word from the executive editor
Ofcourse,weallhopeandpray
thatsanitywillprevailat thepolls(or
at leastourversionthereof).Then
we hope that whatever the policies
touted are, we will be given absolute
clarity on who, when, where and
how, as then at least one can adapt
one’s business model/future plans
accordingly.
Then the big question mark is
implementation. Currently, when
eventually some decision is made,
the bureaucracy of procedures result
in implementation taking forever.
Topical examples are the changing
of the Meat Safety Act and/or its
regulations to create a workable
legal framework for that part of our
industry to thriving and contribute as
it can to food security in the country
and the region.
Another is the inordinate
bureaucracy around the registration
of Stock Remedies and Veterinary
Medicines, where a simple
registration can easily take five years
to be processed. During this time,
people, animals and the economy
suffer when products are not
available.Clearly,corruptionin the
StateDepartments,theparastatals
orState-OwnedEntities(SOEs)
needs to be tackled head on.
All we as game ranchers and
citizens can do is to make up our
own minds as to whom we choose
as leaders and make our marks
accordingly. If we don’t, we cannot
blame anyone.
More importantly we know that
poverty is widespread in our country
(refer to earlier Editorials for details),
we know that 25% of the children
in South Africa go to school on an
empty stomach and that the wealth
gap is perhaps the largest in the
world. This is a disaster waiting to
happen.
The late and perhaps unlamented
president Lennox Sebe of the
Ciskei said at his inauguration that
his policy was, “a meal a day –
because empty stomachs have no
ears”. This is such an apt analogy.
It emphasises that law and order
and hence economic growth cannot
be expected to continue when the
economy is not keeping up with thepopulation growth and when the
number of helpless and hopeless
peoplekeeps growing by the day.
If weare to survive these
challenges, we, who are the
‘haves’, need to do our bit for
thecountry, assisting the chosen
government in all the ways we can,
butmost importantly by making our
businesses (our ranches) centres
of economic activity and social
development.
Interesting research done by
Deloitte, who surveyed 2 000 C-suite
executives of the top countries
across19 countries on what needs
to bedone by CEOs/companies to
survivethe 4th Industrial Revolution
(4IR),revealed:- Themostcommonretortwas
thestrategy MUST focus on
societal impact, e.g. diversity,
inequality, environment. What we
asgame ranchers are doing –
propping up the rural economy
and providing food security – is
absolutely in line with this. We
justneed to look at where we
can make a bigger and better
difference,focusingonthe
impactwecanmake. - Thesecondwascustomer
satisfaction, and of course,
game ranching is all about
satisfying customers, whether
they are local or international
hunters, ecotourists or meat
consumers.
• Employee satisfaction/
retention came up as the
third most important success
factor followed by financial
performance and regulatory
adherence.
Game ranchers are clearly well
placed to ride the wave of the
4th Industrial Revolution, grow
our businesses and do our part
to contribute to an inclusive,
growing rural economy, reduce
rural poverty and hence to the
well-being of our country.