MESSAGES FROM THE MDs

1

The Thymes2018

2nd HALF

Gree�ngs to all Capitol Caterers family

members!

We ended the 2018 year

on a very high note and

2019 looks as though we

a r e i n f o r a n o t h e r

successful year judging

by the number of sites

g a i n e d d u r i n g t h i s

financial year.

In the previous newsle�er, I indicated that I

look forward to presen�ng a full business

and financial report to the Board of Directors

and the Chairman and it is very important to

men�on that we indeed had a successful

year with budgets met in the third quarter of

the year, isn't it great?

The future looks very posi�ve in such that we

are not too far from our 2020 goals. As you

can imagine reaching your 5-year goals two

years early will be a huge achievement.

Well done Team!

Russell Nzimande

MD Capitol Caterers

Gree�ngs and best wishes for a produc�ve, successful and exci�ng year ahead.

2018 was a significant year for Capitol Caterers, with a number of achievements under our belt, most notably celebra�ng our 25th Anniversary and Conference aboard the very splendid cruise ship “The MSC Musica”.

150 Catering Managers and Head Office staff enjoyed 2 days of entertainment, conferencing, food, celebra�ng and rocking on the stormy seas off the Durban coast. For many it was a once in a life�me experience and an occasion that will forever remain as an incredible memory.

Capitol Caterers also celebrated winning the Nedbank PCB Business of the Year award in the category Retail/Professional Services. This pres�gious award is the result of the dedica�on and commitment of every staff member in Capitol who proudly upholds our mission of ensuring that we provide a unique, quality service to every one of our clients.

Adding to this past year's achievements, Capitol Caterers declared a dividend of which R1 472 000 went to The Workers Trust who are 49% shareholders in the company. Thereby posi�vely impac�ng on the financial wellbeing of many lives.

Looking ahead, its going to be a busy year with the finalisa�on and applica�on of our Quality Management System, the implementa�on of an interac�ve food ordering App, the opening and facilita�on of the newly developed Midlands Hospitality Academy as well as con�nuing to supply affordable, quality food in all our 87 contracts around the country.

So, here's to a great 2019.With warmest regards

Merrill KingMD Capitol Select

P IETERMARITZBURGCHAMBER of BUSINESS

Winners of the Business of the Year award in theRetail and Professional

Services

CAPITOL CATERERS

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WinnersLast year we decided to do something we have not done before: enter our company into the NEDBANK PIETERMARTIZBURG CHAMBER OF

BUSINESS of the year compe��on! This is a very pres�gious award and all top businesses' high achievers compete for this coveted �tle.

So in true Capitol style we forged ahead with the challenging task of gathering all the informa�on that was required for our submission. This

resulted in a 95cm thick document with all the necessary documenta�on that they called for. We finally received confirma�on that we had in fact

been shortlisted, and that a panel of judges were now to meet with our two MD's for an interview! You are not no�fied of any results - these

would be announced at a Gala Event a�ended by over 500 VIP guests at the Royal Showgrounds in November 2018. Here Russell Nzimande and I

were hosted by Loyiso Gola and other celebri�es un�l the final moment arrived for the winner to be announced. We took a deep breath and

then the en�re hall came to a stands�ll as it was announced - Capitol Caterers were the WINNERS of the BUSINESS OF THE YEAR. A truly

wonderful honour which you all have contributed towards.

Not not to be le� standing, we now go for the Na�onal Business of the Year which takes place later this year - let's get this one too!

Ray Hodgskin

Na�onal Sales and Marke�ng Manager

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Berg 'n Bush

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C onference 2018Dear Readers…

If you happen to see pictures of very happy faces on board the MSC

Musica having a great �me, then you are not imagining it! And if you

were one of the lucky few to have been part of this amazing

conference, then you, like us, were extremely excited to have

celebrated Capitol's 25th Year of Excellent Service at the Catering

Manager's Conference in 2018.

In November 2018, 150 Capitol Catering Managers and PMB

Support Staff le� Durban Harbour on board the MSC Musica for the

'Cruise to Nowhere'.

It makes everything so worthwhile seeing the joy and excitement on

everyone's faces as they wandered around the magnificent ship,

trying to orientate themselves, which I might add, was quite

challenging! A successful conference on the Sunday morning was

followed by lots of hilarity watching each area present their shows.

Everyone went to a lot of effort and as the saying goes “we all had a

jolly fine �me”. The conference commi�ee have already put on

their “thinking caps” to see what we can come up with to top 2018's

conference.

Capitol would like to thank every Supplier that contributed towards

sponsoring the Catering Managers to be able to par�cipate in this

conference and we would like to say that we value your loyalty and

generosity.

