Africa Print were media partners at Printing SA’s first ever golf and padel day for its Central Chamber on 10 May at the Kyalami Country Club in Midrand. Members of the printing and packaging industry were invited to participate and network, while taking part in a round of golf or a game of padel. The event also included an evening dinner and an interview with a former Springbok player. The host for the evening was MC and presenter, Weza Matomane.
Matomane welcomed Heilet Grobler, Northern Chamber Co-Chairperson at Printing SA, to give the evening’s formal welcome. Grobler spoke to Printing SA’s 113 years of operation. She also thanked predecessors in the printing and packaging industry and what it took for them to build the industry as it stands today. ‘It took endurance,’ said Grobler. She also urged the youth employed in the industry to share their needs, so that print and packaging might evolve and grow into the future. ‘We will see a bright future for this industry, we will not lie down.’
Riasha Naidu, Commercial Director at Unistar Inks and Regional Executive Committee Member at Printing SA, concluded the speeches by thanking Printing SA and its attending members for their participation in the event and the part that they play within the industry. Naidu closed her address by highlighting the similarities found between golf and print, stating ‘In golf every swing counts. In printing, every detail matters.’
The main draw of the evening’s proceedings was Matomane’s interview with Willem Alberts. Alberts discussed his start in rugby, growing up in Pretoria and starting in lower teams in primary school and working his way up to the Lions Rugby Club once graduating from Pretoria University. The theme of resilience, present throughout the message of the evening, came across in Albert’s responses. He reminisced on winning the 2010 Currie Cup with the Sharks Rugby Club and scoring a try for the Springboks after touching the ball for the first time in an international fixture. He shared stories about his humorous and naughty team mates, participating in the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups, and relayed the importance of rugby and how much it means to South Africans. When asked who his role models are, Alberts pointed to Victor Matfield as his Rugby role model, but said his parents and wife are his true inspiration. In closing, Alberts named Richie McCaw as one of the hardest players to compete against, before accepting a gift on behalf of Printing SA from its Managing Director, Jermaine Naicker.
Abisha Katerere, Marketing Manager at Printing SA, said: ‘The event was a major success. We have never hosted a golf and padel day at the same time. The dynamic that we added today, bringing a former Springbok into the fold, got everybody engaged. We wanted the industry to understand that we are in a new regime. We are bringing something fresh and new all the time, in everything that we do.’ When speaking on the event’s significance he added, ‘It was a day where we tried something different, because we understand how life changes, just like the dynamics of sports change. So we thought that as padel is the fastest growing sport around the world, we should integrate it into the event. And funnily enough, we had about 30 people playing padel on the day.’
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