Electricity + Control September 2018

COMMENT

ON THE COVER

Old ways won't open new doors

C an you believe that we are rapidly moving into the latter part of the year? This business of time seeming to move faster needs deeper analysis, does it not? Let’s be frank: our economy seems to be floundering just as the rest of the continent grows and develops. This fact is quite apparent from many of the inter- actions I have had the privilege of being involved in over the past while. The manufacturing industry has been facing some terrible head wind with part of the trouble being trying to figure out how to remain genuinely competitive in the face of international competition and local uncertainty. Looking further into the industry, to what many may consider to be the gene- sis of South African industry, mining is far- ing no better. Again, the challenge seems to be one of uncertainty. African economies, we can see, are rising; and foreign direct investment onto the continent is growing substantially. The migration of people into African cities con- tinues unabated. Whereas monitoring cash flow through- out the continent shows Johannesburg to be prominent, the challenge seems to be finding ways to develop sufficient confi- dence for some of the cash to stick. Investors need to trust this economy. And contrary to what many have suggested to me, foreign investors really do not think they owe this economy anything at all. It is disturbing to see how little trust there seems to be in this economy. And rightly so. This part of the planet has in- credible natural and human resources. Re- alising the wealth beneath the soil poses challenges, for sure; but it is there. The human potential is unbelievable. Neither are being adequately devel- oped, and it is evident that we cannot avoid the obvious conclusion that we have

not really made it a priority to develop our human potential adequately. As the waves of the 4 th industrial rev- olution wash past us, to what extent will we be able to ride at least one of them? Fact is, if we can’t we may as well turn out the lights, which of course brings us on to another topic worthy of consideration. But let’s leave the energy sector to a later comment, shall we? Policy makers need to learn the bene- fits of long-term and stable strategies, as well as the power of developing the cour- age to be non-populist. Is it asking too much? Well, that depends on a little thing called leadership. Leadership is courageous; and coura- geous leaders can get people to believe in them and trust them. The current trust deficit extends well beyond just the foreign view of this econ- omy; it exists within all of the political structures I am aware of, as well as be- tween them. From where will courageous leadership emerge? Will it? And if it does, will it happen soon enough to begin to turn the econ- omy? Ask how you can fulfil both roles: em- brace the change and the enormous op- portunity it presents; and try as much as you can to reduce the number of people ‘hurt’ in the process. I believe we can achieve both objec- tives simultaneously. But it will take deci- sive leadership, won’t it?

Fluke 1664 FC Multifunction Installation Tester helps expedite installations

FEATURES: · Control systems+ automation+ systems engineering · Drives+motors+ switchgear · Energymanagement+ environmental engineering · Plantmaintenance, test+measurement · Sensors, switches+ transducers

ECSEP 2018.indd 1 8/28/2018 10:35:34AM www.electricityandcontrolmagazine.co.za

Fluke offers 1660 Series Multifunction Installation Testers that protect appliances and share data via WiFi. (Read more on page 31).

Magazine Team

Editor: Design & Layout: Advertising Managers:

Fiona Mosca Adél JvR Bothma Helen Couvaras Heidi Jandrell Karen Smith Karen Grant Wilhelm du Plessis Ian Jandrell

Circulation: Publisher: Deputy Publisher: Editorial Technical Director:

Circulation

Quarter 2 (Apr - Jun 2018) Total print circulation: 4 733

Contact

Published monthly by:

Crown Publications cc Cnr Theunis and Sovereign Sts, Bedford Gardens PO Box 140, Bedfordview 2008 Tandym Print

Printed by:

Ian Jandrell PrEng IntPE(SA) BSc(Eng) GDE PhD, FSAAE FSAIEE SMIEEE

Telephone: E-mail:

+27 (0) 11 622 4770 e-mail: ec@crown.co.za admin@crown.co.za www.crown.co.za

Website:

Visit our innovative online technical resource for the engineering industry. www.eandcspoton.co.za

Electricity+Control is supported by

Or watch the latest interviews on our Facevalue page. Just scan here

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of thepublisher, theeditor,SAAEs,SAEE, CESA, IESSAor theCopperDevelopmentAssociationAfrica