IndustrySA Issue 51

JUNE

2015 ISSUE 51

It can be done

WWW.industrysa.co.za

Managing some of the leading prestigious construction projects in South Africa, Betts Townsend continues to boast a diverse portfolio of large clients and with consistent growth year on year, it’s no wonder the company is looking forward to celebrating its 20th anniversary later this year‌

Centriq Niche Insurance Leaders

Trans-Tech Logistics Cross-border connections

Eqstra Fleet Management Intergrated Fleet management system

South African Breweries A growing portfolio

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Contact us tollfree at 086 111 3500 or visit our website at www.choc.org.za

Many children in our country are never diagnosed because their symptoms are not recognised, or they are diagnosed too late for effective treatment. To help solve this problem, the South African Children's Cancer Study Group has prepared this list of Warning Signs, for distribution to primary health care centres. CHOC has supported the printing and distribution of posters. They have been adopted by the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), for distribution throughout developing countries.

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EDITOR’S PAGE

EDITOR Harriet Pattison SUB-EDITOR Ajuanne Payne WRITERS Colin Chinery Tim Hands Rebecca Bingley PROJECT MANAGER Jodie Rettie Richard Hadley Stephen Lewis Sarah Dickens ADVERTISING SALES SALES DIRECTOR Andy Williams SALES EXECUTIVE Holly Graham STUDIO STUDIO DIRECTOR Martyn Oakley DESIGNER Harvey Tarlton ACCOUNTS Mike Molloy, Jane Reeder ECP LTD MANAGING DIRECTOR David Hodgson FINANCE DIRECTOR Scott Warman 2a Ardney Rise, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 3QH, United Kingdom If you would like more information about ways in which IndustrySA can promote your business please call +44 1603 411568 or email info@industrysa.com East Coast Promotions Ltd 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. © East Coast Promotions Ltd 2015

Welcome to issue fifty one...

A change came on Thursday 29th May with a day off from the frequent load shedding South Africa has been experiencing recently - due to the 800MW power surge generated by the Medupi Power Station - this helped to restore stability onto the grid. Eskom announced further that people can expect the first week of June to be free of load shedding too, although it advises using electricity sparingly.

With the nights now drawing in and growing colder, reliable power is becoming increasingly important and for many weeks, residents and business owners have been dealing with rolling black outs, particularly in the evenings when demand sits at its highest.

“Our ambition is not to have load shedding in the first place, but I do continue to monitor the situation, if it does change from where we are now, then we will give due notice to the nation as to where we are. But from our side, the plan is not to have load shedding at all,” says Eskom’s Khulu Pasiwe.

With Unit 6 of the Medupi station still under construction, it is thought these rolling black outs could reoccur in the coming weeks.

So what is the alternative to ensuring efficient and reliable power?

The Cookhouse wind farm, which began feeding onto the grid at the end of 2014, currently stands as the biggest wind farm to be built in Africa, with 66 turbines generating 138MW of clean power.

And with an array of alternative energy sources now steadily cropping up all over Africa, the implementation of solar, biomass and wind energy is helping to ensure power is fed back onto the national grid - subsequently helping the rural communities suffering from frequent load shedding slots.

Director of the South African Wind Energy Association, Johan van den Berg said: “It is set to completely transform these deep rural communities in terms of healthcare, education, job creation and a raft of other interventions. All this while putting green electricity on the grid at affordable prices.”

How has the persistent load shedding affected your business? Will these shortages cause you to consider a greener alternative?

Get in touch with us here @industrysa or via email.

Harriet Pattison editor@ecp-ltd.com

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CONTENTS

60 3 EDITOR’S PAGE Alternative energy generation

6 NEWS All that’s happening in South Africa

10 EnTREPRENEUR Elon Musk: Innovating for a better future

12 Innovation A shining beacon for school children

14 Lifestyle SA The African Blogger Awards

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CONTENTS

80

The automation & technology specialists

22 Centriq The experts in insurance solutions

66 Bulldog Projects The corrosion protection specialists 72 BP SA Increasing offshore interests

30 Betts Townsend Celebrating a significant milestone

76 Calgro M3

36 kit kat group A business mindset

80 Lowveld Bus Service

44 Eqstra Fleet management

84 Trans-Tech Logistics

Introducing a revolutionary, integrated system

Operating a diverse fleet

48 South African Breweries

90 vr engineering

Taking a sobering stance

Keeping the lights on

54 SANSA

94 Mogale City municipality

South Africa’s national space agency

Huge investments, extensive upgrades

Topping the housing construction ladder

Leading the region in transportation

COMPANY PROFILES

16 ABB SA

60 Two-a-Day-Group Embracing new technologies

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NEWS All that’s happening in South Africa

Investment in scientific research and infrastructure Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor says the department will over the medium term invest heavily in research and infrastructure.

Briefing journalists at the Imbizo Centre in Parliament ahead of the department’s Budget Vote, the Minister said some focus would also be placed in funding post-graduate students to take on research studies in a bid to boost the country’s competitiveness internationally.

“On the human capital development front, more than 700 students and postdoctoral fellows have been supported through the Square Kilometre Array SA Bursary and Scholarship Programme and the National Astrophysics and Space Physics Programme.

“To improve South Africa’s competitiveness, the Department of Science and Technology will make transfer payments to the National Research Foundation to fund 14 880 postgraduate research students in 2015/ 16.”

The Minister said this was part and parcel of the ambitious targets that the National Development Plan had set.

She said key priority areas that the department would focus on includes the development of human capital, creating new knowledge, investing in research infrastructure and encouraging innovation by funding marketable products emerging from research and incubation.

The Minister said the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), which will receive R385 million, has offered support to thousands of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) after implementing a successful turn-around strategy.

She said that since 2010, TIA had supported more than 8 130 SMEs in accelerating technical innovation through technology development.

“In the fields of health innovation and bio economy, through partnerships with industry in the pharmaceutical sector and the agricultural sector – for example through our work in indigenous knowledge – we have registered seven patents, supported 20 PhDs and 39 master’s students, created 133 jobs, trained 198 community members in

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technology transfer and skills development.

“We have established two agro businesses and signed intellectual property agreements with L’Oreal, Nestle, Kalahari, Nativa and several other companies,” she said.

She said three funds would be provided for in the new TIA strategy, including: The Seed Fund, which is aimed at assisting universities, in particular, in bridging financing requirements to translate research outputs into fundable ideas for commercialisation; Technology Development Fund, which is available to organisations, individual entrepreneurs and SMEs to advance technologies along the innovation value chain; and Commercialisation Support Fund, which prepares innovators to follow-on funding.

As power utility Eskom continues to tackle its energy challenges, the Minister said the department was also contributing to the provision of alternative energy through several flagship programmes.

On the supply side, the Minister said innovators were manufacturing photovoltaic solar panels aimed at providing solar energy off the Eskom grid.

Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom announced that Robben Island, one of the world’s top tourist attraction spots, would be a pilot site for the roll-out of photovoltaic panels (PV).

On the demand side, Minister Pandor said innovators had come up with a new scheme aimed at assisting communities use their power effectively.

“Our investment in indigenous knowledge-based innovation will see the establishment of three community-based enterprises this year.

“A total of R80 million has been allocated towards the development of hydrogen fuel cell generator prototypes that will be deployed in selected off-grid applications to provide primary and uninterrupted power.

“Areas where hydrogen fuel cells have been deployed include the University of Western Cape Nature Reserve, here in the Western Cape, Windsor East Clinic in Randburg and three schools in the Cofimvaba district in the Eastern Cape,” she said.

NEWS

South Africa grants 36 new mining licences

The Department of Mineral Resources approved 36 new mining licences in the past year, Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi told Parliament at the tabling of his department’s budget this month.

Depsite the recent challenges, including a tough economic climate, the department had approved more than 36 new mining rights projects in the past 12 months, with a potential to create about 6 000 jobs, he said.

Ramathlodi said the country’s economy was recovering after last year’s protracted mining strike.

In the first quarter of 2014, growth slowed to 0.6%.

Tabling his budget vote, Ramatlhodi called on the mining sector to respect and implement the framework agreement for a sustainable mining industry.

“Last year, we had to deal with the aftermath of the protracted platinum strike arising from wage disputes,” he said. “I am aware that wage negotiations are currently underway within the gold sector and urge stakeholders to draw lessons from experience and avoid a repeat scenario.”

Ramathlodi said the government would continue to honour the memory of workers who lost their lives in mine-related incidents. Mineworkers would always

be acknowledged for the role they have played in shaping the economy of the country, he said.

He said the National Union of Mineworkers had recently drawn the department’s attention to a gravesite near Evander in Mpumalanga province, where about 1 000 workers were buried during the apartheid era and whose names and origins remain unknown. The minister said his department would ensure “decent monuments” would be erected for them.

Ramatlhodi said the intensified monitoring and enforcement measures at mines was helping the department inch closer to its goal of esuring zero harm on mineworkers.

Improved health and safety of workers at the mines had led to a reduction of about 86% in fatalities reported by the mines. From the 615 fatalities in 1993, the rate now stands at 84 in 2014, Ramathlodi said.

“In fact, 2014 was the safest year ever for the mining sector with the lowest fatalities of 84 recorded. This year up to 31 March, figures show that there has been a 41% reduction in fatalities when compared to the similar period during 2014,” he said.

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NEWS All that’s happening in South Africa

Shale gas: possible impacts and opportunities in South Africa

Government has commissioned an investigation into the possible impacts and potential mitigation opportunities of shale gas if it is found in the country.

“If indeed viable deposits are found in South Africa, shale gas, as a relatively lower carbon energy source, presents significant transformative potential for the South African economy,” Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor said earlier this month in Pretoria.

Minister Pandor said government had commissioned the Strategic Environmental Assessment of Shale Gas Development.

“Not only could the exploitation of deposits of lower carbon shale gas – if found, result in the provision of affordable and safe energy: it is also a potential source of job creation, foreign exchange and investment – and overall contribute towards South Africa’s energy security,” she said.

Minister Pandor was speaking at a media briefing as representative of the Ministerial Task Team, which comprises of the Department of Environmental Affairs, the Department of Mineral Resources, the Department of Energy as well as the Department of Water and Sanitation.

Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa also attended the briefing which launched the commission of the Strategic Environmental Assessment.

“South Africa, like most countries around the globe, is mindful of the need to seek alternative energy sources like shale gas,” she said.

Minister Pandor said the Strategic Environmental Assessment for shale gas development will be conducted as a science-based assessment to improve the understanding of the risks and opportunities for the shale gas development.

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“We believe that this will assist government to create a framework and guiding principles to inform responsible decision making.

“The Strategic Environmental Assessment will consider both exploration and production related activities and impacts of shale gas development, including the process of hydraulic fracturing, and will include an assessment of all material social, economic and biophysical risks and opportunities presented,” she said.

The study area will include regions of the Karoo Basin which currently have exploration rights, applications are pending in the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Western Provinces.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment for shale gas development will run over a period of 24 months.

A project team comprising of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the Council for Geosciences (CGS) will undertake the Strategic Environmental Assessment.

The project team will be led by Professor Bob Scholes of the University of Witwatersrand for Systems Ecologist, who is also a research associate of the CSIR. “The three affected provinces, namely the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape Provinces are part of the national project executive committee.

“The governance structure also includes a process custodian group compromising of 15 representatives from government, research institutions, industry experts and non-government organisations,” Minister Pandor said.

She said the people of South Africa will most benefit if it is found that viable deposits exist of lower carbon shale gas, enabling exploitation, extraction and development.

NEWS

Construction begins on Pulida solar power plant Enel Green Power (EGP) has begun construction of Pulida solar power plant in Free State. Its closest town is Kimberley, just on the other side of the border with Northern Cape.

The facility will have a total installed capacity of 82.5 megawatts (MW) and, once fully operational, it will be able to generate more than 150 gigawatt hours per year, according to the Italian company. This is equivalent to the annual consumption needs of about 48 000 households. It will also avoid the emission of more than 138 000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.

EGP was awarded the supply contract in October 2013 as part of the government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

Energy generated by Pulida will be sold to Eskom through the 20-year power supply agreement that EGP was awarded in October 2013 as part of the REIPPPP. In addition to Pulida, EGP was awarded the right to build the Gibson Bay (111MW) and Nojoli (88MW) wind farms, as well as the Aurora (82.5MW), Paleisheweul (82.5MW) and Tom Burke (66MW) solar power projects, in the same tender. The company, which already owns and manages the 10MW Upington solar facility, was

also recently awarded a further 425MW of wind power projects in the fourth phase of the REIPPPP. Enel Green Power, part of Italy’s Enel Group, is dedicated to the international development and management of renewable energy sources. It has operations in Europe, the Americas and Africa, with a generation capacity equal to approximately 32 billion kilowatt hours in 2014 from water, sun, wind and Earth’s heat – enough to meet the energy needs of more than 11 million households. It has an installed capacity of more than 9 800MW from a mix of sources including wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass in about 740 plants in 15 countries.

News portal Greentechlead reported that the company expected to grow its installed capacity in South Africa to 5 000MW in five years.

Chief executive Francesco Starace told Reuters: “For us, Africa is the next Latin America.” The company was making a balanced investment in renewable energy assets in South Africa retaining 60:40 ratio of wind and solar projects.

In South Africa, Enel now operates 10MW and is building 990MW, which will come online in the next two years

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Entrepreneur

An unmatched pioneer

Editorial: Ajuanne Payne

“The one major important distinction that sets him apart is his inability to consider failure. It simply is not even in his thought process. He cannot conceive of failure - and that is truly remarkable.

It doesn’t matter if it’s going up against the banking system (Paypal), going up against the entire aerospace industry (SpaceX) or going up against the US auto industry (Tesla). He can’t imagine not succeeding and that is a very critical trait that leads him ultimately to success.”

The inimitable Elon Musk, CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors, founder, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, chairman of SolarCity, and original founder of PayPal is a South African Native, born in Pretoria, and now one of the United States richest men, worth US$13.6 billion according to Forbes.

Perhaps the most famous entrepreneurs ever to come out of South Africa, Musk has been one of the generation’s foremost tech wizards in his pursuit of a better future for the planet and its conscious inhabitants and is also generally believed to be the inspiration for Jean Favreau’s Iron Man. Musk is quoted as explaining the ‘why’ behind what he does thus: “my interest in the future of humanity is as a function of reading a lot of sci-fi and philosophy as a kid and just thinking – okay what’s important? Why do anything – what’s the meaning of life? And I came to the conclusion that what we really need to do is make sure that life continues into the future and particularly conscious life.”

Musk believes that in order to facilitate his personal goals he must centre them on three technologies that he believes will have the greatest impact: “one was the internet, one was

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clean energy and one was space.”

Born in 1971 to Maye Musk, a well-known Canadian-English Model and Errol Musk, a South-African electrical and mechanical engineer and huge inspiration to him in his early years, Musk used his mother’s Canadian citizenship to move there at just 17 as a gateway to living in the United States – a country he believed to represent a “distillation of the human spirit of exploration” and a place where he could see his dreams being realised.

He also escaped South Africa’s compulsory military service at a time when Apartheid was still the system in place. Musk is famously quoted as saying of this decision: “I don’t have an issue with serving in the military per se, but serving in the South African army suppressing black people just didn’t seem like a really good way to spend time.”

After transferring his undergraduate studies to Pennsylvania after two years of studying at Queen’s university in Kingston, Musk completed two Bachelor of Science degrees, in physics and economics, and was accepted on to an Applied Physics PhD at Stanford in Silicon Valley.

After just two days of his PhD, Musk dropped out of Stanford in 1995 to pursue being an entrepreneur instead. He cofounded Zip2

Elon Musk

Corporation, a software and services provider, which he later sold to Compaq in 1999 for US$307 million in cash, making himself a fortune at just 28.

“I didn’t really expect to make any money,” Musk says of this first venture. “If I could make enough to cover the rent and buy some food that would be fine. As it turns out, it turned out to be quite valuable in the end.”

For most people, becoming a multimillionaire in your 20’s would spell out a life of relaxation – no need to work anymore with hundreds of millions in the bank – but not Musk. The driven entrepreneur jumped straight into his next venture, PayPal, which was not only later sold to eBay for a huge US$1.5 billion, but completely changed the way we do financial transactions.

As “a man who doesn’t just talk about impacting the future of humanity, a man who does things.” Musk did not stop at revolutionising areas of the internet industry.

Following the sale of PayPal, the entrepreneur turned his attention to space and founded the company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to produce space launch vehicles at a lower cost to what was previously available.

The first launch vehicles developed by SpaceX were the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets

and the Dragon Spacecraft – funded with US$100 million of his own money, almost all of his early fortune.

In 2008, SpaceX became one of the few companies able to say they are a supplier to NASA after winning a US$1.6 billion contract to resupply the International Space Station (ISS), carrying out supply missions to the now retired facility and has made history as the first commercial company to carry out this directive.

