HENNIE FERREIRA
Hennie matriculated at Volksrust High School in 1976 and went on to do 2 years compulsory military training before returning to Volksrust in 1979 to farm on their sheep and dairy farm.
Sheepdogs had always been a part of the farming activities, but were never trained and basically worked on instinct only.
His involvement with SASDA started in 1984 when Martie gave him his first own Border Collie (Karoo) as a gift. This led to the late Ron Philip being invited to give a sheepdog course for farmers in the area; the forming of the Trans-Oranje Sheepdog Club; and Hennie’s active participation in SASDA trials and other events.
Through the years Hennie had lots of success with his dogs and won numerous regional awards as well as the SA Championship 1994 with Tombi. During an International Series against the USA held in Pretoria in 1990, he was Reserve Champion with Spot 11, being beaten by Bruce Fogt by a small margin.
Hennie’s keen interest in breeding and bloodlines resulted in him being appointed as SASDA Registration Officer in 1990 where he keeps a sharp eye on things, with very definite preferences as to what is acceptable or not. He has been instrumental in streamlining the Development Registration Scheme by which previously unregistered purebred dogs can be registered and upgraded through breeding.
Moving to a smaller farm with less stock, together with economical restraints causing him to take up an outside job, resulted in Hennie not currently competing in trials actively, but he keeps in touch by still presenting training courses and judging as many trials as possible upon request.
Being asked to judge the Nationals three times before and now again this year is an honour – even greater than actually winning the Nationals Championship – that he will cherish for as long as he lives.
Kim James Yates
Kim Yates is the co-owner of Hexagon Fire Investigation, a privately owned fire investigation company that is based in South Africa. The company specialises in structure and wildfire fire investigations. Kim is jointly responsible for the day-to-day management of the company and presents training occasionally. His focus is to conduct fire investigations and to present expert testimony when required.
Kim currently has the only accelerant detection dog in the private sector in South Africa, working for Hexagon Fire Investigation.
Kim spent 17 years in the South African Police Service wherafter he spent 8 years at the CSIR in South Africa, where he was employed as a full time fire investigator. He formed Hexagon Fire Investigation in 2006 with his business partner, Mr Andre de Beer.
Most of his time in the SA Police Service was spent at the Dog School. He trained sheepdogs and handlers for stock theft units during this time. Kim served as the co-ordinator of research and development at the Dog School at the end of his term. He trained South Africa’s first accelerant detection or arson dog during that period.
Kim currently serves a broad client base that consists of insurance companies, government agencies, the legal fraternity, and other private individuals as and when requested.
Kim is a certified fire investigator with the I.A.A.I. He is a founder member and past-president of the South African Chapter of the I.A.A.I. He currently serves on numerous committees of the I.A.A.I.
He holds a Forensic Science Society Diploma in fire investigation and is a Professional Member of the Forensic Science Society in the UK.