More than 35 of South Africa and the world’s top experts on issues relating to plastic piping, water infrastructure and engineering will be presenting at this year’s PIPES XI Conference – an annual event hosted by the Southern African Plastic Pipe Manufacturers Association (SAPPMA).

This year’s event will be unlike any other event the association has ever hosted and promises to be an unforgettable experience.

“We are extremely privileged to be hosting our conference this year in conjunction with the Plastic Pipe Conference Association (PPCA). It will be a two-day event taking place on the 4th and 5th of September 2017 at Emperor’s Palace Convention Centre, conveniently located close to the OR Tambo Airport in Gauteng. In addition to the line-up of top national and international speakers we would normally have at our conference, this year’s PIPES XI also see at least 10 of the best papers which were presented at PIPES XVIII in Berlin last year, delivered to our local audience,” says Jan Venter, CEO of SAPPMA.

Every two years, the PPCA plays host to the world’s biggest international pipe conference which takes place either in Europe or the USA. Venter explains that it is the first time in history that their spin-off conference, which is organised every alternate year, will be coming to South Africa.

"The excitement over the event is tremendous. We have already sold an impressive amount of tickets and are hoping to have more than 300 delegates attending both days,” Venter says.

As an added incentive, SAPPMA is offering an early bird booking discount of 10 % for all bookings and payments made online (www.pipesxiconference.co.za) before the 31st of May 2017.Topics that will be covered at this year’s event are varied, ranging from raw materials and additives to the life cycle and material design of plastic pipes. Installations, applications and rehabilitations as well as standards, testing and certification, and various case studies will also be addressed.

The opening keynote address will be delivered by Dr Roelof Botha, a local economist of the GOPA Group, after which various delegate can select to listen to presentations in two break-away sessions. International speakers who will be presenting on Day 1 (Monday, 4 September) include Zoran Davidovski of Pipelife International (presenting on behalf of TEPPFA in Austria) on “Main barriers to plastic pipes”, Tony Radoszewski of PPI in the USA, on “Manufacturing and Infrastructure in the Age of Trump”, Bruce Hollands of the PVC Pipe Association in the USA on “Life Cycle assessment of PVC Water and Sewer pipe and comparative sustainability analysis of pipe materials and Jean-Pierre De Grève of PVC4Pipes in Belgium on “Evolution and benefits of PVC pipes”, to name but a few. 

The day’s activities will end with cocktail function and entertainment, before the Day 2 (Tuesday, 5 September 2017), will see more local and international speakers, including Dane Tallen of Baerlocher in Germany, Dr Predrag Micic of Qenos, Australia, Rob Spekreÿse of Rollepaal in the Netherlands and Robin Bresser representing Borealis in Austria take to the stage. Final closing remarks will be made by Zoran Davidovski.

“We cannot emphasise enough the importance of this event, and encourage local engineers, students, specifiers and decision makers on all levels to make the most of this opportunity to be exposed to this kind of professionalism and expertise. We would never be able to host such a big event without the support of our industry and would like to particularly thank the sponsors (Macneil Plastics, Sun Ace, Rollepaal, Van Ryn Rubber, Hultec, AENOR-CEIS, Baerlocher, Marley Pipe Systems, Zerma Africa, Molecor/Sizabanthu Piping Systems, DPI Plastics, PipeFlo, Plastiweld and Plastics|SA) who are making it possible for us to host this event and keep the delegate fees as low as possible.

* SAPPMA and IFPA members: R2 600 pp (excluding VAT)

* Non-members: R3 500 pp (excluding VAT)

* Group bookings (5 delegates or more): R1 900 pp 

For more information about the speakers, programme of events or to register, visit www.pipesxiconference.co.za or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

The Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA) held its inaugural Recognition Awards Ceremony on 26 October 2016, to acknowledge excellence in the areas of skills development partnerships, innovation in training, work integrated learning, support for people living with disabilities as well as extraordinary work by new member companies.  

33 Companies walked away with awards that were given across 6 categories namely; Best Skills Development Partner, Recognition for Support of People with Disabilities, Best Partner for WIL, Best Innovation in Skills Development, CHIETA 2015/2016 Achiever Award and Special Award to new member companies from CHIETA ACEO.  

The companies received a trophy, a certificate of acknowledgment as well as a cheque for R 150 000.00 towards skills development in the 2017(terms and conditions apply).  

Member companies such as SASOL, CHEVRON South Africa and Unilever were amongst the veteran industry companies to snatch up awards during this prestigious event. The focus however was not on the age or history of organisations but rather the merits of each project.    

Rural based companies such as Elinem Construction CC were recognized for their unique offering to the unemployed youth of rural Kwa-Zulu-Natal.   “As a SETA accredited training provider and employer, we target unemployed youth from the rural community of KZN and take them through the institutional training and then into Elinem Construction for in-service training,” shared Warren Birchall, Training Manager of Elinem Construction CC.  He added that the Elinem learners therefore leave the program trained for industry and not for the minimum outcome as is specified by many training program.  

Mr Birchall reiterated that this program is largely made possible by CHIETA funding as 99% of their learners hail from impoverished backgrounds. This program was visited by the Auditor General of South Africa during the 2016 Audit period, and was found to be fully compliant, with a low dropout rate of 2%.   South Africa’s unemployment rate has gone up since 2013 where it peaked at 24.5%, 2016 shows a 2 % increase to 26.6%. It is crucial that employers and the unemployed find each other. Often the problem comes in the from of young people not accessing training due to financial constraints or receiving training that is not necessarily suited for the employers’ needs.  

Ayesha Itzkin, CHIETA CEO (Acting) stated: “The focus of CHIETA has, over the past year been on strengthening South Africa’s youth skills development system and ensuring that the right skills are developed for the needs of industry, the economy and the country, specifically enhancing workplace experience – based training and contributing to building strong partnerships with important role-players for a range of training interventions. This is also done for bursary students”   Henkel South Africa is one of the member companies that was recognized for their innovative approach to training and ability to deliver on CHIETA and industry focus areas. Through their Shaping Futures project, Henkel South Africa offers training and placement to young aspirant hairdressers. Mr Bongani Mabunda, Head of Education for Africa, Henkel South Africa celebrated the fact that of the 300 students trained though this program, 270 enjoy fulltime employment.   “We normally used to do this program once a year but due to demand and funding from CHIETA we are now able to do it twice a year. We are also expanding and were now taking the program to Cape Town for the first time,” said Mr Mabunda.                

Amidst the uncertainty of the future of our tertiary education system in the face of the fees issues, it is heartening to see parties collaborating to address the skills, funding and education challenges. Partnerships between TVET colleges such as Umfolozi, Gert Sibande and Falvius Mareka TVET Colleges, as well as universities such as Wits and Western Cape University, industry and SETA’s are essential in ensuring that learners are financially supported and trained for industry needs.   Michelle Rock from Unilever observed; “We have worked on a strategic project with CHIETA, Wits University and our Khanyisa manufacturing plant on a unique skills program to take engineering students out of formal study for a year to come and do a full year of work integrated learning and then, fund the remainder of their studies at university again”.   It is award ceremonies such as these that bring stakeholders together in order to collectively celebrate the dedication and hard work of all parties and serve as encouragement to stay the course.   The CHIETA Board Chairman, Ms Nolitha Fakude’s message focused on the importance of the event and said: “We are gathered here this evening to celebrate and honour the achievement and commitment of 33 CHIETA companies in skills development. We recognise your efforts and to all other stakeholders, not being recognised today, we also thank you for your participation and commitment, and in the same breath encourage you to do even more going forward. “