This achievement becomes all the more incredible when you consider the fact that in order to achieve his dream with SpaceX, Musk took just two years to teach himself rocket science, just by reading books and believing without a doubt that he could achieve what he set out to.

Alongside these continuing achievements with SpaceX, Musk is enjoying the soaring stock of Tesla Motors, the luxury electric carmaker he founded 10 years ago and has recently embarked on his mission to contribute to a clean energy future with the release of the Powerwall home battery earlier this month.

Musk’s life and work is one of the best real life examples that anything is achievable – if you set your mind to it. He has managed to not only do what he set out to do - but to do it spectacularly

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Innovation

Shining a light on education Editorial: Rebecca Bingley

The Italian physician and educator, Maria Montessori, famously once said: “Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire to make him learn things, but by the endeavour always to keep burning within him that light which is called intelligence”; and now two girls are helping to ensure that this light continues to burn for school children across South Africa with a rather innovative concept…

Leaving school and walking home is so often fraught with danger every day for thousands of school children across Africa. Travelling along busy roads with little to no light only to get home and attempt to complete their homework under similar lighting conditions has long proved a challenging issue with long term societal impacts.

Now two school friends turned business partners are looking to change all this, helping to provide for underprivileged communities through an innovative and environmentally friendly concept – the repurpose schoolbag.

The first green initiative from founding company Rethaka, set up by Thato Kgatlhanye and Rea Ngwane, the pair, now 22, are taking full advantage of the overflowing plastic waste in their region and neighbouring communities to upcycle it into 100% recycled plastic schoolbags for local disadvantaged school children.

Not only are the bags made from recycled materials, helping with the environmental issue in the country, but it doubles as a light and features reflective materials, providing a safety aspect so the children are more visible walking home in rush hour traffic.

With a solar panel positioned in the flap of the bag, charging as the children walk to school, it subsequently allows sufficient light walking home and enough to finish their homework in the evenings. Many households have to rely on candle light after dusk, but these are often rationed, so the school bag will also impact positively on family life too.

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“One of the first obstacles these kids face if not being able to finish their homework. If a child doesn’t have access to light then as soon as the sun goes down there is not time to do anything but sleep,” Co-founder, Thato Kgatlhanye, explains.

The two girls carried out a 6-month trial period at the beginning of last year, distributing the recycled bags to schools across the Rustenburg region, and producing 1,000 bags from the period August to December.

Each bag currently costs R250 (US$20) to manufacture, which helps to cover both the production and employee costs.

Producing up to 20 bags a day in its workshop, the company presently employs eight full time workers, with the girls hoping to increase this to 12 by the end of the year to help meet its target to produce 10,000 bags this year alone.

Helping to distribute these upcycled school bags to children, the company has targeted and teamed up with local individuals to achieve funding and corporate social investment in a bid to sponsor the production of each bag, ensuring the process remains sustainable with plenty of room to grow and expand into surrounding African communities.

Of course, it is not always easy to start and run a business, especially at the age the girls are and with a subject so integral and prominent to the region. Challenges have arisen along the way, particularly with the lack of infrastructure for plastic recycling but a quick solution was to simply create this themselves which has resulted in a positive and sustainable outcome.

The children have been encouraged to collect and bring in

Rethaka

the plastics themselves and feel involved in the whole process from the very beginning to the end.

“The plastic comes to our workshop where we process them into a textile, sew it up with industrial sewing machines and then we distribute,” Kgatlhanye explains.

The concept of recycling and upcycling, although a foreign concept to so many children in the region, has helped to generate interest and knowledge. “Kids are picking up litter around the community,” explains Kgatlhanye.

With distribution underway, the recycled school bag is really a testament to both Thato and Rea and their evident entrepreneurial skills and flair for innovation, even from such a young age. Now clear role models for the children they are helping to provide support to, Thato Kgatlhanye has been recognised for her business ventures; selected for an internship in New York to work alongside the American best-selling author, Seth Godin and in 2014, she was selected as one of the 18 South African social entrepreneurs to attend the 10-day Red Bull Amaphiko Academy.

Perhaps most impressively though, Kgatlhanye was selected as the 2014 first runner-up of the Anzisha Prize, winning $15,000 in prize money.

In an online Q&A session held earlier this year on the Anzisha Prize’s Facebook page, Kgatlhanye explained: “My advice is simple: bootstrap and find competitors to enter your business idea into. Firstly it is a great way to get free business support and advice. Secondly, it’s a great networking opportunity to meet high-profile business people – who

usually judge these competitions – and potentially get mentorship from them. Finally, if you end up a winner, you will not only get a cash prize but also get some PR out of it.

“Get a business coach, be honest, leave the ego at the door and hustle,” she concluded.

Looking to the future for this young company and both girls hope to develop further products using 100% recycled materials, including different bag designs and raincoats. With major clients including PwC and Standard Bank already on-board, venturing into other communities is assuredly something we will be seeing in the not so distant future for Rethaka and its ingenious school bag concept

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Lifestyle SA

The African Blogger Awards Editorial: Harriet Pattison

Set up to acknowledge and create an appreciation for the ever increasing talent pool of African bloggers and content writers, the African Blogger Awards, only in its second year, announced the winners of the 2015 awards on May 5th

The African Blogger Awards is the first program to measure the online and social influence and reach of African bloggers using data analysis techniques.

The idea behind its inception is to acknowledge and support the growing number of aspiring bloggers on the continent, helping to broaden the industry and increase creative appreciation.

In recent years, the impact and outreach of social media and blogging has spiralled with millions of blog posts being written on an everyday basis. According to statistics, the total number of Tumblr blog accounts has now reached over 227 million which is up from 195 million in the previous year.

Looking back at May 2011, the total number of Tumblr blogs was reported at just 17.5 million, which, although a substantial number, highlights that in four short years, there has been an increase of well over two million start up blogs – and that’s just on Tumblr, not to mention the numerous other platforms including WordPress and Blogger.

Recent statistics prove that a new blog is set up every half second somewhere in the world and today it is estimated that there are over 152,000,000 blogs on the internet. It is clear then, that blogging is big business and a profitable one too. Once you are successful in running your blog, keeping it up to date and begin to attract a substantial reader base, companies and brands wishing to use it for advertising purposes will increase too.

Co-founder of the African Blogger Awards, Mike Sharman,

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said recently: “The inaugural African Blogger Awards in 2014 set the benchmark for the discovery of truly exceptional African content creators and their unique storytelling approaches. We are looking forward to seeing the progress made by entrants participating in this year’s event for the second time, while discovering new talent across the continent.

“We are ecstatic about the potential publishers that we will be exposed to, during this year’s competition.”

With the 2015 awards held earlier this year, Co-founder, Murray Legg, explained the statistics they were expecting: “With over 520 entries from 26 countries in 2014, we’re anticipating close to 800 entries from independent publishers communicating to more than 60-million Africans across the continent and beyond.”

The main reasons for this increase in applications is thought to be largely due to the advertising and marketing placed on blogger websites, encouraging others to enter too. This increase only highlights further the true scale at which social media and technology has grown in the last few years and the power and influence it brings with it.

Different from so many other blogger awards held on a global basis, the African Blogger Awards focuses on three key factors: the reach, the resonance and the relevance. The reach of a blog measures the size of an influencer’s audience and the following it has through social media channels while the resonance is a measure of how widely the content an influencer shares reaches

THE African Blogger Awards

outside their own community. The relevance measures the response from the influencer’s community from social media which includes comments, ‘likes’ and retweets.

Categories for the African Blogger Awards include a variety of subjects including fashion and beauty, education, sports, politics and events. Entrants into the awards can do so on a no-cost basis and are required to register either, or a combination of, their Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blog and YouTube channel on a specifically designed platform – Webfluential.com – which helps to quantify the three key areas mentioned above of each of the blogger users. This platform helps to ensure that the necessary analytics are then linked to the individual platforms to efficiently measure the reach, resonance and relevance of each user.

Legg noted a growth in the entrants to the 2015 awards - almost 100% increase from 2014 - with many strong and competitive entries north of South Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana and Kenya.

Speaking before the awards ceremony, Legg explained: “We’ve already seen close on 1000 entries streaming in since we announced this year’s awards in early February, and we’d like to see even more signing up before we close entries. The additional week gives those who’d still like to enter an extra bit of time to do so.”

The winners for the 2015 awards were announced at the beginning of last month and saw The African HipHop Blog from Zimbabwe winning Best blog about Africa, Best YouTube

channel in Africa went to Theodora Lee from South Africa, Best Instagrammer in Africa to Gareth Pon from South Africa and Superficial Girls from South Africa won the Fashion and Beauty category.

The winners from each category receive a commemorative trophy and a web banner announcing their achievement in recognition for exceptional content producing.

Winners from the 2014 awards have already been seen reaping the rewards, receiving both credibility and recognition and many have gone on to become global content brand ambassadors and turning what perhaps started out as an outlet for creativity, into a full time and successful profession.

Blogging now has incredible potential, with popular and start-up brands seeing the value in blogging as an extremely effective marketing platform.

With the next African Blogger Awards already set to be held in February 2016 and the number of successful blogs continually on the rise, it is expected that the potential number of entries is set to soar.

“Growth in both users on social channels and readers of blogs increases in number vastly each year and allows more people to participate in the conversation, stimulating richness of thought and depth of insight into current affairs and niche interests.

“We expect content producers to continue growing the fan bases and content over the coming years,” Legg explains

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company profile

Embracing technological advancements

Editorial: Rebecca Bingley

A leader in the power and automation technologies industry, ABB focuses on improving the performance for its customers whilst maintaining its commitment to the environment. IndustrySA speaks with CEO at ABB South Africa, Leon Viljoen, who explains what much of the success for the South African arm of this global business can be attributed to: “I think total dedication to the market - we have done a lot in training people and motivating them and our good products and systems result in our ongoing success.”

The roots of ABB in South Africa can be traced back as far as the early 1900’s but following a merger in 1988 between Swedish company, ASEA and BBC (Brown, Boveri & Cie) of Switzerland, the business began to streamline more into the power and automation sectors and in 1992, ABB SA was established.

With a renowned history for its influence on the European electrical engineering industry and the stature of its founders, BBC, formally known as Brown, Boveri & Cie, was established over a century ago by Charles E. L. Brown and Walter Boveri in Baden, Switzerland. BBC was the first company to transmit high voltage power and two years later, supplied Europe’s very first largescale combined heat and power plant, producing

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alternating current.

Since its inception over two decades ago, CEO of ABB South Africa, Leon Viljoen, explains what the core business of the company is today: “We operate in two fields – power and automation, while our customer base reflects utilities, industry, transport and infrastructure.”

He explains that looking at ABB globally, it is represented in three key geographical locations: America, Europe and Africa – “So a third of our revenue is represented in each of those three locations and from a power and automation perspective, internationally, this stands at 50/50.”

At its Head Office facility in Johannesburg, ABB manufactures medium voltage switch gear, protection and automation panels, robotics servicing and medium and high voltage servicing,

ABB SA

while at its motor factory, the company focuses on manufacturing new and refurbished existing motors and medium voltage motors.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS Technological advancements are a natural process, especially in the automation and power industry - Viljoen explains how these advancements have impacted positively on the business and its operations.

“The IT sector hasn’t seen huge jumps in technology - today the way a transformer is made is very similar to how it was made 50 years ago,” he explains. “The materials have changed and some designs have changed to make it a more accurate process but no principle changes in technology on the power side. Circuit blade technology has

advanced quite a bit on the automation side, there you’ve got more software IT influence and those have developed and improved dramatically.”

“Our industry technology has improved and we can certainly do more than we could 15 years ago. For example; the voltages have increased dramatically from 765kV – at one point South Africa’s highest voltage – but today, there are now installations of 1100 or 1200kV.” Leon Viljoen has enjoyed a long and successful history with ABB, which initially started with a bursary from ASEA to study electrical engineering.

Upon graduating, he went to work in sub-stations in ABB, working his way up to Senior Project Manager. Leaving ABB in 2000, Viljoen became Managing Director for Desta Power Matla for four years before becoming Chief Executive at

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company profile

Powertech Transformers until 2012. Leaving Powertech in 2013, following his promotion to COO, Viljoen returned to ABB as CEO for South Africa in February 2013 – “So I’ve been in this industry my whole life.”

LEADING BY EXAMPLE With the continual advancements in technology so important and relevant for ABB, earlier this year, it received national recognition for technology leadership in the 2014 Technology Top 100 Awards, despite over 160 entries from other industry competitors.

“ABB, over the years, has had lot of these awards for

“We aim for a better world – we want the world to grow but to use less energy” PAGE 18

technology from an R+D perspective, ABB is definitely one of the leading companies internationally,” explains Viljoen. “We really put a lot of money back into R+D in the development of our products to stay ahead of the rest of the pack. In the company there is huge focus on R+D and technology development on a continual basis.”

Chesney Bradshaw, head of sustainability for the ABB Southern Africa cluster, said at the event: “The award confirms ABB’s technology leadership in power and automation in the Southern Africa region. It recognises its customer service and excellence in operations as well as commitment to sustainability in energy efficiency, renewable energy and contribution to communities where it has operations.”

ABB ensure that these advancements create a positive impact for the company and the region, helping it to establish a vital, continued and prominent position within the South African market; but, subsequently, competition within such a fundamental industry is inevitable.

“Competition has always been very stiff in South Africa,” Viljoen explains. “However, it has become part of the globe so now we are seeing more and more competition from India and even the East. At ABB, we believe our foremost advantage is our technology and skills base in South Africa - it gives us a big advantage over many of the international companies.”

ABB SA

“There’s no question that we are here to stay and we have always had this attitude” AN ENERGY EFFICIENT MINDSET “Energy efficiency plays right onto our hands, in the sense that we have a lot of products and systems for energy efficiency,” Viljoen explains. Even at its Longmeadow headoffice, ABB has implemented a shining example of energy efficiency – installing a sustainable lighting system which ensures lights only turn on when people are present, helping to reduce inefficiency significantly. Further green elements at the facility include the maximization of natural light, solar

panels and a grey-water recycling system.

“Our motors are energy efficient too and every new generation of drives focuses on energy efficiency; so from our perspective, there’s a lot of systems and products that play into the space so it’s a hugely prominent focus for us.

“If you look at ABB’s vision in power and productivity, we aim for a better world – we want the world to grow but to use less energy.”

KEY PROJECTS With energy efficiency measures in mind, ABB has been heavily involved in solar power projects in recent years, including an order worth $225 million in a bid to boost South Africa’s renewable program. The project, awarded in 2012, involved the construction of large-scale photovoltaic plants to help generate enough energy to power an estimated 36,000 homes. Built in the Northern Province, the two solar plants are located at the Witkop and Soutplan Solar Parks, near the city of Polokwana in the Limpopo province. With a generating capacity of 33 MW and 31 MW respectively, they are some of the first PV power plants to be built under the South African Government’s new long-term renewable energy program.

Reaching full operational capability in 2013, both solar

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PAGE 19

company profile

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plants generate 130 GWh of electricity every year, subsequently helping to displace up to 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Brice Koch, head of ABB’s Power Systems division said in a statement: “Our vast experience in supplying high-efficiency PV power plants, combined with our local capabilities and presence will enable us to deliver best-inclass solutions and support the country’s vision to integrate renewable energies.”

In May last year, ABB won an order to supply electrical and control systems for the new 75 MW PV power plant, worth an estimated $25 million, which is located in the Northern Cape Province. Standing as one of the world’s largest single-axis PV power plants, the plant is situated in the Kalahari Desert, close to the town of Kathu and to Sishen - incidentally one of the largest open-pit iron ore mines in the world.

On completion, the Kathu PV power plant will have the capacity to generate an estimated 146 GWh of clean solar power to feed into the national grid, helping to meet the demands of up to 40,000 people, whilst simultaneously displacing 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions on a

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yearly basis.

In a statement, Koch explains: “Renewable energy sources such as solar have a key role to play in meeting the growing demand for electricity while minimising environmental impact. We have a strong track record in delivering turnkey power and automation solutions that are optimising photovoltaic power plants all over the world.”

Confirmed at the beginning of this year, ABB has been awarded a $160 million contract from Eskom to supply the complete control systems, software and instrumentation for the 4,800 MW Kusile coal-fired power station, including boiler protection and plant simulator, engineering, installation, commissioning, optimization and training.

Currently under construction near Witbank in the north eastern province, Viljoen explains : “The control system allows for the local control and the operators to execute their tasks safely, reliably and consistently.”

Claudio Facchin, president of ABB Power Systems division said in a statement: “ABB’s state-of-the-art energy efficient technology solutions will help boost power

ABB SA supplies and bring reliable power supply to consumers.

We are pleased to continue with our contribution to the development of South Africa’s power infrastructure through our power, automation and software capabilities.”

With a five-year time-frame now in place, Viljoen explains its involvement in the Kusile power station will stand as one of the company’s biggest contracts. Long-term, it will encourage further opportunities within South Africa and surrounding regions, following the increasing and necessary industry requirements for infrastructure and water.

