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THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
ႃႆ
SAMSO also emphasised the idea of unity at its Annual Congress. SAMSO’s
chairperson, Mr Faan Basson, confirmed that SAMSO was not an anti-SAMPI
organisation, and that he had no desire to see the two organisations fighting.
SAMPI then consulted Minister Schoeman again, who expressed himself in favour
of a united specialist organisation, provided that it was affiliated with the SAAU.
He was not prepared to become directly involved in negotiations between SAMPI
and SAMSO again, but did pass on SAMPI’s working document to the president of
the SAAU, Mr Jaap Wilkens, after which SAMPI and SAMSO negotiated directly
with each other.
At that stage SAMSO had already achieved its own success as specialist organisa-
tion and had the advantage of recognition by the government. Essentially, this was
what SAMPI also wanted to achieve. The two organisations therefore pursued the
same interests and both had the need to end the dispute.
The negotiations continued in that spirit, and on 7 August 1980 Minister Schoeman
announced that SAMPI and the SAAU had reached an agreement on the establish-
ment of a united maize specialist organisation, the status, powers and competencies
of which would be determined by the maize producers themselves.
The agreement also made provision for organisational matters to implement this,
which included the founding Congress of the new organisation on 3 October 1980,
chaired by Mr SW (Billy) van der Merwe, the president of the Transvaal Law Asso-
ciation at the time, assisted by two assessors, namely Prof Piet Aucamp of the PU
for CHE for SAMPI and Dr Andries Scholtz, General Manager of NWK, for SAMSO.
The election of 340 delegates to the founding Congress would take place on
30 September 1980. All the delegates had to be maize producers who would be
elected by bona fide maize producers. The election would take place according
to the same rules as for the 1977 election with respect to district and regional
classification, voting procedure and voting stations.
On the basis of the agreement it was decided that SAMPI and SAMSO had to take the
necessary steps to ratify the agreement, dissolve the two individual organisations
and merge their assets. The assets of the two organisations would be frozen at their
dissolution Congresses and taken in trust by the Minister of Agriculture on the day
of the election, to be handed over to the new organisation at the founding Congress.
Mr Hennie de Jager: ‘We have now reached a point where nobody can prevent us
from achieving unity. Unity among the maize producers is here to stay. Those who
do not want to accompany us, are free to stay behind.’
Mr Faan Basson: ‘This day is not SAMSO’s funeral, but a milestone, because the
decision to dissolve will contribute towards developing the existing order, namely a
recognised and well-functioning maize specialist organisation.’
When SAMPI
and SAMSO were
dissolved, their
leaders said the
following: