5 minute read
Aggie Argyrou – Coatings is in his blood
Aggie Argyrou, Chairman of SAPMA, talks candidly about the coatings industry and its positive outlook, the importance of training, and the extensive lobbying by SAPMA’s heavyweights – Tara Benn, Dr Ivor Blumenthal, Deryck Spence and Sanjeev Bhatt during the hard level-five lockdown in April of 2020 to ensure the coatings industry could operate, albeit in limited capacity, from 1 May 2020.
Q: What is the general sentiment from the coatings industry considering the impact of the global pandemic?
A: This has certainly been the toughest year. Globally the world started locking down in February, and the South African government followed suit by implementing a very strict lockdown. The South African government was kind enough to offer UIF compensation and looking back today, I can only be grateful. We’ve managed to navigate the pandemic without job losses.
The South African nation is extremely resilient. We always manage to dig ourselves out of a hole. There are still some regulations in place, but these are being taken very seriously by companies – and is echoed in the coatings industry.
Q. Looking into 2021 and 2022, how does the current sentiment change? Is there hope and belief from the industry that it can strengthen in the years to come?
A. I believe the next two years will be very positive for the coatings industry. Not easy, but positive. It is vital for the local industry to keep its service levels at the highest standards and to continue driving training initiatives.
SAPITI has an online training facility for retailers to train its staff and this is a vital tool to keep them motivated. This is what will keep our industry going. Every single player within our industry is vitally important.
Q. It appears that our own government can be more obsessed with international relations than strengthening our own coatings industry. Care to comment?
A. We should never ignore our global partners, especially our African friends further north, however, South Africa has many of its own issues that must also be focused on. The rules for local companies and industries are not always fair. How we treat our global partners wanting to import into South Africa are in some cases very different to how our companies are being treated to export to their countries. Our government must look at stimulating the labour market and creating more local jobs, whilst balancing international relations.
Q. What can government do to make it more attractive or feasible for the coatings industry to grow?
A. It is no secret that our infrastructure is busy collapsing. It is imperative for us to get our act together. Eskom is failing, our watersupply is failing – just look at the Rosslyn area in Pretoria where we are located, and you see everything collapsing. In Bloemfontein the local government cannot afford to replace or repair important infrastructure.
Government has to start listening to the concerns of industry. We are currently dealing with a government which acts after the horse has bolted when the only path to growth is to have active participation from both government and industry.
Q. What are the real opportunities for industry to become a SAPMA member?
A. Training is the single most important focus area. SAPMA is willing to work with our members and offer training and assistance on many aspects. From legal matters to understanding the hazardous substances act.
Our team at SAPMA assist members in dealing with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries; The lead in paint legislation; The DTI; the Department of Health and other statutory bodies and we are actively driving SABS or an independent laboratory standard to be implemented for coatings in South Africa.
Coatings are used all around us, and SAPMA plays a pivotal role to ensure the industry’s needs are raised at the forefront of government discussions. But still many companies do not see the value of being a member until it is too late. Often non-members knock on our doors for urgent help, but when things are going well SAPMA is forgotten.
We want our members to become active participants and be involved. We want them to share their legal issues so that SAPMA can assist in sorting these out and utilise our contacts to ensure the interests of the coatings industry are placed first.
Q. Industry Training remains a challenge. Let’s discuss.
A. Members quickly complain that contractors are not being trained properly.
And the message from the contractor is that they cannot afford to pull workers from the worksite for a week to complete training.
Let me tell you, one week of training will make a world’s difference to the contractor. We have to stop thinking about the cost of training, but rather think of the costs not training our staff. Companies still struggle to understand the value of training.
It is only once work must be redone that companies realise how expensive site errors can be. SAPMA has made it really simple for all stakeholders in the industry to train staff through the online SAPMA training portal.
For a nominal fee the student can complete an exam and be qualified.
We also need the retailers to use this facility. Staff can use their lunch hours or breakrooms effectively and become qualified in a couple of hours. But here we need the retail management to take training seriously.
Put the message out in your stores and incentivise staff to become qualified. It is understandable that during the hard lockdown it was difficult for member companies and training was put on hold but SAPMA’s on-line training could have been used by the members. The coatings industry must get together and get the message out to understand training.
The industry can save thousands annually if work is completed correctly from the beginning.
But for that to happen, a qualified person must be used in the preparation as well as application of the paint task – and as always use the right product for the job. c
Aggie Argyrou, Chairman of SAPMA