“These are the two large areas that we are involved in.

If you look at the offices we have in these countries, they have been established for many years and are being run by the countries themselves, so ABB believes in developing people and allowing them to grow within the company in their own country,” Viljoen explains.

Looking to the future and Viljoen adds that ABB’s focus will stay within the region, and with 11 offices currently outside the South African region - mainly dealing with sales and services - the growth of ABB will lie in these regions.

“We see some growth in South Africa, largely due to aging equipment and a lot of focus concentrating on getting more power into the area, but we definitely see bigger growth opportunities outside South Africa.”

CONTINUED SUCCESS With such a fruitful and eventful history behind it, what can such continued and valued success be attributed to? “I think total dedication to the market. There’s no question that we are here to stay and we have always had this attitude,” Viljoen explains.

“The staff and the level of staff training that we do is important - it is very technical and a lot of the training gets done ‘on the job’, however we do training at our facilities overseas and send a lot of our staff there, particularly on the engineering, quality and manufacturing side.

ABB stands as one of the first engineering companies in power and automation technologies to embrace a relationship with a BEE company – “That’s really looking at what we need to do to be successful and doing it, we are Level 2 BEE company and very proud of that today.”

“Our products and solutions that we have internationally are definitely made for our market. We have done a lot in training people and motivating them and our good products and systems result in our ongoing success,” Viljoen concludes

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PAGE 21

company profile

Expert insurance solutions Editorial: Ajuanne Payne

Gareth Beaver, CEO of Centriq Insurance Company, said on taking up the leadership of the company in 2012: “I am not one for squeezing out marginal growth, but rather to pursue and find some magic that will see Centriq transform itself.” Fast-forward to today and we find out from Beaver just how successful he and his team have been in growing the business…

Centriq Insurance Company is a leader in the niche insurance field with a strong track record for growth and the ability to provide specialised insurance solutions to many different industries while retaining the financial clout of a larger institution.

The company was established in 2007 when two companies with cell captive insurance licenses, Santam Risk Finance and Nova Risk Partners, merged to form Centriq.

Santam, the largest short-term insurance group on the African continent, subsequently became a 100% shareholder in Centriq, which is still the case today.” Beaver elaborates:

THREE AREAS OF OPERATION The independent insurance provider focuses on

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three main areas of business - customised risk financing and alternative risk finance solutions, underwriting management agencies (UMA’s), and brand affinity solutions.

“We are represented in the conventional insurance space,” explains Beaver, “but exclusively through our UMA’s.” The UMA’s are responsible for the marketing, underwriting and administration of its specific insurance policy portfolios, whilst Centriq provides them with access to its insurance license, including all the governance and regulatory compliance tools, risk sharing mechanisms via a cell captive structure, reinsurance capacity and administration services they need to successfully operate in the marketplace.

Typically, the UMA’s that partner with Centriq represent a particular niche or specialisation, be it through product or service or both.

Centriq Insurance Company

CEO | Gareth Beaver Through this business model the company is able to access and provide insurance solutions to a number of different industry sectors ranging from aviation, marine, professional indemnity, medical aid gap-cover, life insurance for individuals living with HIV or diabetes, to the entire spectrum of motor insurance cover available in the market today, to name but a few.

“We expect to exceed R1.3 billion of gross written premium for 2015 in this space,” says Beaver.

The company’s risk finance and alternative risk transfer solutions business segment, where it provides a range of self-insurance financing solutions for the conventional and nonconventional type of risks that a company faces, is also niche-based.

“Our clients here range from very large organisations, i.e. corporates, parastatals,

non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) etc. to mid-sized commercials and associations in the agricultural sector for example. They use our licence in different ways to self-insure stuff that’s uninsurable by, or expensive for the conventional insurance market to insure.”

The third area of Centriq’s business is its Brand Affinity Insurance Solutions where it partners with non-insurance entities who want to attach, market and sell an add-on insurance product to a core product they offer.

“Our brand affinity solutions also target non-financial services companies who wish to provide an insurance option alongside the other products they offer.” Examples include cell phone companies who wish to link phone handset insurance to the sale of an air-time package; motor warranty protection for new or used vehicles; and retailers selling household

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company profile

goods (e.g. TV’s, washing machines etc.) for which they need to protect either the asset purchased against accidental damages, or the ability of the consumer to pay their instalments (e.g. retrenchment, disability, death).

In addition to the obvious add-on insurance products mentioned above, brand affinity insurance solutions have evolved to include other insurance products that are considered to be of value to consumers of the representative brand, e.g. funeral benefits or education pay-out policies that are linked to death or disability.

2014 HIGHS AND LOWS The short-term insurance industry has experienced difficult conditions in recent years; conditions which have been felt in some way by all companies operating within the sector.

Due to the fact that the industry is oversupplied with risk capital, that premiums are under-priced relative to the risk insured (particularly in the motor market), and that

PAGE 24

an increase in incidents of large losses (due to isolated events or weather related catastrophes) has occurred, insurance companies and reinsurers nationally have produced some poor results over the last 24 months.

As such, both Centriq and some of its UMA’s has had its fair share of pain. “I am, however, glad to say that we have managed to stem a lot of that during the course of 2014 by de-risking in selected under-priced market segments.” But the insurance industry as a whole is still under pressure.

On the plus side of things, a number of positive changes took place within Centriq itself over the last 12 months or so. New prospects for growth have helped the company to entrench its position as a niche-insurance leader in the market place. “We have also added new skills to our specialist risk financing team from the accounting and banking sectors,” says Beaver.

A recently cemented partnership with one of the big global reinsurance brokers, Willis Re,

Centriq Insurance Company also helped Centriq to secure a number of new UMA’s that will partner with them during the course of 2015. “So we’re expecting to see quite a big step-up in terms of our growth and income in the UMA business segment.”

NEW PRODUCT OFFERING Another milestone is that they have just secured significant capacity in the mining rehabilitation guarantee space. “We have secured specialist skills via a new UMA in which we will be the majority shareholders. So we are really excited about being able to provide guarantees for environmental impairment liabilities as required by mine owners in SA’s mining industry.”

By embarking on the above, Centriq is yet again providing a niche funding solution that not many others can compete with in South Africa. With these types of guarantees, the insurer effectively takes a credit risk on the client by offering it a funding mechanism that, in turn, enables it to meet the financial obligations associated with the environmental clean-up requirements at the end of a mine’s life-time.

“The mining industry in South Africa is obviously a big industry across most of the major commodity classes. Evidently, as they mine, they damage the environment and are legally liable to clean up the site when they stop mining. To meet this liability, they need to make financial provision for it, and that’s where Centriq comes in,” explains Beaver.

Two commonly used options to provide for this liability (and the required guarantee from

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PAGE 25

company profile

the Department of Minerals) are: to set up a specialist trust into which contributions are made according to the underlying environmental liability, or to get an acceptable banking institution to provide a financial guarantee, for which the miner would typically need to cede certain assets to the bank. A third alternative is to turn to one of only a handful of DMR approved insurers like Centriq to provide such guarantees.

“It was necessary for us to secure R500 million capacity from international reinsurers [to provide mining guarantees]. We also had to demonstrate that we had the expertise on board, which we now have, following the expiry of market restraints since the people we employed left a competitor in the market a year ago.”

At this stage, there are only two other insurers in the above-mentioned field that Beaver knows

PAGE 26

of that are participating in a meaningful way.

“There’s not a massive amount of competition from the others because it requires specific expertise to secure the reinsurance capacity, which is fairly scarce in the market.”

This enhanced product offering for Centriq not only enables it to capture a share of this specialist product class, but also provides a much needed funding solution to a market that makes up a significant chunk of South African gross domestic product (GDP) – 8.3% to be exact, according to Chamber of Mines figures.

It is this diversity that has enabled the company to grow in a somewhat difficult climate: “The conventional insurance space is a very competitive market space because there are lots of players in the market. But, our two specialist focused business units, our alternative risk finance and our brand affinity,

Centriq Insurance Company

is fairly specialist and niche, and so with limited competitors that really claim the space, we’ve done okay in holding our share of market and growing,” elaborates Beaver.

“I think growth prospects for financial services groups like us have to be based on an African growth story” Beaver explains that due to stagnant conditions in some global markets, the international insurers and reinsurers, particularly the big European ones, have been looking for yield and see Africa as a growth area.

This has also added to making the local industry very competitive - with companies traditionally using South Africa as somewhat of a springboard into the rest of the continent.

“Global insurers and reinsurers have typically been well-represented in South Africa for many years – we’ve got much higher insurance penetration rates than the rest of Africa,” explains Beaver.

LOOKING AHEAD After the exciting developments of the past year, Centriq is looking forward to seeing how its new partnerships and mining product offering shape up this year and in to 2016. “Following these developments, the company understands

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company profile

the need to continue to adapt to the market and look for new areas of growth.”

When asked what’s next for Centriq, Beaver says “what is now on the radar screen is to be looking fairly closely at what opportunities in Africa there might be for Centriq. Our parent company, Santam, and our ultimate parent company, Sanlam, have been very active in expanding quite a bit throughout the continent.”

As those markets grow and become more sophisticated, insurance is obviously becoming more and more of a requirement.

Commenting on how he thinks Centriq should service the above, Beaver says: “I think growth prospects for financial services groups like us have to be based on an African growth story. Being South African, I believe we’ve got a slightly better advantage or idea about how things work in Africa, compared to some of the international groups.”

Aside from the prospects to grow geographically, Centriq could potentially make

PAGE 28

the best of the difficulties in South Africa’s insurance space. One natural result of the tightening market conditions is that some smaller operators are looking to consolidate as a way forward. As such, there are opportunities for a company like Centriq to make some strategic acquisitions that could bolster its service offering.

Beaver explains that “they see themselves as being well-positioned to expand and grow via specific acquisitions. I think the tough, difficult market conditions have put a lot of smaller operators in to a difficult space, so we predict, in fact - we can see already, that consolidation is taking shape in the industry.

“We have in our sights the desire or understanding that we probably need to look at picking up opportunities via acquisition whether that’s just buying people or buying books of business, or even businesses outright.”

The future really does look bright for this diverse insurance company. Not only is there

Centriq Insurance Company

real potential for further commercial and geographic growth, but there is organic growth potential in the mining guarantee product framework that Centriq have just finalised.

Due to the surge in alternative energy projects in South Africa, there is scope for a similar product to the mining rehabilitation guarantee to be set up to service new solar and wind projects. Although currently not a legislative requirement in South Africa, Beaver predicts that this will change in the near future and that prior to that, companies will want to participate from a good corporate citizen perspective.

Overall, and when it comes to the key to Centriq’s success, Beaver cannot stress enough how important relationships with its clients, business partners and employees, are to the insurer.

“At the end of the day, it all boils down to having good people who are passionate about their jobs and the company’s success. And it

is good skills, and a good culture in terms of how we do things internally, which attracts and retains good people.”

“We’re also fortunate that, because of our business model where we partner a lot with other organisations, we have a fairly small headcount in relative terms, and can keep the above-mentioned culture – and that’s number one.”

The company achieved a top three rating in its industry category in Deloitte’s Best Company to Work for survey last year. “And this is an ongoing goal; to ensure that our people consider us the best company to work for,” says Beaver.

“Second to that we’ve very much had a quality shareholder in the form of Santam Insurance Group, which has given us access to the right opportunities. Also, being the largest shortterm insurance company in South Africa and the African continent, they demand a very high standard of discipline and quality within the business,” he concludes

.

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company profile

Celebrating 20 years Editorial: Ajuanne Payne

What is essential for investors embarking on some of the biggest construction projects in South Africa?

Having a partner that can get the job done, a partner that is one of the top in its field in the country, and one that has a sparkling track record for fast, quality work.

Betts Townsend is a company that ticks all these boxes and in the run up to its 20 year anniversary later this year we speak to founder and CEO, Howard Betts, to get his view on the ongoing success of his business.

With two decades of experience under its belt, Betts Townsend is a construction project management company with the proven ability to handle some of the largest retail, commercial, industrial and leisure construction projects in South and Southern Africa.

One of the top three project management companies servicing the SADC region, Betts Townsend is still run by its founder, Howard Betts, and continues to be the go-to partner for the blue chip companies that make up its clientele.

“Betts Townsend was founded in 1995 by myself in response to a need for more competition in the Construction Project Management field in South Africa,” explains Betts. “At that time, there were only three or four companies providing

PAGE 30

this service. The predecessors of Redefine, probably one of the biggest property funds in the country, gave us our first job and retained our services, bringing us along as the company became what it is today.”

Boasting repeat business with its biggest client, Redefine, and with a diverse portfolio of large clients of a similar calibre, Betts has seen consistent growth at his company since inception around 50% every year.

CORE FOCUS Introducing project management companies as a regular fixture in the construction industry in South Africa in the early 90’s was a natural progression for the market there. As a result of the development and growth the country was

Betts Townsend

experiencing nationally, there was increasing demand for fast-track, efficient construction; and Betts Townsend stepped in to meet that demand.

In charge of ensuring successful completion, Betts Townsend provides turnkey solutions that cover the whole lifecycle of a project, from feasibility assessments, design and budget allocation, to managing suppliers and subcontractors and health and safety.

Betts explains the company’s core focus in more detail: “Our core business is construction project management, although we now provide a range of additional services to complement this. We provide this service in the retail, commercial, industrial and leisure sectors.

“Our focus has always been within the Republic of South Africa, but our currency value is now

almost dictating that we look outside of the country and we have set up an office in Nairobi, Kenya which is proving to be a great success. We have 4 offices within South Africa in Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and with Kenya starting up only 2 years ago; this is proving to be a profitable move. We are also in the process of looking at setting up in other SADC countries – Botswana being the first.”

Betts Townsend has firmly established its reputation as a project management consultancy with the in-house technical proficiency to ensure successful and timely execution of a project. Further expansion into Southern Africa is an organic step for the company and an opportunity to spread its particular brand of South African expertise.

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company profile

KEY PROJECTS Betts Townsend has certainly worked hard over the past two decades, the upshot of this being that the company has had the privilege of managing some of the most prestigious construction projects in South Africa, in both the public and private sector.

“You’ve got to grow – if you’re not growing you’re not going anywhere” “Some of the key projects that we have delivered include the following – Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, Hemmingways Shopping Centre in East London, Hyde Park Hotel, Baywest Shopping Centre in Port Elizabeth - and that’s just to name a few,” detailed Betts.

The Baywest Shopping Centre, of which

PAGE 32

Betts Townsend is the project manager, is set for completion in just one month and is a huge R1.7 billion joint venture between Abacus Asset Management and Billion Property Group.

The much anticipated mall will be the region’s biggest and is expected to generate 3,000 permanent jobs for locals. Construction was commenced in June 2013 and has been handled by the company’s principal project manager, John Townsend, an agent well recognised in the industry as having some of the most extensive experience in managing large-scale retail projects in South Africa.

In just two short years and with the end now very much in sight, the Baywest Shopping Centre is just one example of the complex type of project Betts Townsend is entrusted with.

Reputation is key, and Betts Townsend has been careful to maintain and develop its formidable one over the years, focusing on the development of its staff members and the relationships with its suppliers and clients.

In fact, the company’s focus on its relationships, both within and outside the business, is perhaps its calling card and a key contributor to its continued success in the industry.

PEOPLE POWER B e t t s To w n s e n d c u r r e n t l y h a s a r o u n d 6 0

Betts Townsend permanent staff members spread across its five offices, with employees moving from region to region depending on the type of project and their particular expertise and experience.

“Because of our very stable staff turnover, we’ve got that continuity, that stability”

“ Wi t h d i f f e r e n t s e c t o r s , w e h a v e c e r t a i n staff members that have had extensive experience in one or two of the fields we cover and who would clearly be the best p e r s o n f o r t h e j o b i n q u e s t i o n ,” e x p l a i n s B e t t s . “ We u n d e r t a k e i n d u s t r y - s p e c i f i c sponsorships and in fact, two of our staff members are currently on part-time c o u r s e s t o a c h i e v e t h e i r m a s t e r ’s d e g r e e s i n c o n s t r u c t i o n p r o j e c t m a n a g e m e n t .” “ We ’ r e a l s o a s t a f f o w n e d c o m p a n y - a r o u n d 50% of the company is in a staff trust, so they s e e p r o f i t s h a r e e v e r y y e a r. T h a t ’s a n o t h e r g o o d r e a s o n w h y w e d o n ’t h a v e a h i g h s t a f f t u r n o v e r. P e o p l e f e e l i n v e s t e d i n w h a t t h e y ’ r e d o i n g .”

It is this attitude of dedication and investment in company success that Betts has always been keen to foster within Betts To w n s e n d ’s c o r p o r a t e c u l t u r e – n e v e r l o s i n g sight of the direct correlation between positive staff and positive progression within the business.

