Know, grow, protect and enjoy South Africa's indigenous plants
BOT SOC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2025
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Annual General Meeting
Call for Council Nominations now open
Dear valued Bot Soc member,
Our national Annual General Meeting (AGM) has been scheduled for Saturday, 28 June at 9:30 for 10:00 until 12 midday latest.
Council has decided on an online zoom AGM to ensure maximum reach nationally and internationally, and to minimize expenditure associated with having a hybrid or in person AGM. This is especially considering the current circumstances and the financial austerity measures toward securing the sustainability of the organization.
Online voting will be available for those members present in the zoom meeting who have not chosen to submit a Proxy or Vote form via email or physical submission at our National BOT SOC office and prefer to vote in the meeting.
If relevant, varying load shedding timetables nationally might affect online process and will be outside the control of the BOT SOC. Contingency measures will be announced at the start of the meeting.
The Botanical Society of South Africa’s Council is responsible for driving the strategic direction of the organisation and plays a vital role in the work of the various committees. Council members need not have formal conservation training, however, a deep commitment to the Botanical Society and its mission is imperative. Members of Council will be active in a specific area of focus or portfolio depending on their skills and experience. Members of Council do not represent any branch, interest group or organisation, but are appointed in their individual capacity. It is very important for BOT SOC to have branch representation at Council level.
In terms of Clause 18 of the National Constitution and its content, the Society invites you to submit nominations to the BOT SOC Council for election at the 2025 National AGM. Council members serve for a one-year period but can serve for a total of 4 years if re-elected each year. All notices, communications and applicable voting forms will be emailed and uploaded on the website in accordance with the BOT SOC National Constitution.
The Society wishes to ensure effective demographic balance (regional spread, race, age and gender) on its Council, as well as a balance of skills. We urge you to give these criteria due attention when considering your nomination. Diversity at Council level is becoming increasingly more important as BOT SOC’s Fundraising efforts and engagements with potential donors and funders require relevant representation. Nominees accepting will be required to adhere and be accountable to a Code of Conduct for Council members and the Council Charter. Elected members would be required to sign the Code of Conduct and Council Charter. Council will also undertake internal assessment processes to ensure optimal performance.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS IN YOUR NOMINATED CANDIDATE
- Leadership and ethics – Lead ethically and effectively by cultivating the characteristics of integrity, competence, fairness, transparency, accountability and responsibility and exhibit them in their conduct with BOT SOC’s interest at heart.
- Strategy, performance and reporting – Appreciate that the organisation’s core purpose, its risks and opportunities, strategy, business model, performance and sustainable development are inseparable elements of the value creation process
- Respect and uphold the values of the Botanical Society of South Africa
- Respect organisational, council, staff and individual confidentiality
- Ensure no Conflict of interest
- Motivation to ensure BOT SOC’s sustainability
- Positive and collaborative outlook and approach
You are hereby encouraged to nominate members who wish to stand for nomination and be elected to Council for a year, and hopefully subsequent years. Nominations may be made via a BOT SOC branch or directly by members. Please see details below on the nomination process and forms.
We value your active participation in BOT SOC affairs and look forward to seeing you at the AGM on 28 June 2025.
Kind regards,
Botanical Society of South Africa
Council Nomination Process and Forms
- A total of nine Council members’ positions are available for election at the AGM. However, the Chairperson and Treasurer positions will be elected by a separate, specific vote, meaning that seven ordinary members of Council positions will be available. Please ensure that you clearly note on your nomination form which portfolio your candidate is being nominated for.
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Choosing your Council nominees
Some Council members are exiting at the end of their terms. We are pleased to inform which of our current Council members remain eligible and available to serve on Council to support much needed continuity after a period of significant transition.
- SEE THE CURRENT COUNCIL HERE
- Kyra Lunderstedt (Current Chairperson) – End of term
- Grant Morrison – Current Treasurer, and available to stand for Treasurer or as an Ordinary Council member
- Murray Barnetson – End of term
- Frank Webb – End of term
- Rob Soutter – Available to stand as an Ordinary Council member
- Hedwig Slabig – Available to stand as an Ordinary Council member
- You are not restricted to nominating prospective councillors from your own geographic area or branch. We encourage you to consider the wealth of highly suitable and diverse members throughout BOT SOC who are able and willing to serve as a Council member and would contribute to the range of skills needed to add value to BOT SOC Council’s strategic leadership into the future. They simply need to be a member in good standing and must be willing to serve if elected. Currently there is a need for fundraising expertise on Council, however, serving on Council calls on a wide range of skills including botany and ecology.
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PROCESS TO FOLLOW
All fully signed and completed nomination forms are to be submitted together with a short CV of the nominee. Since all nominees will be posted on the BOT SOC website, we would require a recent photograph to accompany the CV.
Permission to publicly share the CV and photograph should be obtained by signature on the nomination form as this will be made available to members directly and on the BOT SOC website in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act. Please ensure that no private information is supplied on the CV, such as contact details or an ID number.
Nominations must be submitted via email to the Independent Scrutineer: Ms. Annelie Esterhuyse – botsocagm20250628@gmail.com
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delivered into the sealed voting box at the National BOT SOC office, at Kirstenbosch Gate 2 by 10:00 am on 7 June 2025. Both the emails and sealed voting box will be opened and counted by the appointed auditor.
Make sure that all information and signatures accompany your nominations and are submitted in time as failure to do so will render your nomination submission invalid. Please email info@botanicalsociety.org.za for assistance with your own Webtickets membership numbers if required.
WHO CAN NOMINATE MEMBERS FOR COUNCIL?
Nominations may be made by branches or individual members.
1. Nominations by a branch
Every BOT SOC branch may nominate up to five members in good standing – for example, nominations for Chairperson, Treasurer and three Council members or any combination. Branch nominations must be supported by at least three branch committee members.
Extract from Clause 18.3.2 of the National Constitution:
No Branch may in any election, nominate more than the Chairperson and 4 other persons, one of whom may be nominated as Treasurer, for election as Council Members
2. Nominations by BOT SOC members
A group of members may similarly nominate up to five members in good standing to stand for BOT SOC Council. Each nomination must be supported by 10 or more branch members.
Please diarise these important AGM process dates:
- Call for Council Nominations open 28 March 2025
- Call for Council Nominations close 10:00 am on 7 June 2025
- Nominees’ CVs and photographs are published on the website by 10 June 2025 – close of business
- Resolutions open on 29 May 2025
- Resolutions submissions close 10:00am on 13 June 2025
- Questions open on 13 June 2025
- AGM Postal/Proxy votes open on 13 June 2025
- Questions close on 01 July 2025
- AGM Postal/Proxy votes close 10:00 am on 27 June 2025.
- AGM Saturday, 28 June 2025
Our current Bot Soc Council
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