Sparks Electrical News June 2020

CONTRACTORS’ CORNER

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PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH – NELO NEVES Adapting in a constantly changing environment

I am the first person to walk around and give my staff a hug when something is very well done, a thank you when they have gone above and beyond or a private word when we see that a person is not up to his or her usual standard. We are a family and we act as such and I believe that this keeps my staff firing on all cylinders as no one wants to let the family down. Sparks: Would you advise a person leaving school to enter the lighting industry? And why? NN: Absolutely! As I have mentioned above, the people in lighting are a quality, crazy bunch; clever, motivated, dedicated and, of course, determined. Lighting, with the new technologies coming through, re- invents itself all the time. One day we’re all talking Watts, and now it is Lumens. The designs we create today will be nothing like the ones we’ll offer next year – we constantly have to adapt to going green and lowering consumption with higher outputs. Designers change the trends continuously, for instance, from a retro feel to an ultra-sleek, ultra-modern feel. Today, you might have a design where the light source itself is the feature and tomorrow you’ll see the light output but the source is hidden; it’s a constant evolution.

Sparks: What major projects have you worked on and what is your great- est accomplishment? NN : I have been involved in many projects over the years, from setting up a digital village with Samsung to supplying a million LED lamps to Nam- power in Namibia. My greatest achievement must be successfully raising two beautiful boys and watching them leave the nest and fly high in the United Kingdom where they live today. Sparks: Have you won any awards? NN: No industry awards but I have won multiple staff awards at Philips and Samsung for being the top sales performer. NN: There are two people who are my friends and mentors. The first would be a gentleman called Rod Moulton. He was a big booming man and was my director in the UK when I was working as an auditor across Europe. From trips to Barcelona, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Madrid, Paris and England he carried himself with an air that only a person who is en- tirely content within himself can. Rod allowed me to witness him in the good and bad times and his approach was always measured and assured, never letting the situation dictate his emotions. A brilliant man and one I am happy to call a friend. The second influence on my working career would be Domenico Gargarella, another calm, composed and exception- ally successful sales director who at no point let anything other than the correct way influence his decisions. He was as honest as the day is long and the strength of conviction he had was an absolute joy to witness. NN: Undoubtedly it would be the fact that our borders seem to be so porous and that any junk is sold in South Africa. We do not protect our consumers from light sources that, at best, give a little light and last for a few days and, at worst, could cause a fire. The efficacy claims on more than half the products on our shelves are blatant lies and unfortunately our regulator does little to support the ethical companies trying to sell a good product at a fair price. Ledvance is very proud to say that whatever we say on the box is what you get inside it. Sparks: Who has been your inspiration or have you had a mentor who has influenced your career? Sparks: What, to your mind, is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry at this time? Sparks: If you could ‘do it all again’, would you change anything? If so, what would that be? NN: Absolutely not. I find myself at the head of a beautiful organisa- tion, part of a huge corporate beast but one where we have not lost that small business feel, and for that I am grateful. In my private life I have been married for 23 years, with two beautiful boys and now two adopted daughters, so to say I am a happy man would be a huge understatement. Sparks: How do you motivate your staff? NN: I am in the very envious position of being surrounded by a great bunch of people. Ledvance has its roots in the old Osram, and being a German company, it comes with the German values of quality, honesty and integrity. Everything we do is for the benefit of the brand and our clients. My staff have all bought into that and they live these principles every single day. Since I took over at Ledvance we have only had one staff member leave us, and in these times that is something to be applauded. I also believe in sharing everything with all the different divisions, so to different countries. Vusi Thembekwayo argues that the South African economy is driven by connections over competence and that, as a result, competence exits the country to economies where competence gives them a chance at a better life. Unless this current administration grabs the bull by the horns and creates a conducive environment to run a successful small medium or micro enterprise, South Africa will remain elusive, and transformation a fantasy. As a result, competent talent will continue to leave the country, lessen- ing the constructive minority who are able, needed, and willing to start small businesses to create employment. Unemployment will continue to rise and the devastating impact on life of COVID-19 will result in First World countries acquiring more skill, and opening opportunities for some of our skilled labour. This may also result in a situation that where there could be demand for talent, we may have no supply, again having to look at our neighbours for assistance, only to see them later as enemies steal- ing jobs. Our inability to manage the current situation will lead to even more complex issues in the future. This is a wicked problem and should be treated as such if we are to address the triple ills of unemployment, inequality and poverty currently deepened by COVID-19. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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Nelo Neves

A ccording to Nelo Neves, Managing Director of Ledvance, the South African lighting market is full of exceptional characters and dealing with these long-standing industry leaders is one of the highlights of his job. Even as the MD at Ledvance, a worldwide leader in innovative lighting products, he still learns every day from the com- pany’s clients. Sparks: Where were you educated? NN: I am a Johannesburg South boy who did his schooling at the infa- mous Forest High School before moving to the UK and completing my BComm there through an affiliate of Cardiff University. Sparks: How long have you been involved in the electrical/lighting industry? NN: I have been in many different fields, from finance, to IT hardware to electrical and lighting, the latter for the past six years. Sparks: When and where did you start your career? NN: My lighting career started at Philips as an export sales manager, pro- gressing through the different divisions until I reached the Head of Sales role incorporating export, retail and the trade segments. Sparks: What are the greatest changes you have seen over the years? NN: The biggest change must be the introduction of LED technologies. The reason is that the traditional light sources as we knew them had been around for so long that the market in general resisted the change, and continues to do so. If we had received more support from Govern- ment in implementing the shift from traditional light sources to LEDs, we would have seen an immediate impact on our budgets as we would be saving on electricity costs. Eskom’s load would be reduced by, at the very least, 14% with a potential upside of around 25%. the market. Having focused on quality in all our businesses and service offerings, we did not respond in kind, letting our service, HSSE and qual- ity speak for itself. We now find ourselves in a situation where we made another richer by these acquisitions and re-investments in the business- es; we are poorer, as are our beloved employees due to the challenges caused by the COVID-19 lockdown. South Africa needs to look deep into its small medium and micro en- terprise (SMME) relief programmes. This is an opportune time to review the layout, and tough questions need to be asked. There is no question that with this pandemic, like any other economic depression, there will be transfers of wealth. The question is from who to whom; this needs to be interrogated. The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) should already have put in place an action orientated advisory body rep- resenting the different sectors. The face of that body should be the trans- formation the department would like to see going forward. Regulatory systems driven by the industries should be in place to handle situations like the one we are experiencing. Black-owned companies should not be quoting Steven Biko’s, "Black man, you are on your own," at this time. We should really have tough discussions, quickly followed by action as a country and the South African business community. We must be careful; I have observed young professionals currently in business being frustrated to the point of returning to corporate or moving

A WICKED PROBLEM – THE COVID-19 IMPACT ON SOUTH AFRICAN SMMES

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SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

JUNE 2020