Family-owned Hazleton Pumps and engineering solutions provider Weir Minerals were the big winners at the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa’s (Seifsa’s) Awards for Excellence.
Almost 100 guests representing small and large companies in the metals and engineering sector attended the third Seifsa Awards for Excellence ceremony in Sandton, on Thursday night.
Hosted in partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation, the gala function was held on its own for the first time, and not as part of the annual Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba. South African Nuclear Energy Corporation chairperson Dr Kelvin Kemm was the guest speaker.
Hazleton won the Most Innovative Award and the Best Customer Service of the Year Award.
Weir Minerals, which has embraced the challenges of the amended Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice and for whom the skills development agenda has become the cornerstone, won the Most Transformed Company of the Year Award.
Vesco Plastics, which employs fewer than 50 people, won the Artisan of the Year Award; ABB South Africa won the Corporate Social Responsibility of the Year Award; and SGB Cape won the Health and Safety Award of the Year.
Seifsa CEO Kaizer Nyatsumba also presented the coveted CEO’s Awards to former Seifsa board member Neil Penson for outstanding service to the federation and the industry.
Tsakane Themba was recognised for having been the best student at the Seifsa Training Centre in 2016, while HC Heat Exchangers won the Company of the Year Award. The Electrical Engineering and Allied Industries Association was recognised as Association of the Year.
For the third year in a row, there were no entries for the Environmental Stewardship of the Year category.
Nyatsumba expressed the hope that there would be entrants for this category in next year’s awards, given that environmental stewardship was of growing importance for all businesses.
The Seifsa Awards for Excellence were launched in 2015 as a way to encourage growth and celebrate excellence in the metals and engineering sector.
“In such turbulent economic times and a challenging business environment, we at Seifsa believe it is critically important for those companies which excel at what they do to get the acknowledgement and recognition that they deserve,” said Nyatsumba.
He added that the panel of judges – made up of external experts – were impressed with the high quality of entries for the awards. This, he said, vindicated Seifsa’s belief that, even during these difficult economic times, some companies in the metals and engineering sector have continued to strive for greater competitiveness both domestically and internationally.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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