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__________________________________________________________________ |
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News Briefs |
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February
2007 |
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The Finance and Administration
Sub-committee of Council met in Bloemfontein on 1 February
2007 to review the organization of the new office, the
staffing workload and other concerns relating to the
interface between the office, the members, and Studbook. We
also spent some time addressing the backlog of breeder
queries.
What is clear to us, is that we have some complex problems
concerning our office resources and our capacity to provide
a quality service to members. A simple comparison with
another breed society reveals the following:
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OTHER
BREED |
NGUNI |
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Membership |
350 |
370 |
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Cattle |
102 000 |
40 000 |
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Inspectors |
80
senior, 60 junior |
20
senior, 20 junior |
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Per
capita fee |
R27-00 |
R22-00 |
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Fee
revenue |
R2.75
million |
R880 000 |
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Management |
Breed
Director |
Nil |
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Office
staff |
6
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2 |
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The figures are approximate,
but what they illustrate is that we have to service more
members with considerably fewer resources. The fact that
many of these are new breeders means that even more time
needs to spent inducting them into the stud administration
process and the rules of the society. And as you can see,
without a significant increase in the per capita fee, or
dramatic growth in the number of registered cattle in
members’ herds, we simply cannot afford a breed director.
This means that the work of a breed director has to be
undertaken by council and sub-committee members, on a
voluntary basis and in their own time.
The sustainability of this is open to question, but until
such time as we have the finances to better resource our
office, council members have agreed on the need to work as a
team, and to assist each other in meeting the range of
demands facing a breed society and its administrative
office. In the meantime, we have also appointed, on a
casual/part time basis, Michiel van Niekerk, an ex breed
manager of the Limousin Society, to assist us in improving
the organisation of the office and making recommendations
regarding systems. He will also be helping in the
development of a policy and procedure manual. In Yolanda and
Louisa, we have two willing and competent people, who are
doing the best they can under some difficult circumstances.
We will give them as much support as we can, but we also
request that breeders assist by following the right
procedures and channels. |
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With regard to the latter, it is
important to stress that as breeders, we are in a “direct
dealing” relationship with SA Studbook. This means that all
birth notifications, cancellations, queries about certificates
etc need to be referred directly to Studbook. Otherwise, double
handling of information, and time consuming cross referrals are
incurred. In working through the backlog of breeder queries, it
becomes clear that many of these arise from a lack of adherence
to procedures (eg late birth notifications), and some
regrettably from poor herd management practices. We are
developing and refining existing rules and policies into a
comprehensive user manual for breeders, and once this is issued,
we believe a more disciplined approach to transgressions of the
rules will be necessary.
On the communications front, we
have contracted with a service provider to redesign and update
our website. The purpose of this is twofold. The website
incorporates a public domain to promote the breed and provide
information about Nguni cattle, and a password driven member
section where access to society documents will be available,
where specific breeder information can be accessed, and from
which batch SMS and email messages can be distributed. We expect
this initiative to greatly improve communication between Society
and breeders.
Lastly, we advise with regret, that
both Stian van As and Auvinus Martens informed us this week that
they have tendered their resignations from Council with
immediate effect. To ensure continuity in the interim, Kevin
Watermeyer will take charge of the technical/inspection
portfolio and Barry Tapson will assume responsibility for the
training portfolio. Mike Greyling has agreed to assist Kevin by
taking on the role of national coordinator of the inspection
process. We are also pleased to advise that Naledi Roberts has
accepted appointment to council in a co-opted capacity, and will
be taking over the promotions and marketing portfolio.
Please confirm your email address
with the Nguni office by sending a blank email to
nguni@studbook.co.za
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