Here you are by name:

ABI, African Fruit Orchard, Almar Groente, Ambleside Meats,

Bidfood, Bushlands, Clover, Dawn Fresh Mushrooms, DK Butchery,

Elongates, Foodpak, Fridge foods, Fruit Spot, Game Swaziland,

Heydenrychs, Hychem, Indezi River Creamery, KLM Foods,

Lusitania, Mini Market, Moses Fresh Produce, Muirheads Hiring,

Premier Meats, N1 Restaurant, Over the Edge, Pioneer Foods, PMB

Catering Equipment, Proveg, Shesha Butchery, Sunbake and

Umbuluzi.

Congratula�ons to all our award winners. You have inspired us with

your dedica�on and enthusiasm in the workplace.

Cheers to a successful Conference and we are super excited to meet

with you again in 2020!

The Conference Commi�ee – Merrill, Janet and Karlien

CONTRACT OF THE YEAR - divided amongst employeesOatlands - WinnerNominees:Payroll DepartmentSt Andrews PrepRSSCSt Mary'sPROJECT MANAGER OF THE YEARWinner: Michael Peachey - EkuhlengeniNominees:Mbhu� Dlamini - SwazilandPaula Heuff - TWCLisa Gearing - EpworthThandeka Tshezi - Mahatma GandhiAREA MANAGER OF THE YEARWinner: Charmaine Solomon - Western CapeNominees:Luzanne Ferreira - GrahamstownMichelle Dobbie - Northern KZNChantelle Graham - Natal MidlandsAREA MANAGER OF THE YEAR - WINNEREMPLOYEE OF THE YEARWinner: Kelvin PhillipsNominees:Tezna Mahabir - Padca RiversideTanele Dlamini - Swaziland H/O

Karlien Whi�eld - Head Office - Doris Ngubane - INSPIRATIONAL AWARD

Head OfficeINSPIRATIONAL AWARD - Carol Holyoak - MichaelhouseMOST IMPROVED CATERING MANAGERWinners: Ayabulela Isaac - Illovo; Menzi Qakamfana - St Andrews PrepNominees:Barnaby Beaver - AmberglenLauryn Wilson - WaterfallNelisiwe Matsebula - Ngwane MillsWinnie Mbuyasi - Empangeni HospitalSizakele Mathenjwa - EskomCATERING MANAGER OF THE YEARWinners: Charmaine Stolzle - Cordwalles; Nomcebo Simelane - SwazicanNominees:Santanna Kalika - Cli�onPaulus Ngcobo - SumitomoIvor Miskin - DSGMadiba Mandela - Nelson Mandela HospitalEsther Moila - Waverley Care Centre

- Laura MortonMD Award for Excellence - Thandeka TsheziMD Award for Excellence

LONG SERVICE AWARDS - H/0 20185 Year AwardsJanet Bevis; Shanita Che�y; Barnie van Blerk; Venus Bussack; Santanna Kalika; Kerrie-Ann Ackermann; Charmaine Stolzle; Senzo Dlamini;

Unathi Ntan�so10 Year AwardsMichelle Dobbie; Nicole�e Absalom; Anne�e du Plessis; Thembekile Khanyile; Mzomuhle Mkhwanazi; Prudence Goci; Ntombiyombuso Ngcobo; Ter�a Solomon; Sibongile Phake15 Year AwardsRaymond Hodgskin; Thandeka Ndwalane20 Year AwardsMerrill King25 Year AwardsGiles King; Janet Mill; Lorraine Momo�; Cynthia Mdaweni; Russell Nzimande

MERIT AWARDSANNEMIE PEEBLES - St Mary'sPRUDENCE QUEEN NGUBO - Head OfficeNOMBUSO NGCOBO - RichmondNONDUMISO SIBIYA - InandaCHARMAINE GOVENDER - SunnysideJANE NOALL - Amber ValleyGCINA NZIMANDE - CedaraKERRIE-ANN ACKERMAN - TrevertonPATIENCE MLOTSHWA - Rural MetroJO-ANN HARPER - Marian VillaBELINDA RICHARDS - Head OfficeTHANDEKA NDWALANE - Head OfficeSHARLENE HEMERO - Head OfficePHILANI NDLOVU - Head OfficeSHANITA CHETTY - Head OfficeJANET BEVIS - Head Office

Awards

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6

Gauteng C lient Lunch

C ooking Demos

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Diabetes - the hard facts

Thank you

The SEMDSA (Society for endocrinology, metabolism and Diabetes

of South Africa) have recently released “Guidelines for the

Management of Type 2 diabetes mellitus” (2017). These guidelines

provide the most recent sta�s�cs of Type 2 diabetes, par�cularly in

Africa. I found these sta�s�cs very interes�ng, so here are the hard

facts:

• A study in 2012 es�mated how many people were living with

diabetes in South Africa. During this study they found that

almost half of the people living with diabetes did not even know

they had diabetes.

• The Asian and Coloured popula�ons in South Africa have the

highest incidence of diabetes.

