Leaving a footprint for the future

"SAEON is about leaving a footprint for the future." - Kamal Naicker

Kamal Naicker, Business Manager at SAEON's National Office, sadly passed away on Tuesday, 13 October 2009.

Kamal will be remembered for his many sterling qualities. Prominent among these were his loyalty, efficiency, professionalism, friendliness, sincerity, warmth, and attention to detail.

Kamal will be sorely missed by his colleagues throughout SAEON. His efficient support made it possible for node staff in remote locations to fulfil their obligations. In his inimitable quiet and measured manner, he systematically smoothed out teething problems and surmounted looming mini-crises.

Kamal ably supported SAEON’s stakeholders and service providers in numerous different ways. Everyone he dealt with held him in high regard.

Johan Pauw, Managing Director of SAEON described Kamal as a trusted stalwart at the heart of SAEON business. He said that Kamal had played a crucial role in the daunting task of setting up SAEON, both at National Office and at node level.

"As Business Manager he held a complex and varied portfolio of responsibilities and the vacuum that he leaves is not going to be filled easily," Pauw stated.

With a keen interest in the environment from an early age, Kamal’s work as a young researcher took him to places such as the Kruger National Park and two maritime reserves on the Wild Coast. "It was here that I saw how essential the environment is to man’s existence," he said at the time.

He spent four years working as a professional officer at the National Research Foundation’s Technology for Human Resources in Industry Programme (THRIP) before joining SAEON in 2005.

Kamal was both a scientist and an artist. He illustrated both issues of Ecological Circuits and one of his paintings adorns the walls of the passage to the Minister of Science and Technology's office in the DST building.

Kamal has left a lasting legacy in many different ways. May his soul rest in peace.