We said farewell to both the old year and century and welcomed in the new year and century

Michael Howard Rogers

Recognizing the need to adapt to the changing operational environment and circumstances in the new dispensation, current practices and traditions of the Institute were reviewed.

Halfway through my year as President, we said farewell to both the old year and century and welcomed in the new year and century.

Recognizing the need to adapt to the changing operational environment and circumstances in the new dispensation, current practices and traditions of the Institute were reviewed.

More importantly:

>> The composition of membership, of Council and of Committees in terms of the demographics of South Africa. It is interesting to note that Rams Ramakgopa, who served as Junior Vice President, later became the first black person to lead the Institute. We welcomed Dr Lesley Cornish and Professor Rosemary Falcon as members of Council. The efficient Secretariat led by Ms Samada Moodley was an all, women one apart from a single male accountant.

>> The Institute was under financial stress at the time and this became a focus area. The Secretariat relocated from Cape Towers to the vacant 5^th floor of the Chamber of Mines building. Not having to pay rent for the offices certainly assisted our financial position. An emphasis on the timeous collection of debts led to cash in the bank of R638 000 at the end of the year compared to a negative R179 000 the previous year.

>> Finally, we focused on the service provided to members and our relationship with sister institutes, associations, and societies. Having had an incident-free Y2K transition into the new century we were able to upgrade our communications with members by the installation of an ADSL line. The SAMREC Code was resurrected in conjunction with the CMMI and published during the year. The Brigadier Stokes Memorial Award was presented to a sprightly 83-year-old Mr Alex Mokken in recognition of his work in the recovery of gold and, in particular in the field of communition of gold-bearing ores. Council made an award of a Special Certificate to a doyen of the Institute, Professor Robbie Robinson, in recognition of his meritorious service, renamed the Book Fund in his honour, and dedicated a special edition of the Journal to him. *