B e t t s e x p l a i n s h o w t h e c o m p a n y ’s f o c u s

Hands-on cost planning and control specialists for retail, commercial and industrial projects.

Email: jackiet@questcost.co.za Tel: 011-453-2280 A Level 3 Contributor to B-BBEE

PAGE 33

company profile

Polokwane Soccer Stadium

“Our motto is ‘it can be done’ – anything can be done” PAGE 34

on fostering good employee and client relationships has given it a competitive edge: “ I n i t i a l l y, t h e r e w a s n o t a l o t o f c o m p e t i t i o n in the market but during the past five or six y e a r s , c o m p e t i t i o n h a s i n c r e a s e d . H o w e v e r, w e like to differentiate ourselves with our handson experience - all our Project Managers were contractors in their early careers. “ We a l s o do n ot a i m t o produc e pi l e s of pa pe rw ork , but ra t h e r g e t t o t h e poi n t a n d i t is our c ul t ure t o ra t h e r‘pi c k up t h e ph on e ’.

P e opl e re l y on e m a i l s fa r t oo m uc h !”

Be t t s s a ys t h a t “ O ur m ot t o i s ‘i t c a n be don e ’ – a n yt h i n g c a n be don e . B e c a us e of our v e ry sta bl e s t a ff t urn ov e r, w e ’v e g ot t h a t c on t i n ui t y,

Betts Townsend

t h a t s tab ility. I t’s not only g ood for the c om pan y b u t it keeps the clie nts a lot happie r. “ We h a v e c e r t a i n d i r e c t o r s w h o l o o k a f t e r certain clients. Some of these joined us as project managers but then as they’ve grown they’ve looked after their clients and grown a l o n g t h e i r o w n p a t h t o d i r e c t o r s h i p .”

FURTHER EXPANSION AND GROWTH “I mean you’ve got to grow – if you’re not growing you’re not going anywhere,” says Betts; and growth is definitely something the Betts Townsend is investing in. Over the years the company’s profits have always been about 10% of turnover, which has recently grown to about R100 million per year and a continued drive towards further growth is key to the company’s future.

“Within South Africa definitely we’ve been going on a big marketing drive,” explains Betts, “to get new clients. In our Southern African countries, we’re looking at starting a couple of projects outside of our borders, one in Mozambique and one in Botswana – we’ve set up an office there.

“We’ve ventured in to east Africa; we set up an office in Nairobi. We deployed one of our directors from here who is running that region, Mike Taylor, who has done very well - he’s picked up a lot of work.”

One project that marks a new region for Betts Townsend and an area with the potential for further development is Nairobi and The Hub project.

The mixed use 20 acre complex is in the centre of Karen, Nairobi’s green suburb, has been developed over two phases and is due to be completed towards the end of 2015. The first phase was the construction of an area featuring retail, offices, medical and a wellness centre and the second phase comprises a hotel, conference centre and residential spaces.

“The Hub in Karen, in Nairobi. That’s a new region - we’ve introduced a different way of construction there which they love,” explains Betts.“We’ve definitely improved their PPE and their OHS health and safety.

It’s got itself a good name.”

Considering the significant growth being experienced across the whole African continent and the subsequent investments in new infrastructure, Betts Townsend can comfortably expect to see an increased demand for their services in the continent and is taking the steps now to ensure they have the presence to service this demand.

“Our plans are to service the East African countries and then get serious about something in

Mauritius,where we have had a registered company for probably 11 years,” says Betts.

CONTINUED SUCCESS With more work on its books for the coming year and projects that are furthering the company’s influence in new regions, Betts Townsend has more than one reason to pause and take stock. This year marks a milestone for the company in its 20 year anniversary and plans are brewing for a big bash for its employees and partners, celebrating its continued success, in around September.

“The key to our success obviously begins with our relationships,” explains Betts. “We have long standing relationships with blue chip clients and are proud of the repeat business that continues from this.

“We have a happy staff complement and do not have a high staff turnover. In fact, most of them have been here in excess of seven years and some even 17 or 18 years. We strongly believe that our people are our future, and the heart and soul of our company. My door is always open.

“We are flexible and easily adapt to change, and this too has been a contributing factor to our ability to weather changes in a sometimes uncertain market,” concludes Betts

.

Project management Fire safety designs and plan approvals Supervision of fire equipment installations and certification Fire consultantsCOMPANY PROFILE

Durban: Office 2, Block B, Fish Eagle Office Park, 2 Dumat Place, Mount Edgecombe Gauteng: Office A10, Green Oaks Office Park, Cnr Bekker & Gregory Ave, Vorna Valley, Midrand

Tel: (031) 5022623 | Fax: 086 774 3396 | Email: info@bvms.co.za

PAGE 35

company profile

Family owned, business run

Editorial: Harriet Pattison

With its very first corner shop opening in 1953, Kit Kat Group has come a long way to establish itself within the South African market, supplying smaller businesses up to the end consumer. IndustrySA speaks to Ahmed Gani, Group CEO, who lets ‘the cat out of the bag’ when he tells us the company’s plans for the future and its expansion into e-commerce

First and foremost a family business, Kit Kat Group established its roots over half a century ago with a small corner shop in Asiatic Bazaar run under Osman Mohammed and Osman Gani. This legacy was forged ahead by his two sons AK Gani and AR Gani. Today, one of his grandchildren, Ahmed Gani, Group CEO, tells IndustrySA why, when so many family businesses fall short, this one has not only survived, but thrived in a market which faces continuous economic struggles.

From the age of ten, Ahmed Gani explains he and his siblings were actively involved in the business, participating after school and helping their fathers during the holidays and on Saturdays.

“This experience was priceless, as our fathers equipped us with their knowledge and skill to make us formidable traders for the future.

PAGE 36

“So from a very young age, we had those entrepreneurial skills taught to us and we were involved with the business.”

In South Africa, there are three retail options for the end consumer – the big retailers, the informal traders and the Cash & Carry businesses. When Gani, at 19, officially joined the family business, he explains that he began to think of ways in which he could add value to the company, helping to place it in a competitive position within the industry.

The focus for Kit Kat Group is to service and look after the smaller independent companies that buy from it whilst supplying to the end consumer.

Whilst the stores that opened prior to 1992 were purely small retail outlets and stretched to no more than 200 sq. meters, Gani explains his passion for trading led him to grow the wholesale side of the business. A hugely viable concept, just months after

Kit Kat Group

joining the company on a full-time basis. My father in his infinite wisdom moulded this opportunity and together, Kit Kat Group opened its very first Cash & Carry store in October 1992. A huge leap for this family business, the new store measured 2,000 sq. meters.

Enjoying increasing success within the wholesale market over the coming years, and with the help of the younger siblings joining the business, Kit Kat Group opened its flagship Cash & Carry store in 1999, measuring 20,000 sq. meters, it signifies just how far this family-owned business has come since its very first corner shop opening.

“So we now have three Cash & Carry stores with two based in Pretoria and one in Johannesburg.

They all vary in size but cater for a huge market.

When we first opened our Cash & Carry in 1992, we saw roughly 80% wholesale results and 20%

retail but today it is more like 50/50 – showing how the retail side of our business has grown tremendously,” explains Gani.

“In addition, in 2004, we also ventured into the building industry and now have three successful hardware and building departments all operating within our Cash & Carry stores and under one roof - the building department is named Build Mart.”

AN EXPRESS SERVICE Standing as a regional based business in Gauteng, Gani explains that the next growth cycle for the company, largely due to the economic changes, is to introduce express stores under its three Cash & Carry stores, helping to regionalize the business even further.

“Our three large Cash & Carry stores will service the smaller express businesses of which we plan

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company profile

to open 100 in the next 24 months. Our first express store was opened two months ago and in June we have two more opening. Once the model starts rolling out, we want to achieve our goal of 100 stores. The demographic of these stores is positioned so each of the three big stores can service the smaller express stores effectively.

“The Cash & Carry in Pretoria West will have 30 stores to look after in its region, helping to service bulk and distribution of products. So that’s what we’re trying to do, become our own customers,” Gani adds.

With PwC as its auditors, Kit Kat Group has been advised and kept up to date with the world statistics and standards that it should follow in order to follow suit and keep abreast of what is happening in the global market. “We attend tour trade shows and know all the latest trends in distribution and display. The local larger chain companies are also following these standards by introducing express stores into more rural locations. I’m pleased to say we are not playing catch up on this, we are already on the same bandwagon.”

With an industry that is continually changing

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“We provide a higher level of service with a much more personal approach at very competitive prices”

Kit Kat Group in market trends, product releases and consumer needs, Gani explains that businesses must evolve to stay afloat or face redundancy – perhaps it is the strong entrepreneurial flair in him he acquired as a boy, but Gani seamlessly understands the necessity and importance of the customer.

“You have to be abreast of the market trends and you have to give the consumer what they want and not what you want to give them. We are finding that rural customers are looking for better services – and in South Africa, we have a lot of Spaza stores but they don’t serve the consumer effectively; the right products are not offered and many are over-priced. So that’s where we come in with the Kit Kat brand, which has effectively positioned itself in the Gauteng market. People trust us and believe in our products – we want to ensure they get the same level of service in our larger stores as they do in our express stores, so we are growing with the market changes.”

Since the economic crisis struck in 2008, many households have felt the pinch with disposable incomes now at a much lower rate.

Gani explains that its consumer has become far more cost effective and is buying products with more caution and often, in bulk. Offering better prices for bulk buy products, this new method of consumer trade works favourably for Kit Kat Group and for the customer too. While many of the larger retailers only offer retail product prices, Kit Kat Group offers immediate savings for bulk items – a prime selling point of the business.

“End consumers are now looking for value and I think we’re well positioned to offer that,” adds Gani.

motivation or necessity here for them to earn it and work for it as any professional would. Gani explains that for a successful family business operation, corporate identity is key.

“It is not my son’s birth right to take my seat in the company when he is ready to do so, it is upon his ability as to whether he can run the organization. It should still be family owned but not necessarily family-run, that’s the trick to running the family business into future generations successfully.”

With that in mind, the advantages of a successfully run family business can far outweigh the disadvantages – most prominently perhaps, is the lack of corporate red tape which can entangle many of the larger chains when making even the smallest of decisions. Without these restrictions, Gani explains: “It has helped us to become what we are and allowed us to make simple decisions that can be sorted within a day, where with corporate companies it can sometimes take two weeks. For us, this allows a speed-to-customer approach which is much more effective than other chain groups.”

Amka Products wishes Kit Kat Group all the best for a successful 2015

FAMILY OWNED, BUSINESS RUN Taking into account the traditional time frame of a typical family business, it doesn’t often extend much beyond three of four generations.

Of course, there are many reasons as to why a business may fall into redundancy, but while a family-run business has its advantages, it can also prove disastrous if not managed effectively and collectively.

While heirs to many family businesses will naturally follow suit, taking up managerial roles with little to no experience, there is no

Consumer Tel: +27 (0) 860002652 E-mail: info@amka.co.za

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company profile

“You have to be abreast of the market trends and you have to give the consumer what they want and not what you want to give them” And while many of the larger chain groups have the advantage of money at their disposal, allowing them to undertake significant expansions on a quicker time-scale, Gani admits: “I still think the physical trading element and physical service we can give our consumers is far superior to what you would get from a large chain group.

“We provide a higher level of service with a much more personal approach at very competitive prices and with over 40,000 line items under our roof, we offer the end consumer pretty much all that they require,” he explains.

Now with over 600 employees, Gani explains that the company has followed through with its

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intention of keeping it as a family business by ensuring it employs the expertise to maintain its success and reputation.

“We have headhunted people from the chain groups to run specific departments in the business and have learnt to bring in the experts from the corporate world. Don’t think you know it all because you don’t - we have expert managers that run the stores and expert buyers.

You definitely need the right people to run the business and remember: If you’re not adequate enough then stay at home!”

ONLINE SHOPPING Online shopping has certainly become big business in recent years, with many retailers jumping on board to promote optimum convenience for the consumer. With advice from PwC, Kit Kat Group is looking to implement e-commerce into its system over the coming months. Already an R8 billion market in South Africa, it is growing at an exponentially fast rate.

“We are already in the development stages of e-commerce for our website so at the moment, we are going to trial it before launching it into the market.” While the European markets are better equipped for online shopping, largely

Centriq Insurance Company

Premier supporter of the Kit Kat Group

R

TM

Gauteng-based Premier Foods (Pty) Limited was founded over 160 years ago, strategically repositioning itself in 2012 as a leading FMCG player by expanding from traditional milling and baking into confectionary, home and personal care brands. Premier has operations and distribution facilities operations throughout South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique, and a home and personal care business in the United Kingdom. Today, Premier produces and markets iconic South African brands such as Snowflake, Blue Ribbon, BB Bakeries, Star, Mister Bread, Impala, Iwisa, Super Sun, Nyala, Invicta, Manhattan & Super C, Lil-Lets, Vulco & Dove cotton wool. In line with its strategic intent of “Growing Together”, Premier’s vision is to grow its people, customers and brands.

Contact details:

Managing Executive - Strategy & Marketing: Siobhan O’Sullivan +27 11 565 4623 | +27 82 561 5676 | siobhan.osullivan@premierfmcg.com Corporate Communications Officer: Nodumo Novuka +27 11 565 4484 | +27 76 942 0581 | nodumo.novuka@premierfmcg.com

company profile

due to shorter distances between housing and shops and a greater understanding of computer literacy, the benefits for introducing the system into the South African market are undeniably large.

Looking to the future Gani explains that the company has decided to take the e-commerce venture one step further: “While our Cash & Carry stores sell on average 40,000 items, the express stores will only sell a small proportion of this at just 2,000 items.

However, the trick is once we have e-commerce up and running online, we will offer any of the items from the large Cash & Carry stores and deliver them directly to the nearest express store for that customer.

“Although I have let the cat out of the bag on this one, it is a selling point I’m trying to incorporate and I do believe it’s going to be one of our most unique selling points.”

While standard e-commerce may not get directly to the customer due to location challenges - a common issue in South Africa - Gani assures their deliveries will, due to the added bonus of its express stores providing a more convenient collection point for customers.

PAGE 42

A FAMILY UNIT With a bright future ahead, Gani explains that the family aspect of the business and the “unbelievable support” it has provided has been paramount to its success. The group believes in unity with every idea that is put forward – “We always get everybody on board, there’s five of us, my father, A R Gani and my brothers, Riaz, Junaid and Nabeel and if we’re not on the same page, we won’t do it. Once we are all on board, we give it our utmost to make it a success “ U l t i m a t e l y, for a n y fa m i l y bus i n e s s , t h a t ’s my a dv i c e : w h e n you a re s uc c e s s ful a s a n ind i v i dua l a n d t h e n e x t g e n e ra t i on i s c om i n g throug h , t h e re i s a n e w w a v e of v i g our a n d youn g bl ood a n d you n e e d t o us e t h a t t og e t h e r wit h your e x pe ri e n c e , a n d t a k e i t t o t h e n e x t le v e l . “ O ur fut ure pl a n s a re t h e e x pre s s s t ore s an d t o g e t t h os e up a n d run n i n g a c ros s t h e rura l a re a s a n d c i t y c orn e rs t o be a bl e t o tra de w i t h t h e e n d c on s um e r m ore e ffe c t i v e l y.

E - c om m e rc e i s our n e x t bi g e x pa n s i on proje c t tha t w i l l s e e us t h roug h ov e r t h e n e x t 5 -1 0 ye a rs ,” c on c l ude s G a n i

.

Centriq Insurance Company

KHANS CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Manufacturers and suppliers of quality household detergents over two decades.

Looking for reps and agents in the African Market +27 11 933 4021 PAGE 43

company profile

Realising potential Editorial: Harriet Pattison

A company that has seen significant growth - from a R200 million revenue business in June 1998, to over R2.4 billion today – Eqstra Fleet Management is in the middle of an exciting and truly innovative project that could help to revolutionise and significantly streamline the growing fleet management industry. Already operational in Africa, the new Integrated Fleet Management System (“IFMS”) will go live in South Africa over the coming months. Managing Director, Murray Price, explains why this new integrated system is so beneficial for the company and its customers…

Eqstra unbundled from Imperial Holdings and listed on the JSE in May 2008. The company’s roots date back to 1984 when Hertz Leasing was set up and then established as a joint venture between Imperial and Nedfin Bank.

Four years later Imperial acquired the remaining shareholding and changed its name to Prime Car Leasing. As the first company to introduce proactive managed maintenance in South Africa in 1993, it was later renamed Imperial Fleet Services in 1997.

Murray Price explains that Eqstra Fleet Management, pre-2008, was primarily a leasing business with the global financial crisis, it took the decision to diversify the business model away from being a pure leasing business to more of a fleet management non capital intensive business.

Enjoying solid success since this decision was made, Price explains the company’s revenue for leasing – initially 95% - is now down to roughly

PAGE 44

50%. “Leasing remains a core component and will remain so but it is now balanced with other fleet services across managed services, insurance, warranties, maintenance plans and road side assistance.