• In Africa, the predicted increase of people living with diabetes is

140% by 2040. In comparison, the predicted global increase of

people living with diabetes is 55%.

• Wold-wide, more people died from diabetes than from the

combined deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in

2015.

Do I have your a�en�on now? I hope so!

During the next few quarterly newsle�ers I will be providing you

with informa�on on how to prevent diabetes so that you do not

become part of the sta�s�cs.

In the mean-�me, get your blood sugar tested.

"Today I want to acknowledge you for doing a real feel good thing.

You are living the true values that Capitol wish to ins�l in each

employee. We are proud of you and thank you for going that extra

mile.

These words appear on the “Winning Ticket” an ini�a�ve that was

rolled out throughout Capitol Caterers in 2017. The aim is for the

employee to get 10 Winning Tickets which enables them to get a

“BIG” Ticket. Once a Big �cket is issued the employee is rewarded

with a voucher to the value of R300.00.

The Winning Culture that has been rolled out focuses on 3 vital

aspects of a Business – Trust, Teamwork and Joy. An employee must

want to come to work, Trust must come from within oneself, and if

you trust your fellow employee teamwork will develop and if you are

Joyful at work this Joy filters to the staff around you. Staff will then

be willing to go that extra mile for one another and for their client.

It has been wonderful to witness this ini�a�ve filtering through

some of our contracts. Disciplinary problems have halved, staff are

feeling worthy and acknowledged and this culture is felt through the

organisa�on.

Our challenge for 2019 is to get the “buy in” from all our contracts -

an increase in Winning Tickets for staff going the extra mile and for

the company to acknowledge a real feel good thing."

Janet Mill

HR Director

Big Ticket Winners!

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Ladies Day Lunch

9

The BeastDuring September, we were advised that Capitol Caterers and our

Joint Venture partners, Anna and Billy Tshabalala of Baikemetseng

Bomme, had been awarded the contract to operate the Cook Freeze

Factory and three regional hospitals for the Department of Health in

the Orange Free State.

Pre�y easy task, we have done this many �mes, you might think,

except we had to be ready for business on the 01 October, leaving us

less than three weeks to accomplish an extremely complicated task.

Complicated, due to the Cook Freeze method of service delivery,

mee�ng the expecta�ons of the staff on site, as well as those of the

Unions and the Department of Health.

Taking over from an uncoopera�ve opposi�on company, who was

not really willing to assist us in achieving a professional take-over,

also did not help our endeavors.

A task team consis�ng of Opera�ons, Procurement, Diete�cs and

Human Rela�onships resources was formulated and sent to the

Free State with all urgency to link up with Anna and Billy Tshabalala

at their offices in Bloemfontein.

Basing ourselves at Baikemetseng Bomme's Bloemfontein offices

the hard task of developing an understanding of how the Cook

Freeze system operated and adap�ng our systems to suit, began.

Specialised suppliers were first on the list, swi�ly followed by

sourcing and iden�fying the staff we would need to ensure we

would begin opera�on with the fast approaching deadline foremost

in our minds.

Following an unsuccessful a�empt to purchase some stock from the

outgoing Caterers we were forced to contemplate star�ng with

empty storerooms and diver�ng from the menu un�l such �me as

we could build sufficient stock.

Understandably the client, was concerned about our abili�es of

mee�ng this deadline and at the same �me delivering in terms of

the contract specifica�ons.

To put their minds at ease, the Tshabalala's arranged for us to meet

with four State die�cians, who to be honest, were extremely

skep�cal of our abili�es to pull off an opening at such short no�ce.

By the end of a few hours we had assured them that we had

everything under control and they needn't worry, we would wave

the magic wand and ensure everything was 100% on the 1 October!

Following this mee�ng, the reality of the task ahead of us really

struck home. We had to replicate a service which the current

caterers had developed over a period of 15 years, without any

mistakes or mishaps, at the same �me proving that the Department

of Health had not made the wrong decision by placing the care of

their pa�ents in our hands.

Possibly the most difficult part of this process was the HR

component, which understandably, was vital to get right from the

get-go, as the staff we would be taking on had to feel that they would

be fairly treated and absorbed into a company that was a

compassionate and fair employer - hats off to Janet Mill and team

for the many hours this took to achieve.

Opera�onally the team from Gauteng, ensured that all the four sites

were equipped with the necessary systems and more importantly

the equipment and stock needed at all four sites. We found that

there were glaring deficiencies at some sites. Thanks to

interven�ons by Billy Tshabalala these issues were addressed.

Despite all of the challenges, the Bloemfontein team can be very

proud of their progress and achievements, against the predic�ons

from some quarters that we would never pull it off.

A special men�on must be made of our new on site colleagues, most

of whom have fi�ed into the Capitol family and manner of doing

things – welcome to the family.

