Open letter from MSA chairman
Motorsport in South Africa has the capacity to grow ten-fold over the next five years. At least that’s the view of the newly elected chairman of MSA, Dr. George W. Nyabadza who has extended the following message to Motorsport fans in South Africa.
Dear Motorsport Colleagues
It gives me great pleasure to write to you as the Chairman of your Board until the next AGM. I have been involved with motorsport for many years now starting when I was involved with the 3 hour Amtec Endurance Race then with SAMCAR (WesBank V8s) and lately with the WesBank Super Series (WSS). It was during the early stages of exploration of the WSS sponsorship that I first met Roger Pearce who as time progressed became a ‘mentor’ into the sport and under whose chairmanship the board invited me to join them. I am proud to pay tribute to Roger for his selfless hard work and leadership of the board and also to Mrs Beulah Schoeman for her own tireless work in the sport and in the executive management of the MSA organization for many years.
Under my interim Chairmanship the board will be responsible for setting the strategic direction and parameters (risk, governance, operational) for MSA while Executive Management, under Francois Pretorius, will be responsible for strategy implementation, within the prescribed frameworks, as well as effective and efficient use of available resources. The current strategic planning process, under Mrs. Beaulah Schoeman, remains a Board priority. Your Board has been concerned that over the past few years the distinction of roles and responsibilities between the MEC and the Board had become severely blurred; to this end with the Board’s support the current MEC was dissolved. A taskforce comprising several board members has been tasked to look at the structure and roles of the MEC and to make recommendations for adoption at the next Board meeting; this task force is working with Mrs. Schoeman to ensure alignment with the strategic planning forum recommendations; in the meanwhile Francois Pretorius, as MD, will continue to provide leadership to the executive team.
The ultimate objective is to have a clear separation of functions between the board and the MEC and to enable the MD to deliver on his commitments to the board. I am of the view, and so is the Board, that the MD runs the company and should be highly visible in his style to all of you.
Most of you would have already started experiencing this style of management as Francois and his team are and will be spending more time out in the field with you.
A high level view of our company’s progress over the past 5 years reveals that our revenue base has grown by a mere 50 % over the past 5 years. It is my view that this company, by virtue of the sport – motorsport – which it administers has the potential to grow 10-fold within 5 years. During my first Board meeting as Chairman I put down this challenge to grow the sport 10 fold through growth in the competitor base and sponsorship investments.
By all assessments the greatest opportunites for growth present themselves in the youth, female and black segments of our society. At the board level our focus shall be at identifying and removing all the barriers to entry into the sport. We shall also focus on facilitating the on-going development of a sport that is exciting and appealing to the sponsor market so that we can attract the big brands to us. This task is both challenging and rewarding for all of us as I have no doubt that everyone of us desires to see our sport grow and become a significant force for good in this country. This country is vast and full of potential there is no reason we shouldn’t grow tenfold over the next 5 years.
This exciting 10-fold growth quest can never be achieved by the board alone; in fact the board’s role is to provide strategic direction and guidance to all stakeholders and to ensure that barriers to growth are removed quickly and permanently. The real measureable growth can only take place at the regional, club and team level. My challenge to you, therefore, is to start talking and exploring and initiating growth actions
at every possible opportunity, in your meetings as regions, clubs, teams and with sponsors. I have come to understand that there is a massive sub-culture of racing that hangs out at the peripherals of accredited motorsport; let’s find ways to embrace these masses that have both the passion and financial wherewithal to participate in appropriately structured motorsport events. Let’s find ways to embrace the youth, the
female participants and the black motorsport fans.
As a business executive I can say without any hesitation that the sponsorship property or proposal that I would invest in is one that can afford a brand the platform for accessing the largest market base in the
most exciting, direct, relevant and optimal manner. Looking at motorsport there is no reason why any brand should not be looking for ways to partner with us as vehicles for communicating their brand. The WesBank Street Race initiative is a classic example of how a significant sponsor can use motorsport to create a property that is effective for brand communication; there is no reason for other sponsors, especially the large retail
brands, not to take any interest in our diverse sport to invest ignificant sponsorship money.
We all need to strive to remove all and any barriers that stand in the way of growth; if we don’t do this then we should all collectively accept that motorsport will never attain the high ground of respect it deserves from the public at large, sponsors and legislators.
All the best and further!
Dr. George W. Nyabadza
Filed under: Uncategorized and tagged Cars, George W. Nyabadza, Motorsport, Racing, South Africa
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