“We provide the full spectrum of fleet solutions in an integrated system which makes it quite unique, particularly in South Africa.”

SIGNIFICANT GROWTH Six years ago, Eqstra Fleet Management embarked on a strategy to become a truly integrated fleet management solutions provider and commissioned the development of a practical, in-house integrated solution for its customers and suppliers.

Price explains that the benefits of this new system – set to be integrated into its South African operations within the next four months – will undoubtedly place Eqstra Fleet Management on a deserving pedestal in the industry.

Eqstra Fleet Management

“Our strategy is to provide a single point of access to the full range of fleet solutions that will be our key differentiation. We see this giving us huge benefits by having one record that has all the fleet information attached to it in an integrated system. It’s a fairly unique concept and even a large global customer who is operating in 36 countries has told us that they haven’t seen anything like it, anywhere that they operate.

“We were surprised to discover how advanced we were from an integration point of view and I think we found ourselves in a position where we needed to differentiate ourselves from the competition and the banks. In the South African market, all the banks have a fleet element and while this is not particularly strong, they are very strong in the leasing aspect,” explains Price.

AN AMBITIOUS PROJECT With four operations already live across Africa, the

South African data base will be fully converted and launched within a three to four month window.

Price admits the project has been an ambitious one but the implementation of the new system was important – “We weren’t looking to simply replace our current system with another system.” Of course conversion, technological developments and change on such a large scale takes time to configure and implement, in order to make sure the product or system is 100% effective.

Using Microsoft AX 2012 as its system base, Price explains this was the company’s first choice due to its multi-currency approach and global presence.

Once in operation, the system will have numerous benefits, perhaps most importantly, it is almost paperless. Price explains that Eqstra has invested significantly in Optical Character Recognition (OCR), meaning all the information will be put through the OCR system to be digitized, input

PAGE 45

company profile directly into the system, so the company will never need to capture an invoice or quote again.

The system is certainly efficient with unerring potential, ensuring that all documentation will now be kept in one easy-to-access location.

“We have also invested heavily in portals,” explains Price. “Both our customers and suppliers will be able to transact directly through the portal, including functionality for all online authorizations for maintenance services and accident repairs.”

In conjunction with the new service portal, Eqstra Fleet Management has developed a smart phone application, with six apps designed initially, including real time vehicle inspections to be done remotely, vehicle service scheduling and direct driver communication. It is clear that a lot of thought and consideration has gone into this new system to ensure it works effectively, efficiently and with its customers and suppliers in mind. In essence, it will integrate a full insurance system, full warranty and full maintenance system with its own tracking system - an all in one portal. Of course, this is a huge industry undertaking – “But this is where we see the differentiation for our business into the future,” Price adds.

GREEN INITIATIVES With a continued focus on sustainability - a growing concern in South Africa following the government’s ongoing schemes for energy efficiency – Eqstra Fleet Management is looking to convert the whole of its commercial fleet with the City of Johannesburg onto compressed natural gases, (CNG). Another ambitious project, Price explains: “We’ve got a pipeline that runs from a Mozambique gas field down to Sasolburg, where they liquefy the gas. We’ve got a take-off point just outside of Johannesburg and we are busy investigating establishing a logistical solution to not only take off the gas, but also to provide them with a solution for the refuelling of gas for their fleet.”

Price explains the company is also currently investigating the merits of hydrogen injection, a scheme that could reward huge improvements in terms of cleaner emissions and significant cost savings through reduced fuel consumption.

Hydrogen injection takes H20, using power from the vehicle’s alternator converts it into HHO (two parts Hydrogen gas and one part oxygen gas), which is fed back into the vehicles manifold,

PAGE 46

Murray Price | Managing Director helping to improve fuel burn and consumption, without impacting on the vehicle’s warranty.

A BRIGHT FUTURE So, what does the future hold for Eqstra Fleet Management? “Our plan is to continue to grow our main base in South Africa and surrounding regions, such as Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia, where we have an already solid footprint. Although they are smaller markets, we also have operations in Nigeria and Zambia and we aim to expand our footprint further into Africa where there are significant opportunities in terms of providing fleet management.”

Helping to add further value, Price explains the benefits and necessity of an efficient tracking system within the business and throughout its fleet as it allows Eqstra Fleet Management to observe driver ability, behaviour, driving times and of course, maintain a strong focus on safety issues.

“At EFM we are clear that the real cost driver in our customers’ fleets are their drivers and as such measurement and proactive driver management strategies are critical to reducing fleet operating costs. We see it as a critical element to our future growth across Africa and beyond and our new

Eqstra Fleet Management system will allow us to enter into more emerging markets which we could not enter before,” Price explains.

With an experienced consulting team (Eqstra Fleet Consulting), Eqstra Fleet Management doesn’t use the ‘hard-sell’ with its customers – investing sufficient time and money consulting with them, particularly across Africa, to ensure the process supports its customer’s objectives of cost reduction and improved fleet efficiencies.

Eqstra Fleet Consulting is embarking on its South African fleet & travel benchmark study which helps to provide companies with sufficient information, allowing them to review their current business travel and allowance strategies. First launched in 2013, Price explains: “We identified a strong need to collect and publish information to support fleet and travel benchmark strategies.

We have taken care to ensure that we take cognisance of participant feedback and have made enhancements to this years’ survey for additional information which we will publish to provide an enhanced value add to all participants.”

With the initial pilot starting with a participant

sample of 67 large corporate companies and 107 involved last year, Eqstra Fleet Consulting hopes to grow this to 200 for this year’s study which will investigate remuneration structures, travel policies and travel allowances, company car usage, employee travel benefits and fleet management policies.

“Ultimately, we want to get into a thought leadership space where we can deliver value to both existing and potential customers. We provide all our customers quarterly value statements – measuring what we’ve achieved in that quarter.

Our commitment is to continually display the value we have given to customers,” concludes Price

.

“Our new system will allow us to enter into more emerging markets which we could not enter before”

Images for illustration purposes only. Terms & Conditions apply.

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company profile

Leading a positive change Editorial: Harriet Pattison

Operating seven breweries and 40 depots across South Africa, SAB continues to stand as the country’s premier brewer and leading distributor of soft drinks and beers. There is so much more to this company than just beer however – and through numerous investments, development and sustainable programs, SAB is hoping to use its 100 years’ worth of reputable expertise and economic standing to make and build a stronger and more influential South Africa.

With more than 200 established, popular brands under its belt, South African Breweries (SAB), the subsidiary of SABMiller plc, was founded well over a century ago in 1895. Today, SABMiller stands as one of the largest brewers by volume in the world with brewing and distribution agreements spread across 75 countries.

Playing an integral role in the national economy 115 years since its inception – for every R1 in sales revenue generated by SAB during 2009, a total of R2.02 was added to South Africa’s GDP – SAB continues to maintain its position as the country’s premier brewer and a leading distributor of beer and soft drinks.

With an annual brewing capacity of 3.1 billion

PAGE 48

litres, SAB operates seven breweries and 40 depots in South Africa alone, with a portfolio including five of the country’s favourite beer brands – Castle Lager, Carling Black Label, Hansa Pilsener, Castle Lite and Castle Milk Stout, not to mention the increasingly popular market of flavoured beers headed up by the Flying Fish brand.

One of the country’s most well-loved beers, Carling Black Label, first emerged into the South African Market in 1966 and began winning awards from the offset – honoured twice at the World’s Best Bottled Larger competition – it has a total of 25 international awards now under its cap for taste and quality. More recently, it was awarded a 3 Star Gold Superior Taste Award at the International Taste and Quality Institute held in Belgium in 2012.

Through the years, Carling Black Label – the Champion Beer - has established its market,

South African Breweries

representing the hardworking men of South Africa, appreciating them as ‘champions’ for their drive and commitment to South Africa and consistent hardwork.

A brand under SAB aimed at the younger generation and created in the summer of 2012, is Flying Fish - combining the traditional flavours of malted barley and hops, the twist is the addition of real fruit juice, creating a truly refreshing fruit flavoured beer.

Speaking to SAB’s Market Development Manager, Hilary Jamieson last year, she explained: “Flying Fish is aimed at younger adult consumers aged 1824. Amongst these consumers are beer rejecters so we asked how we could make beer more appealing.

They suggested adding some lemonade, so the lemon variant appealed.

“Our biggest challenge is getting it into the hands

of beer rejecters and convincing them that this is a product which doesn’t smell like a beer or taste like a beer. An increasing number of consumers are now adopting Flying Fish as part of their regular repertoire.”

Earlier this year, SAB announced it had acquired the London based craft beer company, Meantime, for an undisclosed sum. Looking to capitalise on the growing international popularity of craft beers, SAB said in a statement: “Meantime is a pioneer in British modern craft beer, giving SABMiller an entry point into the fastest-growing segment of the UK beer market.”

From its fairly recent establishment in the Greenwich suburb in London in 1999, Meantime has highlighted its popularity within the market, with the volume rising by 58% in 2014, despite the overall growth within the British beer market rising by just 1% during the same year.

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company profile

A NAMIBIAN MILESTONE

“We believe there is strong potential for profitable growth in both beer and total beverages in Africa” PAGE 50

In September last year, SABMiller’s very first Namibian brewery began operations with bottles of Carling Black Label. With a capacity of 260,000 hectolitre, the new $33.3 million brewery in Okahandja was finalised in the final quarter of last year.

Previously exporting all its beer from South Africa, this marks a significant milestone for the company with its investments in the country starting to pay off. This milestone also highlights the potential Namibia holds and with SABMiller’s investment, it will help to promote long-term growth, corresponding with the national government’s 2030 Vision for an industrial nation.

With a focus on sustainability, the Namibian brewery will be one of SABMiller’s most environmentally friendly breweries of its size in the world. Using just 3.25 litres of water per litre of beer in the brewing process, the additional green statistics are impressive – with at least 30

South African Breweries million non-returnable glass bottles converted into returnable bottles and previously used cardboard packaging replaced with plastic crates. A significant reduction in carbon and landfill emissions are also largely due to the benefits of local production and distribution.

Newly appointed Managing Director of SAB, Mauricio Leyva, explained: “We expect the new Okahandja brewery to contribute to the creation of a vibrant manufacturing sector through which we will accelerate the emergence of small and medium sized Namibian businesses and help create a growing population of skilled employees by supporting education and providing training.”

A CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT The first non-South African to head up this local company with origins tracing back to 1895, Mauricio Leyva took over as Managing Director of SAB in January 2013, after joining the SABMiller group in 2005.

Alan Clark, Chief Executive said in a statement: “Mauricio Leyva has done an excellent job in South Africa since his appointment last year, in very challenging economic conditions. His skills, leadership and track record make him a great choice to lead our South African business and I am confident that it will continue to thrive under his leadership.”

The last few years have certainly seen many significant changes at management level with Norman Adami, Chairman of SABMiller Beverages South Africa, standing down in July last year before retirement and a consolidation of SABMiller’s South African and African regions into one for management purposes taking effect with Mark Bowman at the helm.

Serving with the Group since 1979, Adami successfully led SAB as Managing Director for nine years and enjoyed over two decades as a member of the SABMiller Executive Committee.

“For the past 35 years, I have considered it a unique privilege to be part of the SABMiller team, and am truly grateful to have worked alongside such passionate, dedicated people. I am especially proud of everything that has been accomplished in the past five years.

“SAB’s future is bright and the leaders of SAB, ABI and Appletiser are in a great position to lead their teams forward. I have every confidence these strong

leaders will continue to build on our proud heritage as one of South Africa’s most admired and respected companies,” said Adami.

Speaking of Norman Adami’s retirement and the potential of SAB with these new changes, Clark said: “Norman has made an enduring contribution to the SABMiller group over many years and in many roles, and his passion, commitment, and deep business insights will be sorely missed. He has been a stalwart of our business for 35 years, and on behalf of all of my colleagues and our shareholders, I would like to thank Norman for his support, friendship and inspirational leadership, both in South Africa and as a member of the SABMiller’s executive leadership team, and to wish him and his family every happiness on his retirement.

“As we look to capitalise on our global scale and presence, we see significant advantages in managing all of our African businesses as one region. We believe there is strong potential for profitable growth in both beer and total beverages in Africa, and, by harnessing the skills of our South African

PAGE 51

company profile

and African business in a combined Africa region, we believe that we will be better placed to access growth prospects across the entire continent.”

A SOCIAL CHANGE Actively looking to lead a real social change, SAB, as the prominent and leading alcohol beverage company in South Africa, is looking to influence this positive change and lead by example. Across South Africa, irresponsible alcohol consumption and abuse remains high by global standards, resulting in a serious influence on society, subsequently leading to a negative impact on the SAB business.

In helping to counteract these adverse effects, SAB’s strategy is focusing primarily on its employees – ensuring an understanding of the company’s approach and of the issues surrounding alcohol abuse, leading to a zero-tolerance approach and a responsible and effective marketing scheme.

SAB is also looking to build upon existing relationships with key industry leaders and government, ensuring a combined effort in the fight against alcohol abuse, further helping in its drive to advance normalisation of the liquor industry.

Lastly, is the company’s investment in real impact programmes, primarily aimed at changing behaviours and attitudes towards Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), drink driving, Responsible Trading and underage drinking.

Through the implementation of these strategies, SAB wants to go beyond the education of alcohol abuse and look at amending the behaviour – providing accounts of the serious effects and impact that it can have – it hopes to provide a support system, inspiring people to change.

With greener initiatives and sustainability such a growing force in South Africa, especially amongst businesses, SAB is doing its bit. With water usage relatively high in the brewing process, the company hopes that, by 2020, it will achieve a world-class water efficiency target across its operations, using on average 3.0 litres of water for 1 litre of beer. And with each brewery it manages across the country, SAB is building its understanding of water resourcefulness and efficiency and the benefits this can bring to communities.

‘A productive land, a productive world’ – SAB is working to create secure and sustainable

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South African Breweries

“SAB’s future is bright and the leaders of SAB, ABI and Appletiser are in a great position to lead their teams forward”

supply chains for malting barley, (the main brewing crop), and more local brewing crops.

Helping to support its farmers, the company wants to ensure in sourcing the crops, it helps to improve food security and resource productivity for local communities with the aim to source 90% of its barley locally.

Employing close to 9,500 people – 75% of which are from previously disadvantaged backgrounds – SAB’s operations support a further 37,000 jobs at its first round suppliers.

And with every individual job offered by SAB, an average of 6.7 additional jobs are supported across the South African economy – accounting for 355,000 full time jobs in the country, all of which can be attributed to SAB and its productions.

Through its various social responsibility programmes and continued investments – SAB is implementing a positive and influential change for South Africa and its people which will, no doubt, be seen and felt for many more years yet

.

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company profile

Expanding horizons Editorial: Ajuanne Payne

It has been two years since we last spoke to SANSA here at IndustrySA, and a lot has been happening at the national space agency in its voyage towards a further developed South African space science and technology arena. So far this year the agency has been hard at work promoting education in space science to the youth of South Africa and with its EOSAT1 satellite project proceeding nicely, SANSA is taking the steps necessary to ensure the future of the Rainbow Nation’s in this industry…

Today, collaboration and innovation in the field of space technologies has become integral to addressing the needs of humankind’s existence and some of the challenges facing us globally. The, quite literally, expanding horizons that come with advancements within the space industry contribute to advanced knowledge across various arenas with wide ranging benefits.

South Africa’s history of space investment dates back to the 1950s and the Rainbow Nation continues to take an active role in contributing to the global space industry today, with programs and partnerships promoting projects, research and education both locally and internationally within the arena.

As part of the country’s Ten-Year Innovation Plan, the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) was established in December 2009, through the

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national Department of Science and Technology.

The purpose of the plan is to help drive South Africa’s transformation towards a knowledge-based economy, in which the production and distribution of knowledge leads to economic benefits and ‘enriches all fields of human endeavour’.

Created to promote and provide support for the space industry in South Africa, SANSA endorses cooperation in space-related activities and helps to develop research in space science, while providing support to industrial and manufacturing developments in space technologies.

Operating within a technologically advancing country, SANSA is at the forefront of developments in the industry there and is responsible for South Africa’s role in the wider African ‘space race’.

Marketing and Communications Manager for SANSA, Vaneshree Maharaj, commented on the

SANSA

organisation’s role further, explaining how “SANSA brings the benefits of space science research and technology back to South Africa. Through space science research and technology we seek to create societal capital, intellectual capital, human capital, economic capital and global capital.

“We have to ensure that whatever benefits we bring back create a positive impact on society,” Vaneshree explains. “We’ve got to ensure that we are building human capital by developing the necessary skills of which we currently have a shortage of in this industry. We’ve also got to ensure that we are stimulating the economy, so creating business opportunities with local companies and selling services to international companies.

“We also provide new innovations and technology to drive us towards a knowledge economy, and

we’ve also got to ensure that we’re a global space player, those are the five goals.”

