By Michael Straton, Port Elizabeth Branch Chairman
This past year again has brought many challenges for members as they navigate an overall decline in available work.
We have also see continuing unease in our region due to the prolonged CCMA hearing between Pieter du Toit and the ECA(SA). Another round of the hearing will be taking place on 25&26 November, after which we will hopefully see some resolution of the matter.
After a prolonged selection process, we were pleased that Fiona Knell was appointed as the regional director for the East/South Cape region in February of this year. The appointment broke the mould of what we as a region had come to expect from a RD and are positive that her contribution and help to contractors and the electrical industry at large will continue to grow.
In terms of Branch statistics, we currently have 224 members in all categories, significant growth from last year.
Of the 224 members, there are 146 ordinary members who currently employ 943 workers. This figure equates to 63% of registered employees are employed by ECA(SA) firms in the PE branch area.
Members are encouraged to ensure that their payments to the Bargaining Council are made timeously, not only to ensure that each member has a say and to safeguard a cost order being made should the company not be in good standing should one of their employees become incapacitated or pass away.
Several training courses have been run in the year including Estimating and Tendering course and CoC refresher. The ECA(SA) continues to enlarge it’s catalogue of online and on demand training courses, check the website for details of these.
Please also be on the lookout for upcoming courses to upgrade Elconop 1’s and 2’s. Our region has also taken the decision to provide some training from the PE office which should be rolling out from term 2 in 2026.
The Association is in the final part of revisions to the ECA(SA) constitution, thanks to all who were able to attend and contribute to the region’s input into the changes. The constitutional review committee will meet again on Monday 20 October to consider all the region’s submissions and to distribute a final draft for consideration and adoption at the Association’s AGM on 14 November 2025.
Our annual charity golf day took place on 2 October 2025 and was attended by 24 4 balls as well as 9 hole sponsors. An innovation this year was the auctioning of some sporting memorabilia to add to the amount for charity. We were able to raise R60 000 for a deserving charity which surpassed the R40 000 generated last year. We allocated R20 000 each to Zanethembe Children’s home and Jerusalem ministries out of last year’s proceeds.
To conclude, I would like to thank Wilmarie and Fiona for all the work they do. My thanks also to the members of the branch committee Ti-Jean, Russel & Mike, their contribution and passion for the Association does not pass unnoticed.
Thank you also to all members who show up at meetings and call the office and ask each other for advice or guidance, you are the reason for the Association to exist and we look forward to many years more of working together. Thank you for your support and for supporting your fellow members.
