1.       History Of Orchid Judging In South Africa

At a meeting in Bloemfontein on 28 July 1968, the Cape Orchid Society, the Natal Orchid Society, the Transvaal Orchid Society, and the Orchid Society of the Northern Transvaal deemed it expedient to establish a Council to promote and co-ordinate the activities and interests of the orchid societies in South Africa.  It was agreed to the formation of the South African Orchid Council (S.A.O.C.).  In September of the same year the first by-laws for S.A.O.C. Award Judging were drafted and fifteen people were registered as Accredited S.A.O.C. Judges.  It was stressed even at that stage that there should be a uniform system of judging for all South African Societies.

In an effort to create uniformity, it was accepted that an S.A.O.C. award would only be granted if the majority of judges agreed to it.  In the early stages this entailed sending a set of slides to each Judging School, where a vote was taken.  It was the duty of the Registrar of Awards to organise the dispatching of the sets and to report on the final results.

In 1978 it was decided to review all awards annually at a meeting of judges.  This meeting is now known as the Judges Forum, which has become the sole opportunity for Accredited S.A.O.C. Judges to standardise Award Judging throughout the country.  It also provides a Forum for frank discussion and for the exchange and adoption of new ideas.  These contributions have in the past twenty years formed a solid foundation for judging in South Africa.  The Forum has become an important date in the S.A.O.C. orchid calendar.

In 1990 it was agreed by the Board of Directors that in order to standardise judging further in South Africa, the entire judging system would have to be evaluated.  As a result, a regional judging system, based largely on the American system, was brought into being.

The regulations of orchid judging in South Africa has now developed to a stage where there are four distinct levels of operation:

·          Board of Directors

·          Chairman of the Judging Committee

·          Judging Committee

·          Regional Judging