THE SANSA MISSION In order to reach the goal of achieving greater value from space science to benefit the South African people, SANSA’s motto ‘in service of humanity’ is enacted through five strategic programmes aimed at providing a complete umbrella of services: Corporate Support, Earth Observation, Space Operations, Space Science and Space Engineering.

The first of these programmes, the SANSA Corporate Support Programme, overseas the smooth operation of the whole organisation and ensures that it runs optimally with effective operational efficiency and corporate governance within the agency.

The four other arms of the organisation are focused on executing specific areas of research within SANSA. The Earth Observation Programme

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company profile

focuses on the utilisation of space and space technologies to address the day-to-day needs of society, for example; resource and environmental management; disaster management; food security; global change monitoring; health, safety and security; planning, development and service delivery monitoring.

The Space Science Programme is aimed at driving scientific enquiry, knowledge creation, technology development and innovation and the Space Operations Programme is the vehicle through which SANSA interfaces with space assets and supports the international space industry. This aspect of operation contributes to elevating the country in the community of space faring nations and promotes collaboration between different international agencies and institutions and SANSA. “SANSA Space Operations provides launch support to many international clients,” explains Vaneshree, “when they launch their launch vehicles and satellites in the Northern Hemisphere, they aren’t able to see it in the Southern Hemisphere, so

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if separation happens over Africa and South Africa then we relay data back to the guys.

“If their satellites that orbit around the Southern Hemisphere are not responding or are going in an incorrect orbit, we talk to these satellites and re-align them so we provide support for orbiting satellites.”

Lastly, the Space Engineering Programme drives the maintenance of SANSA’s satellite manufacturing capability to ensure a level of self-reliance and develop local technologies and skills – a precursor to a potentially lucrative niche manufacturing industry sector for the future.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS As part of its ongoing commitment to education around the space industry, one of SANSA’s most recent strategic partnerships is with the Africa2Moon Mission Program - the agency became an official supporter of Phase I earlier this year.

The Africa2Moon program is an initiative designed to inspire the youth of Africa to believe

SANSA

SPACETEO Your African Aerospace Ally Denel as a State Owned Entity, through its Denel Spaceteq Business Unit, focusses on the development of Satellites and related Space Systems.

Denel Spaceteq is currently busy executing a contract for a new generation EO-Satellite with the primary local client and partner, the South African National Space Agency (SANSA).

including a substantial BBBEE component. This includes organisations like Space Advisory Company, NewSpace Sytems, Group6TI and the CSIR all with a rich heritage of space related capabilities and technologies. It also includes the wider industry with both Academia and Manufacturing playing significant roles.

The development builds on the relationship between the Departments of Science and Technology (DST) and Public Enterprises (DPE) together with the underlying SANSA-Denel relationship for progressing the RSA satellite design, manufacturing and data utilization partnership.

The Next Generation of EO-satellite family (generically designated as EO-Sat NG) is based on the robust and modular architecture of Sumbandila, with further upscaling of redundancy and reliability measures in order to conform to the operational requirements of the EO-Sat NG programme. The engineers and technicians from the RSA Industry working on the programme have a rich and proven heritage of successful space programmes, including SUNSAT, SumbandilaSat and an Export Satellite with a proven five-year operational life as well as various international cooperation agreements such as the Korean Institute of Technology Satellite (KITSAT) with South Korea, and Multi-Sensor Micro-satellite Imager (MSMI) multispectral payload with Belgium.

Denel Spaceteq will utilize and support development of the wider RSA Space Industry with a substantial local spend destined for the wider industry,

www.spaceteq.co.za Electron House,15 Electron Street, Techno Park, Stellenbosch, 7600, South Africa PAGE 57 T: +27(0) 21 880 8100, F: +27(0) 21 880 1703 info@spaceteq.co.za

company profile

that ‘they can reach for the moon’ - by quite literally reaching for the moon through education and science. The program’s main aim is to provide a number of public participation and scientific missions over several years, culminating in a penultimate mission to the moon.

The mission will make all its information accessible, transmitting video and images from the surface of the moon that can be relayed back and viewed in classrooms across Africa, with the goal of inspiring Africa’s youth to believe in their own potential, while also advancing their education.

This project is very much in line with SANSA’s own mission of promoting the space arena for future generations of South Africans. Dr. Sandile Malinga, CEO of SANSA, says “we hope that this programme garners enough support to accomplish the mission objectives and get our citizens excited about opportunities in space.”

During this first phase the team involved in Africa2Moon will prepare a feasibility study based on scientific objectives chosen from those submitted in a forthcoming call for scientific proposals.

Additionally to this, Dr Sandile’s team will be involved in inspiring potential future engineers and scientists across the continent through the series of outreach projects planned. Crucial to achieving the goals laid out in the Ten-Year Innovation Plan is

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getting more young people on the path of a career in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

EO-SAT1 Focusing more on the direct economic advantages SANSA’s work will have for the South Africa nation is its EO-SAT1 project.

Due to be launched in 2019, the EO-SAT1 is an earth observation satellite that aims to monitor resources on the African Continent and is currently being finalised in design and system configuration phase.

EO-Sat1’s primary objective is to ‘characterise the state and evolution of vegetation over selected land areas’, with secondary objectives to monitor air and water quality, survey built environments and support the management of man-made or natural hazards/ disasters.

The project will reduce South Africa’s reliance on foreign satellites for this type of information and will contribute to further collaboration in the development of a manufacturing and knowledge base for the technology locally.

To put the potential benefits into perspective – currently the space agency buys the Spot-6 and Spot-7 (Système Pour l’Observation de la Terre) data, used by government entities such as the Department

SANSA

of Human Settlements, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Statistics South Africa, for an expensive R35 million a year.

The EO-Sat1 will cost around R292 million to design, manufacture and launch and is also an example of SANSA’s commitment to collaboration for a better future – the project will benefit not just South Africa, but the Southern African community as a whole and forms part of SANSA’s commitment to the African Resource Constellation (ARMC).

The ARMC is a group of African countries, consisting of South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria and Kenya in the process of launching and operating a network of earth observation satellites. The constellation will support activities spanning urban development, land use monitoring, and mapping for the surveillance of climate change effects.

Although the EO-Sat1’s primary goals are those listed above, Malinga says: “The key thing we want to achieve, aside from the applications [of the satellite’s data], is to stimulate our industry. We are working with Denel [South Africa’s state-owned aerospace and defence manufacturer] to ensure that they outsource work to our private industry. In terms of local content, we want a minimum threshold of 50%.”

This secondary aim bleeds into SANSA’s Space

Engineering Programme and, if successful, the EO-Sat1 project will boost the technical manufacturing capabilities of the space industry in SA, bringing SANSA further in line with its international counterparts and adding to the potential creation of a niche industry sector.

Specifically within the space agency, SANSA plans on the EO-Sat1 being just the first in a number of satellites the organisation will build and launch. “If you have a steady national pipeline of satellites that allows manufacturers to outsource contracts … a national programme cannot sustain a commercial build of satellites alone.”

With barely six years under its belt, South Africa’s space agency is achieving a significant amount in furthering the country’s space industry, opening the door to a consolidated national space program in the future.

Not only is the work of the agency inspirational and economically beneficial to the country, the expertise and skills developed through missions such as the EO-Sat1 position it firmly on an equal footing with its counterparts on the world stage and, perhaps most importantly, advances South Africa further towards its transformation into a more knowledge-based economy

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company profile

A fruitful history Editorial: Harriet Pattison

With a long and successful history, Two-a-Day Group now stands as one of the leading fruit growing, packing and marketing companies in Africa, with more than 50 farms from which it exports fruit both to local and international markets. In the last decade, Two-a-Day has implemented and embraced new and innovative technology across its operations - key to its ongoing and shining success.

With the roots of the company going all the way back to the early 1920’s when three growers decided to come together to combine their packing and cold storage of fruit produce, it wasn’t until June 1948 when Elgin Fruit Packers Ltd was founded as an agricultural co-operative in the Elgin district in the Western Cape. With a total of 18 shareholders, it remains to this day the longest and oldest established local co-operative.

During the 1950’s, the Group maintained a crop increase of 150% with an estimated 550,000 cartons of fruit packed. As this growth continued, it was reported that by 1976, the total number of cartons packed had reached 1.5 million – two thirds of these were exported, resulting in an 8% share in the South African apple export crop.

In its current market, Two-a-Day is exporting, every year, up to 5,200,000 cartons of apples and pears whilst simultaneously

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supplying local markets with an estimated 2,000,000 cartons.

Managing Director, Attie van Zyl, explains that the Group has always tended to focus on the traditional fruit export of apples and pears.

“The first apple orchards were planted in this area at the turn of the century. By the early 20’s there was a handful of growers who had planted apples and they realised that infrastructure costs were expensive. Instead of each going and building a pack house and cold store, they realised it would be beneficial to do it together.

“70% of our product is exported and we are selling in 65 countries,” he explains.

A METICULOUS PROCESS Before the fruit is sent off to the international markets and African clients, it goes through rigorous checks to ensure the quality is first class, ensuring the company’s

Two-a-Day Group

international reputation.

Over a 24-hour period, Two-a-Day’s packing facilities can reach a capacity of up to 1040 tonnes. A meticulous and strategic process, the fruit is first sorted to ensure that there are no defects, those without defects are then left to be sized. This process involved the fruit being weighed and colour sorted before it is distributed onto packer tables. Fruit of similar size and colour is then grouped together via a computer programmed sizer.

Once all individual fruit has been weighed, it is then labelled using a Sinclair Labeller. Packing of the fruit is either done by hand, by semi-automatic tray fillers or by bagging machines.

The boxes of fruit are then passed through an information system where each carton is weighed before a thermal printed label is applied – this includes all the relevant information; date of packing, variety and either

the producer number or client/market specification.

The company’s packing facility maintains a fully trained and experienced staff base, high hygiene standards and ensures all equipment is both user and fruit friendly – the facilities are also continually kept up to date with equipment and information systems.

Much of the company’s long running success is attributed to the Controlled Atmospheric Long-Term Storage Technology - completed at the end of 2013 - it helps to maintain the freshness of the fruit produce, ensuring a reliable and all year round supply of quality fruit.

Oxygen content is regulated within the cold stores and by keeping the levels very low, the fruit is prevented from ripening – some of the best produce can be kept in these conditions for up to 10 months.

This controlled atmosphere (CA) storage enables

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company profile

Two-a-Day Group to store up to 74% of its crop this way. The company also maintains carton re-cooling stores. Once the cartons have been packed, they are then re-cooled at zero degrees for up to three weeks before being distributed to clients all over the world.

“We’ve made a 10,000 bin, controlled atmosphere cold store investment and that is now up and running

“We embrace the science of fruit growing from a technology point of view and that is what is going to help us drive the business forward in the next 20 years” and has increased our controlled atmosphere capacity by roughly 5%,” van Zyl explains. “We have also invested in Dynamic Controlled Atmosphere (DCA) technology.

This is because the chemical DPA (Diphenylamine),

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used to keep apples fresh during storage, is banned in continental Europe so we had to invest in DCA so that we can store products during their marketing window.”

DISTRIBUTION MARKETS Van Zyl explains the company divides the African market into three geographical areas and once the fruit reaches its optimum, it is ready for distribution.

“There is what we call over border; which is Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, the DRC, Zimbabwe and Mozambique and countries just to the north of us. For these markets we will use road transport.

We have looked at opportunities to build or buy a facility in one of these countries, but after looking at all the pros and cons we decided to rather do it in the north of South Africa. We feel that we can increase over border sales significantly. Because of the facility that we have built, we will be able to handle much more volumes.

“The second area is West Africa which is from Angola upwards to Nigeria and Ivory Coast and the whole western part of the continent. The taste profile there is very different to our third area, the Eastern part of Africa, which includes Uganda, Kenya and countries in that region.In the very north of Africa, countries like Egypt and Libya, we see that as part of our Middle Eastern market.”

Two-a-Day Group

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company profile

HIGH-TECH Much of the success of Two-a-Day Group is attributed to the implementation and use of innovative technology, particularly mobile devices, making the process and distribution a much more cost and time efficient one.

Over the last ten years, technology has, inevitably, advanced greatly and is now used across the company sectors, in horticultural technology and the orchards.

“We embrace the science of fruit growing from a technology point of view and that is what is going to help us drive the business forward in the next 20 years,” explains van Zyl. More recently, Two-a-Day Group has invested in technological improvements for the packing house equipment and cold storage facilities, helping to improve the efficiency and day-to-day running of its operations.

“With the pack house technology, the machinery that we had was old and we’ve put in machinery that can do weight sorting, diameter sorting, colour sorting and defect sorting,” explains van Zyl. “In the past, the old machines only did weight sorting so this makes a huge difference. This will help us to drive productivity and will also allow for increased accuracy in packing thanks to much more precise weighing technology.”

With the ability to sort each of the fruits according

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to colour, size or blemishes, the new machinery can also detect any potential defects such as bruising and even check fruit internally for early browning or water core signs.

Van Zyl explains how this equipment works and why it’s so effective: “It takes 70 photos per fruit and they are all HD photos. The machine turns the fruit and turns all the photos into a stream and builds an image of every fruit, looking at colour intensity and blemishes. It is software driven so can pick out bruises or wind marks. It is wonderful technology that will definitely help us a lot.”

PROVIDING FOR THE CUSTOMER Within the Two-a-Day Group, the company, through a range of subsidiaries, is able to offer an extensive range of customer driven value-added services. The sales and marketing sector, Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing (Pty), helps to both provide the necessary marketing and expertise support for the local and international markets. With the rising cost of packaging, APL Cartons (Pty) was set up to help counteract this and has now positioned itself as a major player within the South African packaging industry.

The affiliated company, Elgin Fruit Juices (Pty) Ltd, produce apple and pear concentrates for many leading

Two-a-Day Group brands of cider, baby food and fruit juices. These are distributed to the local African markets and on an international scale with the helping hand of Link Supply Chain Management (Pty) Ltd which supplies the global shipping, logistical and transport services.

“All of the companies are partly owned by the Two-aDay Group, however, each company has a board and a Managing Director,” explains van Zyl. “Our input into those companies comes from our shareholding and our board positions.

“The objective of all of these companies is exactly the same – to maximise the bottom line of the growers.”

FUTURE PLANS Looking to the future and Two-a-Day Group has set its sights on China as its next big growth market.

“The one market that we don’t have access to currently is China. We’ve been struggling for close to 15 years now to supply our apples and pears in China,” say Van Zyl. Looking at the statistics, there’s no doubt over the potential China holds for the company’s international export market and in the future, its footprint too, as van Zyl explains: “Apple production in China counts for

45% of the world’s apple production and South Africa counts for perhaps 2% so we are a small part of total global figures. The Chinese taste profile is very specific so we won’t be able to sell all varieties there and this means China will not be a massive part of our global footprint initially but I see no reason why it cannot grow to perhaps 5-10% of our global footprint.”

With such exponential growth, particularly over the last ten years, Two-a-Day attributes much of this to the new and innovative technology it has implemented and the sustainable practises it has adopted; helping to create a much smoother and more efficient operation, with export markets now stretching from Africa and beyond.

“As a grower, to be sustainable, you have to be able to increase your production significantly on existing hectares. If we are able to that, and I’m sure we are by embracing technology, then our growers will be sustainable for at least the next 20 years.

“Our business model, the fact that we embrace technology across our different divisions, our global reach and our adherence to world class standards are really the keys to our success,” concludes van Zyl

.

Your Protection Packaging Specialist Tel: Fax: Email:

+021 556 8802 +021 556 8205 +021 556 8839 tony@airwrap.co.za

Address:

Unit 2 Mazor Park 16 Monza Road Killarney Gardens Cape Town 7441

Full list of products at

www.airwrap.co.za

B-BBE Certificate no AW/2014 HACCP Compliant

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company profile

A commitment to excellence Editorial: Rebecca Bingley

A strong industry player operating within the corrosion protection sectors, Bulldog Projects has come a long way in just 11 years and with Managing Director, Mike Book, at the helm he ensures that his 40 years of experience and knowledge is shared with the young and dynamic team, safeguarding the legacy of this established contractor for many more years yet…

A dynamic company working within the corrosion and protection industry, Bulldog Projects is an established and reputable contractor that offers a range of diversified solutions in painting applications for the steel and concrete market across Southern Africa.

Speaking with Bulldog Projects last year, Manager Charlene Bossert explains what she attributes the company’s early success to: “Our pursuit of excellence is a commitment and not a badge of achievement. We continuously strive to work better and more efficiently, without compromising on quality.”

Despite its relatively new establishment into the industry in May 2004, the company now works in mining, power generation, commercial, industrial flooring, rail and steel fabrication - providing a large range of services to clients consisting of abrasive

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blasting, industrial coatings, plant maintenance, duplex coating systems, roof coatings, maintenance painting and tape wrapping.

