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MISA Profile

May 31, 2024 MISA, the Motor Industry Staff Association, Martlé Keyter, Jacques Viljoen,


MISA Profile

 

MISA’s newly appointed Strategy & Legal Specialist, Jacques Viljoen, will holistically master the art of serving the retail motor industry now that he is representing employees on the other side of the MIBCO (Motor Industry Bargaining Council) negotiating table.

 

Viljoen joined MISA’s Strategy and Development Department on 1 March after serving a year as the Director of SAMBRA (South African Motor Body Repairers' Association). Prior to his appointment at SAMBRA, Viljoen worked closely with MISA’s Negotiation team as Chief Negotiator of the RMI (Retail Motor Industry Organisation). Viljoen is now living his dream with MISA.

 

He grew-up in Odendaalsrus, one of the oldest gold mining towns in the Free State. “For as long as I can recall, I wanted to become an attorney. My uncle was a partner at Symington De Kok Attorneys who have a national reputation as a distinguished legal firm since 1957. He was my role model and I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” says Viljoen. He knew that he did not like sitting in an office day after day. After completing his LLB-degree and starting his articles, he realised that his interest was not in criminal or family law. “I did my fair share of cases working in a versatile firm in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal. I did what I had to do, but the trauma of children trapped between parents in messy divorces got to me. This was not the law I wanted to practise for the rest of my life.”

 

Viljoen joined SEESA, Labour legal and business compliance solutions for small enterprise employers in South Africa, in 2013 as a Labour Legal Advisor. In 2016 Viljoen joined the RMI as an Industrial Relations Specialist. “It was the first time in my career that I could specialise on one field, labour law, and I loved it. The rest is history.” Viljoen was appointed as the RMI’s Regional Manager of the Free State & Northern Cape Region in 2019. In October 2021 he took over the reins as Labour Director and Company Secretary Designate responsible for keeping an eye on all MIBCO-related affairs.

 

“At 40 I still have a passion for constant growth. Sitting on the other side of the negotiating table, representing employees, is a challenge for me. MISA has grown tremendously to more than 65 000 members and I am impressed at how the trade union is setting the trend for the future of unionism. I want to be a part of history,” says Viljoen.

 

His wife and three-year-old son remains his main priority and he wants to spend as much of his spare time possible with his family. Viljoen loves playing Golf and participated in one of the top teams at MISA’s annual Golf Day for the past two years. He also enjoys fly fishing and is a keen bonsai artist and collector and loves growing trees from seed.

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