MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

Celebrating Global Dekra Day in South Africa

Global Dekra Day was celebrated at the beginning of July in fine style locally, as Dekra Industrial employees around the country came to work, eagerly anticipating their colleagues’ cultural fashion and an assortment of delicious traditional South African dishes.

Dekra Industrial Managing Director Johan Gerber explains: “Dekra Industrial employees enjoy this special companywide commemoration day every year, to promote our vision of a safe, secure and sustainable world. The 2022 theme globally was ‘Celebrate Team Spirit’.”

“In line with this fun theme,” says Gerber, “we were able to get into the spirit of the weekend as our employees came together to celebrate their traditional fashion and enjoy tasty local fare. Prizes were given for the best-dressed branch, as well as the best-dressed individual. It was gratifying to know that Dekra employees and colleagues everywhere – including right here in South Africa – were watching the same pre-produced video, the Global Dekra Day Show, and then discussing it afterwards while socialising together. Above all, we took pride in embracing our country’s diverse heritage, as well as sharing what Dekra Industrial and safety means to each individual personally.”

Gerber says the event was very well received, and he attributes this partly to the use of social media messaging that was sent to employees at weekly intervals in the month leading up to Dekra Day in South Africa.

“We take pride in our positive relationship and communications with our valued staff members,” he adds.

“I believe the regular messages that were sent to them individually certainly played a role in helping to build the excitement throughout the company ahead of the Dekra Day celebration.

It was also wonderful to see our beloved country’s diverse heritage being showcased at branches nationwide, as people came to work dressed in their finery, and enjoyed their get-togethers in the spirit of the great South African braai.

I am always enormously proud of our Dekra Industrial employees and their ongoing commitment to teamwork, and to being ‘Heroes of Safety’, as part of our parent company Dekra’s 97-year global safety heritage,” concludes Gerber.

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The Rand Club: Redemption

The “redemption” of the Rand Club is a fascinating mirror of the city’s broader transformation. In 2016, a group of businessmen and heritage enthusiasts stepped in to save the club from permanent closure. They didn’t just renovate the physical structure; they fundamentally “decolonized” the institution’s culture. Today, the Rand Club is a vibrant, multi-racial hub of Johannesburg’s intellectual and business elite. It has opened its doors to the public for events, tours, and as a co-working space for young entrepreneurs.

One of the most striking changes is in the art. While the walls are still lined with portraits of historical figures, they are now interspersed with contemporary African art and photography that challenges the old narratives. The club has transitioned from a secretive “fortress” of the colonial elite into a shared space for the city’s new generation of leaders. It remains a place where history is physically present—you can still sit in the same leather chairs where Rhodes sat—but the conversations happening in those chairs are now about the future of a democratic, African-led Johannesburg. It is a testament to the fact that even the most rigid institutions in “Joburg” must adapt or vanish.