At the conclusion of the 53rd Annual General Meeting of the South African Institute of Foundrymen, it was announced that Janley Kotze had been elected by her fellow board of non-executive directors as the new Chairlady of the SAIF. Janley takes up the position with immediate effect and will serve as Chairlady for the 2017/2018 period.
This is not the first time that a woman has been elected to head up the non-profit organisation. Janley is the third lady to achieve this distinction and will be eligible to serve more than the one-year term as per the MOI of the SAIF.
“I am very honoured to have been nominated for this position and subsequently elected. I look forward to working with industry by focusing on the skills development programme, growing membership, continuation of technical meetings and promoting networking between foundries at these forums.”
“The challenges in the foundry industry continue to escalate. I have heard the cries from industry about the struggles that the foundries are experiencing. The Board and Management of SAIF are fully aware of the hardship being faced by the industry. The SAIF will continue to uplift the skills in the foundry sectors as well as lead, manage and execute projects by networking within the industry and with organisations such as the dti and NFTN.”
“We have a strong team of Directors on the Board and they remain fully committed to the task ahead and will keep the membership informed through regular communication.”
Janley’s working career in the foundry industry began in 2000 when she joined the Combustion Group and worked in the procurement department. Janley then joined the procurement department of GFE and in 2009 took up a sales position with the same company.
This was followed by a move to Ceramic and Alloy Specialists where Janley was appointed Product Manager responsible for Ferro Alloy sales.
Janley has been a council member of the SAIF since 2011 and was elected Vice President in 2013 and subsequently Vice Chairperson in 2016 when the SAIF constitution was changed to an MOI in accordance with the Government act.
Janley was also elected as Vice President of the BRICS Foundry Association in 2014 and has served the association in this position since then.