The event was held in association with the FESPA Africa Expo, which is co-located with the Sign Africa, Africa Print, and Africa LED Expos, and is held annually in celebration of Printing SA’s jamboree week of print.
Founded in 1911 as the Printing Industries Federation of South Africa, trading under the promotional brand Printing SA, the organisation traditionally catered to the needs of all printers, packaging manufacturers, and service providers to the industry who operated in any one of the several traditional printing processes.
In 2014, Printing SA became the 37th and only African member of FESPA. The partnership between FESPA and Printing SA aimed to ensure that no printer operating in South Africa, regardless of the printing methods they employ, found themselves without a ‘home’.
Printing SA aims to represent the interests of those within the printing and packaging industry, ensuring that the industry is sustainable and that all stakeholders and members continue to prosper. Printing SA also refers to triple-bottom-line reporting, that of being profitable.
Printing SA also hosts training for its members and those looking to make a career in the industry. On offer are printing and packaging technical theoretical modules, which are available at the Johannesburg, Cape Town, and KwaZulu-Natal chambers of Printing SA.
Other courses are also available in soft skills training, including leadership, disciplinary hearings, labour law, account management, statutory training, etc. Printing and packaging management courses, including the University of the Witwatersrand courses and the Cape Town University of Technology national print management diploma and health and safety training, includes basic firefighting and first aid.
The gala dinner theme was 'Madame Zingara' and members had the opportunity to view the entertainment that was on offer. The food ranged from a trio of salmon and a lamb and chicken combo to the coconut crème Brule.
Various members gave addresses throughout the evening, including Deon Joubert, past president of the Printing SA Board; the CEO of Printing SA, Steve Thobela; and Colin de Jager, the central chamber director.
Ken Leid, Printing SA’s director of national training and development, together with Printing SA’s Michelle Eybers and Charnia Yapp, the organiser of the 2017 FESPA and Africa Print Expo and editor of Practical Publishing, sponsored and donated prizes for the National Printing SA & Africa Print Top Achiever Award. For the first time, they introduced three winners.
Coming in as the first runner-up was Morne Josias from Cape Town with a pass mark of 82%, with Scelo Mkhize from KwaZulu-Natal achieving 89%. The overall national top achiever for the (TT3) Technical Theoretical Module 3 was Zeal Denays Coetzee from Cape Town with a pass mark of 95%. Each received a cheque of R3 000, R3 500 and R5 000 respectively.
Another highlight of the programme was the presentation of the Gutenberg Awards, which were given in recognition of members who have since passed on but are recognised for their contribution to the printing industry.
Geoff Warren, the director of Printing SA in KwaZulu-Natal called upon the families – Carol and Nicol of Lambert Retief, and Sonja Carstens, the daughter of the late Martin Deysel, to accept these awards from Deon Joubert and Steve Thobela.
The evening ended with Renforms CC from table 14 taking home the main prize for the best-dressed table in the room.
For more information, visit www.printingsa.org. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook.