Saiccor - The First 50 Years 5.8 MB - Sappi

The Tainton Period (1971–1983)
The first strike by all the black employees of Saiccor occurred between
6 and 10 November 1981� The issue was national and political�
Countrywide, blacks were demanding the return of their pension
fund contributions on the basis of the rumour circulating at the time
that the government was about to take the money� The white
employees kept the factory running at a lower throughput, until the
blacks returned after being told they could withdraw from the pension
fund and collect their contribution�
Totally unexpectedly, early in 1982, Paddy Brannigan announced
he would be retiring at the end of June 1982� The reason he gave was
that he needed to be young enough to start his new venture of running
his chicken farm in Highflats, and that running a chicken farm was
not that different from running a pulp mill�
Very shortly after Brannigan’s announcement, it was made known
that Peter Dell, from Courtaulds, had been appointed Managing
Director of Saiccor, from 1 April 1982� Because of the close proximity
of the two announcements, it was never certain whether Dell had
been appointed because Brannigan was retiring, or whether Brannigan
retired because of Dell’s appointment� Paddy’s parting comment was
that ‘Saiccor’s future lies in the magnesium plant’�
Although Dell was appointed from 1 April 1982, he really did not
have a job until Oakley Tainton, who was still Chairman, retired at
the end of March 1983�
After Brannigan’s retirement, Norman Boulter was appointed
Works Director from 1 July 1982, and I was appointed Technical
Manager (in charge of production)� Mike Bentley was appointed
Assistant Technical Manager from 1 January 1983�
Nick Day-Lewis resigned as Services Engineer in October 1980 and
Giorgio Taverna took over, but he resigned in January 1981� Lionel Davies,
who joined Saiccor on 1 December 1980, was appointed to the position�
Anthony Wykes returned to Courtaulds at the end of June 1980
and was replaced as Assistant Technical Manager by Geoff Sowler,
who in turn was replaced by Derek Weightman as Chief Chemist�
In June 1982 John Davey was transferred to the flock plant and
Ennio Zan moved to the woodyard� John was appointed Production
Manager of the flock plant on 12 July 1983, a position he held until
he retired on 1 March 1992�
Tony Butler returned to Saiccor as Process Engineer on 6 September
1982 and became Assistant Projects Manager on 2 August 1983�
In December 1978 Tainton fired Fred Eddleston for allegedly barging
into his office without an appointment� Tainton issued a statement
announcing that ‘The position of Personnel Manager has become
redundant and Mr Eddleston is leaving the company�’ Jim McCabe,
as Personnel Officer, then ran the department with Bruce Peddie and
Moses Magubane until Oakley weakened on 1 February 1982 and
hired Andy Porter as Personnel Manager�
99