“Since May 2004, our team and our infrastructure have grown to such an extent that we can confidently say that we are one of the leading corrosion protection companies in Southern Africa,” Bossert explains.

KEY PROJECTS Now a leading and dynamic company within the corrosion, protection and maintenance space, Bulldog Projects has completed a range of large and complex projects due to its ability to maintain three key advantage points – the skills and training of its employees and management, an impressive collection of speciality equipment and its outstanding health and safety record.

BULLDOG PROJECTS

o

With these points in mind, Bulldog Projects has now positioned itself as an established and reputable industry leader and in recent years, it has served a number of large African projects, further increasing its growth, expansion and industry standing.

Looking back on one of its most successful years, the company secured contracts worth an estimated R30 million in 2008 with involvements in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In a partnership with Genrec, the fabricated steel supplier, Bulldog Projects has undertaken a number of projects, one of which involved the painting of products from the Genrec factory. It is estimated that in this year alone, Bulldog Project’s relationship with Genrec generated up to R20 million in revenue creating additional projects and opportunities further down the line.

The established success and growth of Bulldog

Projects is evident and relishing the opportunity to work on many demanding and noteworthy projects, not to mention challenging conditions, across Africa – the Copper Cobalt Mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo certainly meet these harsh yet rewarding specifications.

Following decades of maintenance neglect, this R40 million project involved the rehabilitation and maintenance painting, including sandblasting and corrosion protection, of steel in the mines. Expected to take four years, the project is now coming to a close.

Numerous other projects that have reaped rewards for the company and helped plant it firmly on the map include; Natal Portland Cement (3500 tonnes), the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (3800 tonnes) and Pilansberg Platinum (2500 tonnes).

Subsequent to its success in the maintenance and

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company profile

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BULLDOG PROJECTS protection industry, Bulldog Projects holds many accreditations – including its association to the Southern African Institute of Steel Construction and to the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE).

SHARING KNOWLEDGE One of the primary success points that Bulldog Projects prides itself on most is the outstanding health and safety record it holds by ensuring it operates in a clean and health and safety conscious workplace. Implemented across staff training and construction processes, this strict ethos helps to heavily enhance the company’s expertise and repute, an essential trait when operating within the increasingly competitive construction industry.

It certainly takes staff training very seriously, ensuring it continually provides the best for its employees and respective clients. “Training in the company is vital, especially in our industry.

All employees need to understand and have the best knowledge of their role within the company,” Bossert explained last year.

This commitment subsequently leads to an undeniable level of quality which Bulldog Projects

can then provide to its customers. Another key focus point which the company employs is its informal pledge to help the younger generation which come on-board.

Bulldog Project’s CEO, Mike Book, explains: “Having a young dynamic team, I have the pleasure of extending my knowledge to our younger generation and share experiences with them on projects I have run over the years. I am grateful that I am able to teach the younger generation about all the technicalities in corrosion protection.”

Leading a truly successful career within the corrosion industry for over four decades, Mike Book has accumulated a diverse range of experience and knowledge from successfully completing major construction projects – such as the Copper Cobalt Mines - across the African continent.

Book applies this long-standing experience on facilitating and helping clients to solve issues regarding corrosion protection, subsequently saving time and money for all parties involved.

Book also serves as an executive member of the Hot Dip Galvanizing Association of Southern Africa and regularly contributes technical articles to their publications.

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company profile

“I am grateful that I am able to teach the younger generation about all the technicalities in corrosion protection” PAGE 70

In April last year, Bulldog Projects decided to delve into the world of boxing, putting its faith into one of the country’s up and coming boxers, Paul Kamanga, sponsoring him in his boxing career.

Speaking to the Comaro Chronicle, Book said: “I have been a boxing fan for almost 42 years and follow the sport for many years. I was approached by his trainer, Anton Gilmore, to sponsor Kamanga and had no doubt in my mind that I want to put something back in the sport.

“I am extremely satisfied with Paul. He is well trained and in a good condition. This is the time for him to fly and I will support him. But other than that I see a need for us (businesses) to put something back into the community. This is also a social responsibility from all in the South.”

BULLDOG PROJECTS A BRIGHT FUTURE

“Since May 2004, our team and our infrastructure have grown to such an extent that we can confidently say that we are one of the leading corrosion protection companies in Southern Africa”

“The key to anyone’s business is to work as a team and go the extra mile for our clients. It is also important to have the correct equipment and have the staff that know and understand how to use the equipment. We have an effective operations team which understands the clients’ needs. We also have the physical resources with experienced managers,” Bossert explains.

Determined to stand and succeed as the industry leader, it looks as though Bulldog Projects is certainly here to stay, supplying superior quality coating applications for a range of clients and projects across Africa, the company strives to provide the highest standards.

“Even though Bulldog Projects is only four years old, our infrastructure has steadily grown and we can confidently say that we have grown to be one of the leading corrosion protection companies in South Africa,” explains Book. “We are confident about the success of our company and the future of the industry. We look forward to, and embrace, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us.”

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HEMPEL was founded in 1915 and is today one of the world’s leading suppliers of marine and industrial paints. The Group has since grown to become a world-wide enterprise comprising 3 main and 5 regional research and development facilities, 20 manufacturing plants, 49 sales offices and more than 150 stock points strategically located around world

HEMPEL produces protective coatings for the Marine, Protective, Container, Yacht and Decorative markets. From buildings, bridges and windmills and to pipelines, containers and ships, our coatings protect man-made structures from the corrosive forces of nature and, we believe, make them more attractive.

P.O. Box 265415, Three Rivers 1929 Shop 3, Head Office Building Vision 21 Industrial Park Steel Road, Peacehaven Vereeniging, 1939 Phone # : [+27] 16 423 3397 Mobile # : [+27] 71 641 6002 Fax # : [+27] 11 864 6368 E-mail: best@hempel.com Website: www.hempel.com

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company profile

BP: Helping you to get further Editorial: Harriet Pattison

South Africa holds valuable potential for one of the world’s largest energy companies and with three divisions currently in operation, BP SA is now looking to invest an estimated R5 billion over the next five years with R2.5 billion of this being spent on upgrading the SAPREF refinery - helping South Africa meet the cleaner fuels and efficiency specifications looking to be set out by Government in 2017.

BP is, irrefutably, one of the world’s leading international oil and gas companies – with fuel used by clients for an array of applications including; transportation, energy for both light and heat and not to mention, the importance of petrochemical products.

The South African arm of BP currently operates in Angola, Mozambique and South Africa and concentrates on finding, extracting and refining oil and gas to developing advanced bio fuels for those living across southern Africa.

ANGOLA BP SA focuses on the exploration and production of oil and gas in Angola - an upstream location. Its plans long-term are to enhance its efforts there, helping to

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contribute significantly to both the social and economic developments of the country.

To date, Angola stands as one of the fastest growing businesses in the company’s E&P portfolio and represents one of its most important assets with an investment, to date, of more than $25 billion. BP now plans to invest a further $15 billion over the next ten years in exploration and development ventures.

The company’s history in Angola dates back more than three decades. Following a merger with Amoco in the 1990’s, it gained further and more substantial interests in offshore deep and ultra-deep waters with blocks 18 and 31 located in the Lower Congo Basin.

Block 31 is a large-scale deep-water production – Plutao, Saturno, Venus and Marte (PSVM). As production started in December 2012, a production rate of 150,000 barrels a day was obtained only a year later. With water depths of 2,000

BP SA

©Hans Engbers | Shutterstock.com

meters and a width spread across 34km, the production capacity was set up in November 2013 following the implementation of a new well in the Marte field.

MA-PA was the first well to be brought online from the Marte field to the PSUM FPSO – the first FPSO in Angolan ultra-deep waters – the field produces hydrocarbons via the FPSO and has a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels.

In 2011 alone, BP SA acquired a further five new deep and ultra-deep water blocks, located in prime positions, in the Kwana and Benguela basins, including blocks 19 and 24. These regions are particularly sought after due to the potential they hold – much of this potential is attributed to the geology which is thought to mirror Brazil’s hydrocarbon rich pre-salt play.

With a total acreage of 32,650km2, today BP SA has interests in nine blocks across Angola.

SOUTH AFRICA With over 500 BP service stations nationwide, the South African sector of BP continues to hold its position as one of the largest oil companies in the country. Focusing on the refining and marketing aspect of fuels and lubricants, BP SA also operates nine depots and three coastal installations with the largest rail gantry in Africa, located in Pretoria.

With further upgrades in the pipeline, these will help to facilitate the insurance of security of supply in the locations that BP currently operates in – ensuring a safer and much more efficient distribution, as a result of improved road safety and shorter delivery routes to customers.

And through the company’s new and cutting edge Fuels Technology Center in Johannesburg, BP SA is able to provide differentiated fuels to the South African market.

With more than 1,000 employees working for the

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company profile

Š TK Kurikawa | Shutterstock.com South African subsidiary, BP SA now has offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.

In a joint venture between Shell SA Refining and BP SA, SAPREF stands as the largest crude oil refinery in southern Africa with 35% of its refining capacity.

The statistics for the refinery are certainly impressive with up to 24,000 tons of crude oil processed on an everyday basis and 2.7 billion litres of petrol produced every year - incidentally, the latter is enough to transport 800,000 cars all around the world. The conditions are harsh for the 700 employees and 500 contractors, working in temperatures of up to 700 degrees and pressures up to 120 bar.

Refining a variety of petroleum products, including; diesel, aviation fuel, paraffin, petrol and marine fuel oil, SAPREF has a design capacity to process between 180,000 and 190,000 barrels per day, all dependent on the type of crude oil processed.

MOZAMBIQUE With operations beginning as far back as the 1920’s, BP Mozambique now stands as the second largest oil company operating in South Africa today. Originally going into a partnership with Shell under management

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of BP, Shell left Mozambique in 1978 leaving BP to take over the assets.

A supply and marketing business with SA Fuels Value Chain (SA FVC), the Mozambique arm of the business includes; retail, commercial, aviation and lubes operations. Today, BP operates in Mozambique with no external shareholding and stands as the biggest foreign oil company in the country. Supplying fuel to various industries, BP Mozambique sells solvents, aviation fuels and lubricants to clients and with 150 employees across its business, the company now owns 28 retail outlets and maintains a presence at eight airports.

In 2012, BP Mozambique decided to rejuvenate and upgrade the Nacala terminal due to an increasing market demand, at an estimated cost of tens of millions of dollars. Helping to increase the oil and gas capacity of the region, it is hoped that, long term, this upgrade will help to ensure a more efficient security of supply for the nation. Standing as one of the central locations for operations within Mozambique, the Nacala terminal upgrade will include the installation of new pipeline, improvements to road gantry, the renewal of tank farms and pump stations and the modernisation of

BP SA the fire-fighting system.

With US$10 million already invested in this project, the social benefits are evident with over 200 locals employed in various roles throughout the process and further opportunities expected in the future.

Implementing new operational methods, this upgrade has also seen the latest technological advancements being put into practise.

“We are encouraged by the progress being made in South Africa and Mozambique to establish an environment of policy certainty and continuity for all economic activity”

With the aim to provide the widest range of BP’s globally produced chemicals to the South African market at competitive prices, a range of BP’s chemical products are available at BP Amoco’s global production base.

Looking to the future and BP SA has set aside R5 billion to invest in South Africa and Mozambique over the coming years – with R2.5 billion of this planned for the SAPREF refinery upgrade in a continued bid to ensure it meets the cleaner fuels specifications the African government is looking to introduce and implement in 2017. R1 billion is to be spent on new fuel terminals in South Africa and Mozambique with R2 billion spent on upgrading and expanding its retail network. This significant investment highlights further the growing confidence and commitment in South Africa as an attractive investment destination, especially for some of the larger energy brands.

Iain Conn, BP Group Chief Executive for refining and marketing explains: “We are encouraged by the progress being made in South Africa and Mozambique to establish an environment of policy certainty and continuity for all economic activity.”

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The company is also planning to recapitalise the Matola and Beira terminals through the refurbishment of the fuel station network, storage depots and aviation fuel supply at the new Maputo airport. Much like the Nacala upgrades, these projects will help to deliver and ensure a more efficient fuel-supply service to Mozambique.

BP Africa’s preferred service provider!

BP PRODUCTS Primarily used for business and industrial use, BP has a range of products that are used every day throughout the continent. Ultimate fuels are a much cleaner alternative – specially formulated, they contain protection properties and work to move much more efficiently than standard fuels. Ultimate fuels also help to ensure the elimination of harmful deposits in car engines, creating the optimum operation of each vehicle.

One of the world’s leading suppliers of fuels and technical services, BP Marine supplies fuel to some of the largest tanker, container and bulk shipping companies in the world. While managing the skies, Air BP stands as one of the largest suppliers of aviation fuels and services with an impressive network of operations spanning across 600 locations in over 45 countries. Selling over seven billion gallons of fuel every year, Air BP places 65 of its 600 locations now in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Engineering Fields: • • • • •

CIVIL STRUCTURAL MECHANICAL ROADS & TRANSPORTATION ELECTRICAL

• • • • •

URBAN GEOTECHNICAL PETROCHEMICAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION

Branches: CAPE TOWN • DURBAN • JOHANNESBURG PORT ELIZABETH • EAST LONDON • GEORGE PIETERMARITZBURG • PORT SHEPSTONE

w w w. k a n t e y s . c o . z a

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company profile

A R19 billion project pipeline Editorial: Ajuanne Payne

High-performing, affordable housing property developer, Calgro M3 has experienced five consecutive years of profit growth and has been providing for South Africa’s low-cost housing needs for two decades.

With record profits announced this year, a project pipeline worth a vast R19 billion, and continued demand for infrastructure investments nationally, the company is on an upwards trajectory that looks set to continue in the years to come.

Celebrating 20 years in business this year, Calgro M3 is a multi-disciplinary residential development company operating through its subsidiaries out of eight locations across South Africa.

Unlike some of Calgro’s counterparts in the industry, it is not involved in big-ticket developments such as retail sites, industrial sites, airports and civil construction, rather focusing on low to mid cost housing developments. There is a huge demand for affordable homes and lifestyles in South Africa and Calgro is one of the companies satisfying this need – a solid growth market for the company.

This focus has proven lucrative to the company over the years, with Calgro now entering its fifth consecutive year of revenue and profit growth.

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In a nutshell, the company purchases land at a competitive price and then covers all areas of development, from feasibility and environmental studies, infrastructure development, installation of services, town planning, marketing and ending with housing construction.

Projects for Calgro are split fairly evenly between public and privately funded developments and range across all areas of lower cost housing – from government funded housing right the way up to mid to high income private housing developments, with the primary area of business being in Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing.

A FLEXIBLE BUSINESS MODEL Due to the company’s focus on a full range of housing in the low-cost and middle market areas,

Calgro M3

it has buffered itself against fluctuations in the building and construction market. By focusing on different niches, Calgro is able to adapt its business model and move focus depending on where the demand is highest.

It is this adaptability that has been the key contributor to Calgro’s impressive and consistent growth story.

“Either you build fully subsidised units and social housing for government or you build for the financial institutions, the bonded market,” comments Ben Pierre Malherbe, CEO of Calgro.

“I think we are very fortunate that the market segment we are playing in has a lot of support from the public and the private sector with the new drive towards service delivery for the local elections coming up in 2016. There are a lot of things

happening in our market sector.”

In 2012, the South African Government launched its ambitious National Infrastructure Plan, aiming to ‘transform the economic landscape while simultaneously creating significant numbers of new jobs, and strengthen the delivery of basic services’ and included in this R827 billion commitment is a significant drive towards providing affordable housing.

Investment in low-cost housing by the South African Government also lends itself to alleviating employment issues for some of the communities the developments aim to service. Due to these types of projects being more labour-intensive, progress in this area of infrastructure has the potential to redress unemployment levels and also to provide workers from some disadvantaged communities with

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company profile

new skills, increasing future employment potential.

Calgro had been prepared to move focus slightly from the more affordable end of their development business as of 2014, predicting a deceleration in government investment in this area – however the opposite has proven the case.

“What did not happen that we expected after the 2014 election is that the focus on infrastructure would fall away,” commented Malherbe, “but you’ve seen it just continue. We expected there to be a period where there would be a lot more focus on just building top-structures and not the support [from government], but the support has just sustained and there’s still a lot of money spent on infrastructure guaranteed moving forward.”

The South African housing backlog, coupled with accelerating urban migration, means there is a pressing demand which won’t be alleviated for many years to come.

Aside from Calgro’s ability to shift focus between different sub-markets, the company has buffered itself against losses by certain risk mitigation factors within its business model. It will not build houses before they are sold, meaning Calgro’s management

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can pull a project relatively simply if economic issues make it necessary.

Also, wherever possible, Calgro likes to be the land-owner in a project and subsequently owns large amounts of land with the potential for development.

