Glamorous evening of awards at Midrand’s Gallagher Convention Centre

It was a night of glitz and glamour when the who’s who of the printing industry descended on Midrand’s Gallagher Convention Centre on 12 September for the Printing SA awards gala dinner.

Deon Joubert the acting president of the Printing SA Board opened the night with a small speech highlighting that the printing industry contributes about three per cent to the country’s GDP, with Printing SA contributing about R60 billion in sales which also has an effect on the economy.

“Whoever said printing was dead was talking rubbish,” said Joubert.

“Printing SA plays a vital role in training young people for the various roles in the printing industry in partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) to try and meet the demand of the ever-changing business,” he added.

He was followed by Felleng Yende, the CEO of the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority, who rose up to formally introduce the keynote speaker for the night, the Deputy Minister for Telecommunications and Postal Services, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.

Abrahams recalled the role she played in 2011 in moving education towards a paperless classroom, which was thoroughly implemented in Gauteng by the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi.

“I thought a paperless classroom would benefit the children but during evaluations, I realised that the children were getting robbed of their tablets and when they get to class they are left in isolation because there are no books, no chalkboard and therefore the learner cannot participate.

“There should be a gradual change where technology and print work hand-in-hand for the benefit of the country because both these industries are needed,” revealed Abrahams.

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