TIBER CONSTRUCTION
140 West Street
TIBER CONSTRUCTION
Big Builds Continue to Come Tiber’s Way PRODUCTION: Timothy Reeder
Backed by some 70 years of expertise in the industry, Tiber has evolved into a leader in the South African private property and construction sector. Despite repeated reports of a beleaguered industry, Tiber stands strong and continues to seize new and bigger opportunities and projects to fuel its aspirations of topping the table in SA construction. www.enterprise-africa.net / 3
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“The Tiber brand continues to go from strength to strength and is synonymous of core strengths of quality and reliability,” outlines the group, a private and management-owned company with a culture of loyalty and service, established in 1951 by Paolo Rivera, and today supported by a highly skilled and experienced management team and workforce. That Tiber continues to achieve growth and add to an already enviable list of completed projects is all the more impressive given the overarching negativity which plagues the sector as a whole, one which we are repeatedly told is in state of accelerated decline. “South Africa’s beleaguered construction industry faces a trio of major risks this year from the general election, failing state-owned entities (SOEs) and the Budget, according to construction market intelligence firm Industry Insights,” stated Business Report in January. Although this was qualified by a prediction that this year would not sink to the depths of 2018, billed by Industry Insight as, “one of the toughest years on record,” IOL was still at pains to point out that the economy was set to face a raft of challenges, at home and abroad, as well as big cuts in infrastructure spending. This was compounded even more recently, in April this year, by South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (Safcec) CEO Webster Mfebe. “Public infrastructure spend has been declining,” he began, talking to Engineering News. “In the 2017/18 financial year government’s infrastructure budget was R947.2 billion. This was reduced to R834.1 billion in 2018/19. This is a whopping 12% nominal decrease. “Also, in 2018 there was a 15.3% decline in the nominal value of contracts awarded, with the building industry hardest hit. Add to the mix that all of this is happening in
TIBER CONSTRUCTION
// THERE ARE MORE ENQUIRIES, PEOPLE ARE SENDING US MORE TENDERS TO CONSIDER, AND THERE IS NOTABLY MORE ACTIVITY //
notably more activity – especially in the Gauteng area.� It was Gauteng which was giving Correia yet further cause for excitement when we asked for the lowdown last year. “Our biggest project right now is a JV with WBHO and that is 144 Oxford,� he described. “It’s a 33,000 m2 commercial, lettable space with fully unitised glass facades – it’s a striking building. “We are also breaking ground on the first phase of the 110,000 m2 precinct mixed-use development called Sandton Gate. This development will take five to seven years to roll-out and provides us with a strong base for our order book going forward. “Reliance on the open tender market in today’s times is a sure formula for failure so we continue to
TITAN
Supplying and installing drywall partitions, ceilings and bulkheads, as well as managing tenant installations from start to finish, throughout South Africa for the past 17 years.
AGAINST THE GRAIN Industry Insight also stated that, according to the data available up to October, a “quite a serious declineâ€? of 14.3 % in the nominal value of construction projects awarded was apparent, compared to the corresponding period in 2017. By all logic, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Tiber has been spending the last few years scrapping for new business, taking up any project on offer and reducing its scope in order to stay afloat. Consistently, however, the opposite has been true. When we first spoke to Managing Director Jose Correia in 2017, the group was deep into building the colossal Discovery Building in Sandton. At the same time, the group was busy, too, with the equally impressive 140 West project; throughout, Tiber has been notching up growth rather than downing tools. “In May 2017, the industry was in a tough place and to be honest, it got more difficult throughout the year,â€? Correia admitted. “We were very fortunate that we had two very big projects which carried us throughout that period. We secured those projects at the margins of two years before and that was very fortunate from our side. The industry took a massive dip towards the end of the year.â€? Correia has seen first-hand
the reality of the situation depicted in the news, which has at times been rather too close for comfort. “We have experienced a big increase in the number of subcontractors going into business rescue and liquidation,� he explained, “and the worrying aspect of this is that many of them were reputable business with an established track record in the industry. “There have also been a number of main contractors which have suffered the same fate, which is of major concern, as it reflects the overall weakness of the market. “Fortunately, since Cyril Ramaphosa was elected to the Presidency, there has been a change in sentiment. There are more enquiries, people are sending us more tenders to consider, and there is
TITAN
an industry that is historically a big investor in capital expenditure and skills development,� Mfebe underlined.
Tel: 011 699 6700 Fax: 086 536 6112 Email: reception@titanceilings.co.za
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focus on ensuring that we continue to build a pipeline of projects through expansion of current relationships with developers and clients.” BIGGER AND BETTER “Our vision is clearly defined,” says Tiber Construction, “and we look into the future with confidence and great excitement as we continue to contribute to the growth and prosperity of our country.” This is not idle optimism, but a philosophy based on the unriddled success the group has enjoyed to date.
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It is a story which looks set to be marked by further triumphs imminently, thanks in no small part to Tiber’s heavy involvement in Airports Company South Africa’s (ACSA) Western Precinct development at the OR Tambo International Airport, which commenced in February and is slated for completion by the end of 2020. The R4.5 billion mixed-use Phase 1 development will comprise three sixstorey buildings, including the head offices of ACSA and the South African Civil Aviation Authority, retail space,
a hotel, conference facilities, logistics services and five levels of parking. OR Tambo GM Bongiwe PityiVokwana spoke of the importance
// OUR VISION IS CLEARLY DEFINED AND WE LOOK INTO THE FUTURE WITH CONFIDENCE AND GREAT EXCITEMENT //
TIBER CONSTRUCTION
Sandton Gate
// THE TIBER BRAND CONTINUES TO GO FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH // of OR Tambo’s remaining an international landmark with worldclass infrastructure and a large variety of services: “The Western Precinct development forms part of a strategy to expand our offering and to drive new sources of growth for the entire region.”
Perhaps most alluring for Tiber will have Pityi-Vokwana’s intimations of much more to come in the OR Tambo development tale. A new passenger terminal is envisaged within the next eight to 10 years, the first phase of which is set to process between 10 to 15 million passengers a year and have parking for 40 aircraft. Of course, this can only spell success for Tiber as it continues to showcase its ability to make reality the most complex of visions. “In 2018, the airport contributed no less than R5.6 billion to the South African economy, we supported
5480 jobs and also supported R940 million of income to workers,” Pityi-Vokwana closed. “Given this contribution, can you imagine how significant our contribution will be once we embark on this huge infrastructure build programme.”
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Published by CMB Media Group Chris Bolderstone – General Manager E. chris@cmb-media.co.uk Rouen House, Rouen Rd, Norwich NR1 1RB T. +44 (0) 1603 855 161 E. info@cmb-media.co.uk www.cmb-media.co.uk CMB Media Group does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors. The points of view expressed in articles by attributing writers and/ or in advertisements included in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this magazine, no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from use of information published. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. Š CMB Media Group Ltd 2019
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