Vaughan Robinson

Procurement Director

Cooking and Freezing in the Free State

Some Background of the Cook Freeze SystemA Cook Freeze system entails a massive store of cooked stock to be

held in a central store, as well as on site at individual hospitals, a

stock which can total in excess of R2m, as it needs to cover around

150 different special diets and standard meals.

Those of us familiar with normal catering ac�vi�es at a typical

hospital will be astounded with the quan��es that needed to be

ordered – not 20kg's of meat but more like 1000kgs at a �me are

needed to sa�sfy the demands of the “Beast” the nickname I gave

to the Cook Freeze factory.

The facili�es are massive with huge tennis court sized deep

freezers for raw and cooked products, tons of packaging and two

blast chiller produc�on lines, to quick freeze the various menu

items which are produced in their thousands.

The staff at this facility are well versed and drilled in turning out

all requirements using extensive standard recipes, which ensure a

constant taste, quan��es and most importantly quality of product.

These are individually dished into aluminum containers and packed

into cardboard boxes for a storage period of up to 12 months.

Amongst the staff compliment are some outstanding

individuals, some of whom know all the secrets and tricks needed to

keep this large facility running, without whom we would never be

able to keep produc�on at the levels required.

In the end, we proved that the “Beast” was really a li�le puppy!

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Heritage Day

Standing le� to right: Gladys Khadi, Bongiswa Ralo, Chris�na Ma�wana, Nozipho Mafu, Berard Musekiwa, Sheena Gongqa, Liya Ngokoma, Shannon Porter, Sadiqah Sha, Lulama Modi

Kneeling le� to right: Thabisa Modi , Menzi Qakamfana

Mandisa Mredlana, Jerome Booi, Ntshantsha Duda, Le�e Peter,Nonki Zweni & Zoleka Madinga Liya Ngokoma

Chris�na Ma�wana Bongiswa RaloMuriel Kwatcha

Mandisa Mredlana

Menzi Qakamfana, Shannon Portor, Andile Nzwana, Tobela Baba

Thabisa Modi

Zolani Papu, Gladys Khadi

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Mid lands End of Year C lient Lunch

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In Pursuit of Culinary Excel lence

A historic Sco�sville home virtually across the road from Comrades

House in Connaught Road has been given a new lease of life as the

headquarters of the freshly minted Midlands Hospitality Academy

(MHA).

Effec�vely the training division of Capitol Caterers, MHA is

envisioned to substan�ally increase culinary skills in compliance

with a host of regulatory protocols. First base was securing

appropriate premises, a search that took youthful MHA director

Kelvin Phillips all over the city for the be�er part of six months.

“17 Connaught Road is perfect,” he said, “it was previously occupied

by quan�ty surveyors who had done most of the open plan

remodelling.”

Fi�ng out the state-of-the-art kitchen with 10 worksta�ons and

installing the support infrastructure pushed the total investment tag

to the R1.8 million mark, said Merrill King, joint CEO of Capitol

Caterers.

“We view MHA as an investment in future skills, and proper skills

simply can’t be taught in an inferior environment,” she said.

The primary mo�va�on behind MHA is to build a repository of skills

to sa�sfy Capitol Caterers’ voracious appe�te for growth, but also to

both deepen and widen the levels of proficiency in the industry.

“Culinary skills are the lowest common denominator in the catering

and food industry, and whatever training we impart, is likely to

benefit us as much as the sector,” she said.

MHA sought accredita�on as a training ins�tu�on with QCTO

(Quality Council of Trade Occupa�ons) in order to offer an industry-

leading qualifica�on over three years. The QCTO accredita�on, in

tandem with its Cathsseta (Culinary, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and

Sports Sector Educa�on and Training Authority) endorsement,

allows MHA to offer a veritable smorgasbord of culinary

qualifica�ons, from one-year learnerships to the premium three-

year course. “It’s a par�cularly demanding course with a strong

theore�cal founda�on supported by prac�cal training and

workplace experience,” said Phillips.

In �me, MHA plans to throw open its doors to housewives, students,

business people and foodies, in fact, anyone keen to expand their

knowledge about food. “We’d love to offer courses on the

prepara�on of tapas, or Thai cuisine, or specialised Asian and Indian

cooking, the sky’s the limit,” said King.

The proposed repertoire is likely to include

unusual ac�vi�es dressed with healthy lashings

of fun, according to King. “I can’t wait for the first

team-building exercise in the kitchen,” she said,

“imagine a bunch of accountants in three-man

teams trying to plate a meal with a paw-paw and

pumpernickel!”

A pioneering training ini�a�ve aimed at sharpening culinary skills is adding extra shine to

Pietermaritzburg’s formidable ter�ary educa�onal sphere. words by Derek Alberts

Kelvin Phillips, the Director of the Midlands

Hospitality Academy and Merrill King, joint

Managing Director of Capitol Caterers