New BOBS boss relishes challenges ahead

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Friday January 15, 2010 00:00

 

The new Director, Masego Marobela who took over from South African national Dr Elsie Meintjies on January 1, 2010, said BOBS faces a challenge of promoting the implementation of standards.

She said standardisation is a fairly new concept in the country hence promoting its implementation is a challenge. Marobela lamented that the public; both manufacturers and consumers do not understand the benefit of standardising goods and services.

'BOBS is a national body which does not operate in isolation, it develops national standards to be used by the industry, government, parastatals and the general public, but promoting their implementation is a big challenge,' she said.

Speaking to Business Week about her appointment as Managing Director, Marobela said while the new position means a lot to her, it brings with it different challenges as it is always the case with changing responsibility. She said BOBS is not at a desirable level at the moment as implementation continues to be a challenge.

She further said standards cut across all sectors of the economy on a daily basis, and that infact people use them without being aware of it.

'Every product is manufactured to certain specifications,' she said.
While BOBS has been doing awareness programmes on the need for standardisation and implementation, Marobela said a lot more has to be done to get both manufacturers and consumers to appreciate the benefits of adopting standards.

She urged service providers to utilise the quality management system standard that is generic, which guides on how they can operate internally hence improving customer satisfaction.

However, she said consumers should not be reluctant to learn about issues of standardisation, as BOBS is a non-partisan body whose aim is to serve the nation as a whole. She said her ultimate dream during the five-year tenure is to see BOBS' services utilised.

'Standardisation of goods and services is very crucial as it ensures that the country produces goods of acceptable quality and increases chances of market access and facilitates trade,' she said.

Marobela was the first BOBS Director of Quality Assurance in 1998. She led her team to put in place the initial BOBS Product and Quality Management System Schemes, National Metrology and Testing Systems, National Quality Control Sample Exchange, the BOBS training and other programmes. During the year she has been with BOBS as Director of Quality Assurance, Director Commercial Enterprises and Deputy Managing Director until December 2009.

She has served as Chairperson of the SADC Cooperation in Measurement Traceability (SADCMET) committee from 2001 to 2003; currently she is Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the SADC Cooperation in Accreditation (SADCA) committee and the SADC Accreditation Service (Pty) Ltd (SADCAS) respectively.  Internationally, she serves on the Executive Committees of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation and the International Accreditation Forum.

An Analytical Chemist, Marobela attained her Bsc Chemistry degree in 1984 from the University of Houston in the USA, an Msc in Analytical Chemistry in 1986 from the University of Salford in the United Kingdom and an MBA from the University of Botswana in 2000.