The FISA AGM was held in the Graaff-Reinet Club at 12:00 on 19 March 2021 and was attended by 25 FISA members from as far afield as Cape Town and Pretoria. One of the attendees was an honorary life member of FISA, Mr Jimmy Baigrie from Cape Town. A further 60 to 70 members and guests attended through an online link, which until 11:30 seemed unlikely as Graaff-Reinet was scheduled to have Eskom load shedding until 13:30. Fortunately load shedding was suspended as from 12:00 and the online stream could be accessed shortly after that.
Two CPD sessions were also presented: one by FISA CEO Louis van Vuren on freedom of testation in the light of the recent Constitutional Court judgement in King v De Jager, and the other by outgoing FISA chairperson, Dr Eben Nel on the valuation of the right to income from living annuities for accrual purposes in the case of death or divorce. A guided walking tour through old Graaff-Reinet followed, and then attendees could join a trip up the mountain for sundowners at the Valley of Desolation viewpoint.
At a dinner on Friday night at the historic Drostdy Hotel, the FISA council hosted members of the Graaff-Reinet museum board of trustees and other luminaries from the town.
On Saturday morning the museum room itself was opened during an event at the Old Library Museum. Mr Ian Brink was the programme director and speakers were Mr Johann Minnaar on the history of Graaff-Reinet, Mr Louis van Vuren on the first trust company in the world, and Dr Eben Nel on the journey to a profession. Ms Penny du Plessis thanked everyone who participated and contributed. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was conducted by Dr Nel and Ms Anziske Kayster, the curator of the Graaff-Reinet museum.
For the slides of the CPD sessions click here.
A photo collage of the weekend will be available in due course.