Haywood has recently retired from the board of Armscor after and illustrious six year term.

His earlier choice of a career path was almost tailor-made for him to become head of the Ministry of Defence's acquisition arm, Armscor. From his teenage years at high school and during his early adult life, Haywood - through the erstwhile conscription process - had interchangeably served in the school and naval cadets (his first love), and also the Citizen Force as a pilot. As fate would have it, this is where he served most of his part time force activity, flying in various capacities until 1981. By this time he had accumulated an impressive number of flying hours on Tiger-Moths, Havards, Spitfires, Vampires, Dakotas and Skymasters, rising to the rank of Lt Colonel. In recognition of his achievements and his contributions, Haywood was appointed Honorary Colonel of 44 Squadron in 1993.

'The one career I did not plan, I ended up doing," he says.

Haywood has received several decorations and medals for his services to the South African Airforce, as well as for his efforts in building bridges internationally.

He was later to look back and marvel at how his destiny had been shaped to fit-in well with his ultimate calling at the highest post at Armscor. Not that he was aware at that early stage in life that this was where he was headed to.

Having acquired as much as he could in the military field, he took up varlous positions in the business arena, becoming a leading "captain" of Industry, serving various business organisations in the country in a variety of senior positions.

The solid knowledge of the army and navy, the good understanding of the airforce and military in general, and also the experience gained as an industrialist, was to stand him in good stead in later years when destiny brought him into contact with the then former leadership of the ANC military wing, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK). That uncertain contact - with both parties initially feeling each other as it were - was to culminate with the richly travelled Haywood as the Chairman of Armscor.

"When I was at the chamber of business in the early 1990's, I was appointed a member of the Part Time Forces Council.

"With our strong business background, we saw ourselves playing an important bridging role between the former liberation army and the then South African Defence Force. A meeting was arranged at the historical Old Fort in Johannesburg where Ian Deetlefs, who was the chairperson of the Part Time Forces and the Part Time Force Council met a delegation of high ranking officials of MK.

"Among those who were there was Commander Joe Modise and Ronnie Kasrils. We had a very fruitful discussion which resulted with the formation of a solid rapport between the two group. Of course, at the time we were not aware that that encounter was to lead to two of us (Deetlefs and myself) being invited to chair the boards of Denel and Armscor respectively.

"This happened when, about a year after the installation of a democratic government - and with Mr Modise now a minister - I got a call inviting me to consider sitting on the board of Armscor. Similarly, Deetlefs was invited to join Denel. For me, it was a case of the past feeding into the future," says Haywood.

Perhaps it was just as well Haywood had been brought over to Armscor. As an industrialist with the Federated Chamber Industry (FCI) and also the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob), he had commented about desired changes at the parastatal even before he got there.

This was due to a large extent to his strong military background and also his extensive understanding of how business functions and the successes that could be gained from applying business principles to semi-government enterprises.

Under the leadership of Haywood, Armscor took on a leaner and meaner appearance. Today the organisation boasts a reputation of being a more efficient and cost effective acquisition agency. The Corporation plays a major role in encouraging research and development in the defence industry, while at the same time its name has become synonymous with quality and reliability.

Haywood had taken a keen interest in the affairs of and the important role played by the Corporation's staff. This is the greatest resource of the organisation. Coupled with the fact that Armscor's employees had to be articulate and confident in their dealings with both local and International business leaders and decision makers, this led to Haywood establishing a Toastmasters Club within the Corporation. The club has grown from strength to strength and has played a major role in assisting individuals reach their goals and dreams.

During his term at Armscor, Haywood ensured that there was a visible strong presence of blacks at the board and managerial levels of the Corporation. He is a firm believer in the empowerment and involvement of blacks in the defence industry.

While recognising the "tremendous" strides that had been achieved with regard to the introduction of blacks into defence - and he has been in the forefront in convincing empowerment companies to take a stake in the industry - Haywood would still like to see more and more black consortia playing an active role "and possibly acquiring a controlling share in these companies" as some have already done. He cites the Kunene Brothers as one empowerment company that has done exceptionally well in the industry.

"Those black enterprises that have a stake in companies in the defence industry are beginning to reap the benefits of the off-sets of the defence acquisition packages," Haywood says.

Indeed, if one acknowledged that to the black rnajority of this country, the defence industry was a taboo concept, one would begin to appreciate the strides and the changes that were brought about by a transformed Armscor that encouraged participation at all levels by the black cornmunities. The Corporation has legitimized the industry and made it attractive to blacks who, apart from their limited role in this sector - as a result of the apartheid policy - they also shunned it holding it responsible for their suffering. All of that has changed thanks to Armscor.

Looking at the future of Armscor, he believes the Corporation was on the threshhold of exciting times with its role getting expanded by virtue of becoming an increasingly important delivery agent for the Defence Force. The organisation had to look more and more to commercialising its business, particularly given that the SANDF was moving ever more along the route of privatising some of its functions. Armscor, with its expertise and close alliance to SANDF, would be better placed to undertake most of the tasks and services on behalf of the SANDF.

"Armscor has proved itself in the defence acquisition arena and is one of the best in the world. This was because of its proven record of efficiency and cost effective performance. However, I believe as an organisation, the entity must get to market itself even more so that it becomes a major role player in defence matters generally and not only the acquisition process.

"Armscor has a vital role to play in supporting the government of the day. Be it the arms for the SANDF, or the instigation of research and development projects, be it in milltary or civilian, Armscor is known as the quality organisation in Africa. The quality of its people, its products and its services, make the Corporation a worthy member of the defence team," says Haywood.

Haywood's view on empowerment went beyond just taking an equity stake in companies within the industry - and this did not negate the importance of the aspect itself - but equally important was the issue of passing the defence technical skills to as many blacks as was possible. It was due to the realisatlon of this fact that saw Armscor taking on the responsibility of ensuring that young blacks were trained as aeronautical and other engineers. The programme has been very successful, says Haywood.

With acknowledgement to SALVO, Armscor's Corporate Journal.