November 2022
www.automobil.co.za
the deepest busiNess reach iNto the sa retail motor iNdustry
coNteNts
columNs
03 . Driver’s Seat: Jakkie Olivier, CEO of the RMI
03 . Editor’s Letter: Reuben van Niekerk
26 . Tech Talk: Why modern cars look alike
28 . Finance: The manufacturing process and terms
30 . Wellbeing: The urgency required in maintaining wellbeing
News
05 . News
10 . Industry News
16 . Product News
20 . Association News
features
18 . Behind the scenes: It’s a numbers game
22 . Association of the month: The legitimate voice
24 . Interview: Laying the foundations for the RMI
32 . Labour: Is a shorter work week feasible?
33 . Legal: Binding nature of a Memorandum of Understanding
34 . Restoration: Toyota 2000GT restored to former glory
reGulars
36 . New models: Ford Everest and VW Tiguan R
38 . Motorsport: Kyalami 9-hour dates confirmed
39 . Member Update
40 . Sales: September 2022 vehicle sales figures
Editor
Reuben van Niekerk
reuben@automobil.org.za
Sub-editor
Suzanne Walker
Regular contributors
Roger Houghton
Nicol Louw
Publisher
Wilken Communication Management
Tel: 012-4604448
Advertising Sales
Greg Surgeon
greg@automobil.org.za
Automobil is produced monthly by Wilken
Communication Management for the Retail
Motor Industry Organisation. The views and
opinions expressed in the publication are not
necessarily those of the publishers or the Retail
Motor Industry Organisation. While precau-
tions have been taken to ensure the accuracy
of advice and information contained in edito-
rial or advertisements, neither the publishers
nor the Retail Motor Industry Organisation can
accept responsibility for errors, misrepresenta-
tions or omissions, or for any effect or conse-
quence arising therefrom. Permission to repub-
lish any article or image or part thereof must be
obtained in writing from the publishers.
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www.automobil.co.za
November 2022
s we move closer to the holiday season the focus is going to shift
grettably, South Africa has one of the worst accident rates. Over the
last 2021/2022 festive season (1 December 2021 – 11 January 2022) there
were 1808 fatalities and 1395 fatal crashes.
Rather than wait for the last minute, motor vehicle owners should book
their cars in for those critical safety checks before heading off on holiday. It
is concerning that our roads continue to be plagued with unroadworthy ve
hicles where many of the safety critical components have long been neglect
ed. These vehicles are death traps, not only for the passengers in the vehicle
but for other road users too. We have to get serious about regu
According to the RTMC Road Crash Report 2020, 17% of
major crashes (in which more than five people are killed) are
attributed to vehicle factors. In South Africa, vehicle defects
or un-roadworthiness is certainly a contributor to the fatal
ing South African lives but billions in rands too.
When major crashes are investigated and the
factors contributing to accidents, the vehicle
consideration, the major factors of vehicle
defects causing fatal crashes can be at
tributed to tyres bursting, faulty brakes,
unroadworthy vehicles, faulty headlights
maintenance is not happening regularly enough. yet still only 21% of our
vehicles are required to be tested on a regular basis.
The RMI through its Vehicle Testing Association (VTA) has been cam
paigning for many years now to see the legislation passed for Periodic Vehi
cle Testing (PTI). Several years after the legislation for more regular vehicle
inspections was promulgated by South Africa’s Minister of Transport, the
implementation is yet to happen. The legislation was published with imple
mentation “at a date to be determined by the Minister”. To date, there has
been no mention of even a suggested implementation date. Should the leg
islation be implemented it would enforce those vehicles 10 years and older
be tested every two years. This really begs the question why is South Africa
not passing the legislation? We have seen countless examples from other
As the RMI, with our 8 000 businesses across the country, we are strongly
placed to make a positive contribution to road safety. All of our associations
use vehicle, in terms of its sale, maintenance, repair and testing. It is our
strong belief that should a vehicle be maintained in a roadworthy and safe
condition, it will have a positive impact on road safety and decrease the
number of fatalities from road crashes. Furthermore, it will create jobs in
the retail and vehicle testing sectors and save the economy billions.
I encourage our members to engage with their customers and remind
them to carry out these safety checks during November, particularly with
when it comes to the safety critical components of their cars.
As we have done in the past, I also encourage our members to think
about offering this testing free of charge to South Africans. This is our way
of giving back and together I feel confident we can make a real difference in
saving lives this festive season.
conomic conditions in South Africa took a turn for the
worse during September, with Eskom data confirming that
the South African economy experienced the worst-ever
month of load shedding, with 572 of the month’s 720 hours di
rectly affected. Analysis by Eskom’s Research, Testing and Devel
opment department further showed that, besides 2021, there
was more power cuts in September 2022 than had been expe
rienced in any other entire year since load shedding started in
2007. The negative impact of load shedding reaches all spheres
of the economy. Companies buckle under the inability to pro
duce at capacity, the cost of lost production, reduced produc
tivity, the cost of providing alternatives and reduced margins.
For small businesses, like many of the RMI members, this
has a serious effect on productivity, with electricity needed to
power everything from lifts to tools, compressors, point of sale
equipment and security systems. The knock on effect is that
businesses are having to spend any spare cash that they might
have on future proofing their businesses with investment in
equipment like generators, inverters or solar installations nec
essary to be able to do business in South Africa.
The on going load shedding has also had an effect on the wa
ter supply in certain regions, such as Gauteng. While the dams
feeding the Gauteng province are at satisfactory levels, electric
ity disruptions have affected Rand Waters ability to pump water
by rising spring temperatures resulting in the implementation of
water restrictions.
look at water saving and water storage solutions in order to
avoid the increased tariffs that are implemented by municipal
ities during periods of water restrictions.
Unfortunately these factors mean that alternative elec
tricity and water supply solutions are necessary and will
become increasingly important for businesses, both big and
small, in order to remain competitive and mitigate the dis
ruptions caused by unpredictable supply of these resources
by government.