Uvashen Bramiah, national director of the South African Motor Body Repairers Association (SAMBRA), a proud association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), says challenges with limited business premises, lack of access to resources and technology, poor infrastructure, bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of managerial competencies are some of the reasons that many informal Motor Body Repairers do not succeed.
As a key player in the motor body repair sector, SAMBRA remains committed to the continued professional development of SMME MBR’s in the industry and therefore actively encourages a free market system within which all aspiring MBR’s have every opportunity to succeed.
The RMI and SAMBRA have accordingly partnered with AIDC Eastern Cape (Auto Motive Industry Development Centre) to assist, uplift, and develop these small medium enterprise businesses offering various forms of management, technical, financial and procurement assistance.
Bramiah says to assist these businesses and develop a business plan, Arnelle Heynes, the AIDC Eastern Cape Project Manager – Auto SMME Support, and the rest of the AIDC team involved in this project conducted site visits early in June 2022 to do baseline assessments on pre-identified MBR’s to establish development and support requirements.
“This baseline data will be used as a starting point for gauging progress and measuring the level and direction of change and ultimate effectiveness of the programme,” he says.
Bramiah says certain key organisational components and habits have been identified and when all of these are in place and being utilised routinely, the organisation will have structure and purpose. “Employees will feel they know where the company is going and what their role is in helping it get there. They will know the boundaries of what is expected as acceptable behaviour and they will be aware that outstanding performance will be rewarded,” he says.
RMI/SAMBRA and AIDC EC will conduct regular internal project management meetings to ensure regular monitoring of implementation (scope, time, cost, and risk). “Project control measures have been embedded in the approach to ensure early detection of opportunities and issues, and identification/implementation of corrective measures,” he concludes.
