SAPICS appoints new directors

At its recent Annual General Meeting (AGM), SAPICS (The Professional Body for Supply Chain Management) shared the successful outcomes of an organisational restructuring embarked on last year.

The association also reaffirmed its commitment to elevating, educating, and empowering supply chain professionals across Africa and announced the appointment of three new directors, who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the SAPICS supply chain community.

SAPICS president MJ Schoemaker reported back on the end-to-end transformation that SAPICS started in 2023. “The board took on a more operational role in the running of SAPICS. Each board member was allocated a different operational pillar on which to focus, to enable SAPICS to best meet the needs of our community. The impact of what we started in 2023 is showing results in 2024,” she said. “The focus was to work smarter and leaner, and to concentrate on elements that brought value to the association, from a network point of view as well as financially.” Schoemaker went on to note that the results are evident in SAPICS’s balance sheet and in the increased engagement by members.

Three new directors were voted onto the SAPICS Board at the AGM. Linda Cham is an accomplished supply chain professional with 15 years of experience in the FMCG and logistics industries. He is currently the head of logistics at Varun Beverages/BevCo. Selepe Phetla is the national transport manager for bpSA. He is a seasoned supply chain professional with 19 years of experience in various roles. Phetla was voted onto the board as a director this year, having previously worked on the membership pillar. Sandipa Maharaj, chief financial officer at Inhance, is a CA by profession. Her career has spanned a number of countries and industries and includes deep experience in supply chain and logistics.

The new directors join Thato Moloi, Jonathan Mphake, Karen Pretorius, Nikita Reddy, MJ Schoemaker, and Jan Tukker. Schoemaker will continue to serve as SAPICS president for the next six months, after which a president-elect will be appointed.

At the AGM, SAPICS and Schoemaker – who chaired the meeting – thanked outgoing directors David Crewe-Brown, Solly Engelbrecht, and Chanti Wilson for their service and dedication.