Jan 2006

The agenda for the Southern African Vehicle and Rental Assocation’s (SAVRALA) first quarterly meeting of 2006 is brimming with association initiatives for rubber-stamping and implementation by its national executive committee(NEC), various sub-committees as well as Wayne Duvenage, general manager of SAVRALA’s rental section.

With three welcome new faces on board the NEC (Byron Corcoran, Martin Lydall and Lance Smith) – all experienced marketers and experts in their respective fields of operation – new ideas have already been brought to the table and tabled for discussion at January’s forum.

Some of the initiatives already underway, or in the action pipeline, include:

• To ensure that new vehicle and/or model information is immediately to hand when they are introduced by motor manufacturers to leasing companies, an agreed industry template for population by the manufacturers is scheduled to be finalised by February.

• The streamlining of SAVRALA’s quarterly meetings in order to give both members and associate members dedicated time to tackle issues pertinent to their respective areas.

• To raise the profile of and initiate a ‘new look and feel’ for the Manufacturer of the Year (MOTY) Awards gala dinner in October. Furthermore, to ensure that we keep up to date with our members’ needs and streamline the accuracy and fairness of evaluations, the rental and leasing sections will be reviewing their respective MOTY evaluation processes.

• The rental section’s “going live” early in 2006 with an electronic database (managed by Transunion/ITC) of payment defaulters and abusers of SA’s car rental sector. This industry is is open to significant abuse and the sharing of this information has and will continue to assist its member companies to reduce unnecessary losses.

• The addressing of “illegal” arrest of company proxies by various municipal Metro policing authorities for payment for outstanding traffic fines which is a major challenge facing the rental and leasing industries as well as many fleet owners. A serious problem for SAVRALA members, legal action is now being considered to deal with the “extortion” tactics applied by Metros to have their huge traffic fine revenues collected on their behalf.
  This problem is not only confined to the arrest of proxies but also to the licensing of new vehicles, which is put on hold authorities if fines are not paid. Generally, SA’s traffic fine systems are plagued by poor administration and our industries are being “extorted” to pay over large sums of money to keep their operations in business and their staff out of jail. Should any readers wish to add their weight to this project, please contact Wayne Duvenage at [email protected]

• SAVRALA will also be working closely with Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA and the Tourism Business Council of SA (TBCSA) in 2006, to deal with the easing of tourism-related legislation which is having a negative effect on tour operators and limiting the growth of entrepreneurial opportunities.

• Changes to and the tightening up of International Financial Reporting Standards have a significant impact on the leasing sector (operating leases in particular) and have been identified as a key focus in 2006.

• Following on from the approval and registration of the Learnership in Fleet Management (thanks to Imperial Fleet Services and Bank SETA) late last year, Sarel Visagie, head of Fleet Management at Lyceum College, reports that the next step forward is already underway.

SAVRALA members who do not yet have association Certificates of Membership and Rental and/or Leasing and Fleet Management Charters, are urged to contact Margie Gawith at Qwantani Communications on (011) 678 2907 or [email protected]