kort komedies deur die Departement Drama en Toneelkuns ingesluit. Die week is afgesluit met die viering van Nasionale Kovsie Alumni-dag wat deur meer as 160 alumni bygewoon is. Prof. Nico du Plessis is vereer vir sy besondere bydrae tot die uitbouing van Kovsie-Alumni en die sleutelrol wat hy as stigter van die nasionale Kovsie Alumni-dag gespeel het. Hier is, van links: dr. Ivan van Rooyen, Direkteur: UV- Bemarking, prof. Du Plessis, me. Suzan Mshumpela, Adjunkdirekteur: UV-Bemarking, regter Faan Hancke, Voorsitter van die UV-Raad, en mnr. Gert Grobler, aangewese Suid-Afrikaanse ambassadeur in Japan. Van die gaste wat die Kovsieweek-vieringe bygewoon Van die gaste wat die Kovsieweek-vieringe bygewoon het, van links is mev. Frances Cruywagen, mev. Lena Cremer en prof. Gert Mouton. Desi McCarthy of the Centre for Higher Education Studies and Development at our university produced the winning photograph for 2008 of the Bloemfontein Camera Club. We give you a taste of what she is capable of on our divider pages throughout the magazine. Desi says: “My love for photography began with the desire to capture every moment of my children’s – Tia (6) and Jamie (8) – lives. To make those special moments last forever. I strive to capture their souls, in just that one moment – so that years from now, I have something to remind me. Time is fleeting. Capture it.” 78 Bult 79
Page 1 and 2: Bult Nuus Redakteur / Editor: Leati
Page 3 and 4: Nuus News Jonathan Jansen wants to
Page 5 and 6: Nuus News Na maande van oortuiging
Page 7 and 8: Nuus News It is a cursed evil to an
Page 9 and 10: Foto: Prof. Jan-Albert van den Berg
Page 11 and 12: Nuus News Regter Hefer roep tere he
Page 13 and 14: Nuus News Boyden central to astrono
Page 15 and 16: Nuus Dr Luis Schwalbach, vetenarian
Page 17 and 18: Navorsing Research Die kokkerot in
Page 19 and 20: Navorsing Research Nicolene Cloete
Page 21 and 22: Personeel Staff Photos: Hannes Piet
Page 23 and 24: Personeel Staff Letticia at home in
Page 25 and 26: Personeel Johan Meyer praises the b
Page 27 and 28: Students Graduates should do youth
Page 29 and 30: Studente Kompetisie lok steeds room
Page 31 and 32: Studente Students Die ‘groot appe
Page 33 and 34: Alumni Veritas word dertig Huis Ver
Page 35 and 36: Alumni Alumni Hulle bly vir ons kos
Page 37: Alumni Therese wil nog magic maak D

Bult - University of the Free State

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