Jaco Verwey new GTCoC President
Well-known local businessman, Jaco Verwey, is the newly appointed President of the GTCoC – the Vaal’s premier business organisation – after a packed Annual General Meeting (AGM) at its new Emerald Resort and Casino offices in Vanderbijlpark last week.
Verwey immediately stated the issue of relevance and making the GTCoC even more relevant to stakeholders and communities was his and his management team’s priority after accepting the golden President’s Baton from outgoing President, Stefan Olivier.
Olivier, who has taken the GTCoC to new heights of national recognition and a complete reorganisation in his four terms as President, is no longer eligible for the office but has now assumed the role of Vice President, thus assuring continuity and institutional memory. Klippies Kritzinger, famed business and community activist, also continues in his role as the CEO of the GTCoC.
The Golden Triangle Chamber of CCommerce (GTCoC) AGM was held at the organisation’s new Emerald Resort and Casino offices in Vanderbijlpark last Wednesday evening. Verwey also singled out Emerald Resort Director, Mark Hands, for special thanks and commendation for making offices at the casino available for use by the GTCoC. Hands is also well-known for his great support of community and business social responsibility efforts in the Vaal.
The packed meeting was attended by ELM Executive Mayor, Gift Moerane and his Special Advisor Mlungisi Hlongwane as well as by newly-appointed Municipal Manager, Lucky Leseane. The attendance of Moerane, Hlongwane and Leseane is seen as an indicator of greater partnership and relevance between the GTCoC and local government on service delivery and economic development issues and opportunities in the Vaal.
Moerane, Hlongwane and Leseane were warmly welcomed at the AGM and applauded by the meeting. Verwey has spear-headed huge projects and processes of major public interest for the GTCoC and Vaal region, such as mobilizing business and Large Power Users in the Vaal to mount the legal challenge that set aside exorbitant ELM electricity tariff increases of 21% last year.
Verwey also headed efforts to establish Emfuleni for Change (EFC) with the Emfuleni Ratepayers Association (ERPA) last year to run service delivery projects in partnership with stakeholders such as ELM. Such projects – along with major international record-breaking projects such as last year’s Blanket Drive – firmly established Verwey’s reputation as a conceptualised and implementer of projects of direct benefit and relevance to business, local government and the community.
Article written by Craig Kotze and originally published in the Sedibeng Ster