Malherbe explained: “What’s important here is that we are the land owner and we prefer to be the land owner - so we decide when we work with private sector and when we work with public sector.”

This decision is another factor lending flexibility to the company – and one that has also led the company to diversify into a new area; memorial parks.

SOUTH AFRICA’S FIRST OFF-GRID COMPANY “The idea for memorial parks originated when we looked at our business and we saw that we own vast tracks of land and it’s not all developable as residential opportunities. So we looked at alternatives – what do we do with those pieces of land that we sit on? Because if you don’t do anything with it, it becomes a dumping site for the community,” comments Malherbe.

Calgro M3

“What’s important here is that we are the land owner and we prefer to be the land owner” In the development of this new arm of the business, Calgro will also be achieving a first in South African business as it aims to make the new subsidiary a completely off-grid company.

At a time when Minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, has predicted that Eskom’s continued issues with supply shortfalls means the population can expect load shedding for at least another two years, Calgro saw an opportunity with the new subsidiary to combat power supply issues and set an example for others dealing with the same struggles daily.

The subsidiary will generate enough of its own electricity using renewable energy to run all areas of the business, including its physical office buildings.

“We believe that in this era of tight electricity supply, any move to generate one’s own power, to be independent of Eskom, is an important element of sustainability,” commented Wikus Lategan of Calgro. “It has been estimated that a lack of power has cost this country 10% of GDP and businesses need to take action now to limit the negative impact on their bottom line.”

Not only will this initiative combat power supply issues within Calgro, but will benefit the locality around it as well, alleviating demand on the already stretched local electricity grid.

“The offices have been designed to operate independently of South Africa’s electricity grid, using various forms of renewable energy with generator backup,” Lategan explained further.

“All of the memorial parks and all the facilities associated with this company will be entirely selfsufficient in power generation. We believe that this will be the first entirely off-the-grid company of

size in the country.”

The new venture, Calgro M3 Memorial Parks, is set to launch in the near future with the Nasrec Private Memorial Park. This first in what the company hopes to be a suite of parks will initially be able to accommodate around 25,000 grave sites, with the potential for expansion to another 14,500 sites.

Calgro will have the opportunity to apply the lessons it learns in alternative energy to future developments – of which there are a significant amount in the pipeline.

According to the company’s most recently released results, it has seen a 37.9% rise in profit after tax on last year – with earnings per share up by 31.9% and a project pipeline in excess of R19 billion, which has the very real potential to take Calgro over the R1 billion revenue mark in the near future.

Calgro has shown, time and again, that it has the diversity to grow steadily in what is not a steady market. With record profits for this year and further diversification within the company, it is a safe bet to assume that Calgro will continue to pave the way to its own success in the years to come and may well crest R1 billion in revenue by the end of this year alone

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Delivering sustainable infrastructure that improves our world.

“DOING GOOD WHILE DOING BUSINESS”

“My future?”

“Infrastructure!”

www.bigenafrica.com PAGE 79

company profile

Number one in the region Editorial: Ajuanne Payne

Currently transporting 30,000 passengers a day in and around Lephalale in Waterberg, Lowveld Bus Service is a family-run transport business that has developed over the years to become number one in its region. We talk to the Frans Rossel about the success of the family business and the key steps that have got it to where it is today…

Lowveld Bus Service has been a steady presence in the Lephalale region for over 30 years, servicing the transport needs of state, corporate and private clients. Founded

by Louis Rossel and Garnet van der Walt in 1983, 1989 saw the company win its first large corporate client, working for what was then an Iscor facility at the Grootegeluk Coal Mine – a contract it still holds today with current owners, Exxaro.

With a 270 strong fleet of buses and over 450 employees, Lowveld Bus Service is the largest company of its type in the Waterberg region by a long way. Mr Rossel has successfully run the company ever since and still sits in the CEO chair today.

Frans Rossel, Louis Rossel’s son and general manager for the company, tells us more about the

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background of business.

“The company was started in 1983 by my father, Mr Louis Rossel and Garnet Van der Walt. In 1989 they built a bigger depot in Onverwacht and the mine started here in Lephalale, Ellisras. In 1998 Lowveld acquired a Department of Transport contract and then in 2001, Mr Rossel bought out the shares from Mr van der Walt, and sold 26% shares to Mr Godfrey Senoamadi, an employee. In 2012, Mr Senoamadi retired and sold his 26% shares to a group of black shareholders,” explains Frans.

A FAMILY BUSINESS It is rare indeed that you find a founder still running their company for as long as Lowveld Bus Service has been directed by CEO, Louis Rossel. For a man with over 30 years’ experience under his belt and a

Lowveld Bus Service

solid, successful company, you would think he might feel like his work is done. Not so in this case – an attitude of passion for the business he built with his own hands is one that has kept Rossel senior at the helm making the strategic decisions that have led the company so well.

“The company is basically his legacy, and although LBS has developed from a company one-man show to a corporate environment with a strong management team, he is still involved on a daily basis.” says Frans.

When a CEO has a real passion for their work this definitely reflects on their employees, and as such Rossel senior’s love for his company has bled into the good work ethic of his staff and is reflected in Frans Rossel’s early desire to join the family business.

“I think because I grew up here as a child, running

around on the premises, it’s something that came naturally - I just knew I wanted to be involved,” says Frans of his early ambitions to get involved in the business.

When Frans left university, after spending a year in England he returned to South Africa and Lowveld Bus Service to help run the business.

“I went to university for four years and got my Honours degree in Logistics Management, then went to England for a year and worked there and when I came back my brother in-law, Dirk Heyns, was the general manager of the company. I was then fortunate enough to be working with someone who is more-or-less my age and it was easy for me to learn and to get to know how things go by working alongside him. His industrial engineering background and that same passion for the business

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company profile

was pivotal in reinventing the company through the rapid growth period.”

“I’ve been here 10 years now and started off as the operational manager, but when Dirk Heyns moved to the United States in June last year, I took over the position of general manager.”

FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH What Frans is referring to is the decade of organic growth that has led Lowveld Bus Service to almost treble the size of its fleet in recent years – a further testament to the care with which the business continues to be run.

“From 2001 onwards, we’ve just kept running smoothly,” Frans explains.

In 2003 the bus company was awarded contracts for three different mines in the Thabazimbi area, which led to the establishment of sister company, ThabaTrans, with a fleet of over 65 buses.

“We’ve grown a lot,” explains Frans, “more than three times in size in the past five to seven years - we currently have about 270 buses running and we serve basically the whole Waterberg area.”

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The acquisition of nearly 200 new vehicles is no small investment, and is a direct reflection on the increased demand for the company’s services locally.

“In the past three to five years we acquired most of the contracts on the Medupi Power Station and that includes contracts with Hitachi, Murray and Roberts, Kentz - all those big construction companies that are currently busy on the power station.”

On top of this fairly recent work for the huge Medupi project, Lowveld Bus Service has its 15-year contract for the Grootegeluk Exxaro mine – the first of its large contracts and a long-standing business relationship for the company.

Aside from these corporate contracts, says Frans, “we have a contract with the Department of Transport to transport commuters from the various rural villages into town on a daily basis back and forth.

“We also do private hire that goes nationally throughout South Africa, but it’s a very small part of our service. Our main service is local communities in the Lephalale area to and from work and private hires in the local area.”

Lowveld Bus Service LOOKING AHEAD Frans says that the company is very much of the opinion that “if we do a good job and we do what we do here, we don’t really need to go anywhere else,” and so far that has proved true, as it has long been the number one private bus company in the whole Waterberg area.

Considering the buzz in Waterberg at the moment and some of the colliery and mining projects going on, Lowveld Bus Service can anticipate a continuation of their success as the go-to transport provider for large companies operating there.

“There’s quite a lot of talk about starting up another power station when they have finished building Medupi Power Station in Lephalale and there’s new mines that’ve opened. Sasol bought some farms in the area with coal rich minerals that they possibly want to convert to fuel in the future,” says Frans.

“So, we are in the right place at the right time as we have been and by the time that the Medupi Power Station project is completed, there will be new projects coming up. We’ll basically just be shifting our services form one project to the next project, if it all works out.”

Off the back of these predictions relating to the active industrial sector in the region, Frans sees further years of organic growth ahead for the family business. After the fleet investments in recent times, Lowveld Bus Services is ideally positioned for what should be a busy few years ahead.

Aside from investments in equipment and facilities, Lowveld Bus Services has ensured to look after its staff over the years, and has invested a significant amount in staff-development.

Rossel sees this care for the company’s employees as a key contributor to the company’s success over the years – as the business is family-run it treats its staff as extensions of that family.

“The key factor for success is the fact that it’s a tight-knit run company,” says Frans. “Of course, as it’s a family-run business, people put a lot more effort into it - we’re getting a lot done with a small amount of people. If you compare us with different companies that are a similar fleet size, they’ve got a lot more staff per bus than we have, so we’re running it as quite a tight unit – which also keeps costs down.

“Lastly, Mr Rossel has vast experience. He has seen this company grow from five buses to almost 300 buses and that speaks for itself,” concludes Frans

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DWFCOLL 518649

BRIDGESTONE SOUTH AFRICA ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO ITS COMMERCIAL TYRE OPERATIONS

Sales and distribution of all new and retreaded truck, bus and ear th mover t yres will be spearheaded by the newly- formed company within the Bridgestone Group, Bridgestone South Africa Commercial (P t y) Ltd. Par t of the change is the introduction of accrediting selected Supa Quick branches as Bridgestone Commercial accredited dealers.

Tel: 011 387 2000 www.bridgestone.co.za Bridgestone Commercial Tyre Ser vice Centre

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company profile

Connecting the African continent Editorial: Ajuanne Payne

With over 15 years’ experience transporting goods and a track-record for reliable, quality service, one of the companies forming the backbone of regional trade in Southern Africa is Trans-Tech Logistics. It is a company that has the local expertise that is so essential for the large clients it serves and in this issue of IndustrySA we look deeper into what makes this logistics company tick.

The highly diverse region of Southern Africa has been growing and transforming over the past decade at a fast rate compared with global economies. Rich in assets with large areas of untapped agricultural and mineral promise, Southern Africa, alongside the wider growth story currently playing out across the continent as a whole, is set for further exponential growth and development in the years to come.

But what are the key factors that will affect the smooth development of these burgeoning economies? In order to achieve progress there has to be a spirit of collaboration; and it will be the region’s ability to facilitate successful regional economic integration that, along with infrastructure investments, will be a vital foundation of this evolution.

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Trade across regional borders is increasing and an effective logistics network is one important factor facilitating this. With the slogan ‘Connecting the African Continent’ summing up the company, Trans-Tech Logistics are a leading Southern African cross-border freight specialist with the capacity to serve customers in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, but with plans to expand its reach further into the continent.

Offering comprehensive services encompassing collection, clearance and delivery between the locations it services, Trans-Tech serves clients across a wide range of industries in Southern Africa; including mining, food, agriculture, chemicals, retail, tobacco and timber, to name but a few.

Chokani Mhango, business manager for Trans-

Trans-Tech Logistics

Tech, explains the origins of the company further: “it was formed in 1997, out of Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi with the full purpose of transportation services within the Southern African region and grew over the years as the Malawi South African route became a strong route.

“Initially an agency used to manage our South African business for us and the head office of the company was the Malawi office. But, as time went on and our strategic values and goals changed, we decided to move the head office to Johannesburg and as a result, open our own offices here in 2013.”

A DIVERSE OPERATION Trans-Tech’s main focus is on moving manufactured products from South Africa into Southern Africa and in return moving agriculture products out of Southern Africa into South Africa, focusing on the regional trade

requirements of its clients.

“We’ve got a number of contracts,” explains Mhango, “we move a lot of paper and paper products into Malawi and Zambia from South Africa and from overseas. We move machinery in to different mines in Mozambique - there are some big mine projects going on in Tete and we work for Vale Mine transporting various products on their behalf.

“We move concrete sleepers and railway parts; we move a lot of bitumen, for the building of roads into Zambia, into Zimbabwe, into Mozambique and into Malawi for different road construction projects that are being run there.

“On top of that we also move groceries. We have an agreement with retailers in Malawi and we move all their grocery & household products for them,” says Mhango.

The company also transports a lot of sugar out of Malawi. As one of the country’s key exports, about 60,000

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company profile

tonnes a year, Trans-Tech is contracted as a transporter in that industry, and is responsible for some of the trade in that precious commodity in the region.

One of the company’s biggest areas of business in Malawi is construction and it subsequently has a lot of work in moving construction materials, such as cement.

Delving into yet another industry served by TransTech, Mhango says the company has “recently acquired a new contract for moving packaging products and materials for fast food retailers in Malawi and we also move a lot of soft drinks to locations in Malawi and Zambia.

“Lastly, out of Africa and into South Africa we move a lot of tobacco, normally to be shipped to Europe. We move the cargo directly to the port containerised or break bulk, which is then shipped to whatever destination it needs to go to,” he says.

PLANS FOR AFRICAN EXPANSION The company has a smooth operation that already works within four economies in Southern Africa and an organic step forward for Trans-Tech will be further expansion of its footprint into other Southern African countries.

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“The drive, energy and work ethic that the managing director has is what drives the rest of the operation and the rest of the staff”

Trans-Tech Logistics With the fourth largest port for the Indian Ocean at Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, there is a lot of trade going on in the coastal country, and Mhango can see the company taking steps to take advantage of the favourable market there: “It’s a strategic one for us because it’s a very big port for the Indian Ocean and a lot of shipping traffic on to the continent docks at Dar es Salaam. A lot of our clients in the northern parts of Malawi and in East Africa rely on that Tanzanian port, so that is something we are seriously considering moving into.

“Angola is booming as well because their oil production has really jumped up. When the oil price was still attractive, they were one of the fastest growing economies. It is still an opportune time to start looking at Angola; I know the oil prices have dipped but we all know that it’s temporary and when oil prices return to their peak, Angola will be somewhere strategic to work with,” says Mhango.

“We also want to expand in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and we are growing our fleet so that we can start doing more domestic work.”

With plans in the pipeline for further geographical expansion, Mhango stresses the importance of the area in which they are already an established leader.

“Our stronghold is the Malawi route. We are the biggest transporter between South Africa and Malawi and we want to ensure that we keep that.”

“We also want to expand in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and we are growing our fleet so that we can start doing more domestic work”

KEY PROJECTS Some of the important contracts that Trans-Tech is currently working on are very much centred on large infrastructure projects that are ongoing in the Southern African region.

Malawi is a land-locked country, and as such a key focus for its government is developing the country’s export infrastructure – i.e. better connections to port facilities. One huge project that is contributing to this is the Nacala Corridor railway, currently being built between Malawi and Mozambique, which will eventually export national resources straight to the Nacala Port in Mozambique and is expected to be carrying around 18 million tonnes per year by 2017, allowing the country to have access to the sea at a lower cost.

Mhango explains the role Trans-Tech is playing in the $1 billion project: “we are moving various cargos for that project on behalf of a huge European construction company that procures out of South Africa.

“We are their primary transporter – we move

P.O. Box 145, Midrand, Gauteng, 1685 East Rand Head Office: Plot 59. Road No. 5, Brentwood Park 011 973 4585 Fax: 011 973 4181 Email: grant@fullertrain.co.za www.fullertrain.co.za

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company profile everything they need for the railway in terms of the train tracks, the railway sleepers and all of that into different parts of Malawi and Mozambique where the construction is taking place for the railway.”

As an evident testament to the good reputation of the company, Trans-Tech has also won another contract with the Procurement arm of the same company on a different infrastructure project – transporting bitumen for road construction in Malawi.

Another of the company’s clients, are installing electricity and phone lines in the Central Region of Malawi and Trans-tech is transporting the wooden poles for this project from South Africa. At the same time it is working again with another mine in Mozambique on a big coal project in Tete alongside another South African Procurement and Logistics firm.

Trans-Tech is a valuable asset to large corporate

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“Our stronghold is the Malawi route.

We are the biggest transporter between South Africa and Malawi and we want to ensure that we keep that”

Trans-Tech Logistics clients operating in the region - it is a local company that really knows its market inside-out and brings with it the expertise to get the job done well and at a competitive price.

LOOKING AHEAD With an impressive client list already, Mhango explains that the company is gearing up to take the steps needed to ensure it can continue to provide a premier service to its clients, revealing that the company is expecting to heavily invest in expanding its fleet in the next five years.

Trans-Tech is also looking towards increasing its service offering to include freight-forwarding and border services, with plans to partner with ship and air liner companies to enable it to provide a complete in-house solution for its clients.

With such a diverse client-base, and healthy prospects for further geographical and service

expansions on the horizon, Mhango places the responsibility for the company’s success firmly at the door of its managing director and staff.

“The drive, energy and work ethic that the managing director has is what drives the rest of the operation and the rest of the staff,” explains Mhango.

“And we have very good staff personnel - everyone is willing to give 110%. People don’t just clock in and clock out - they are happy, they enjoy working here. We are always constantly training our staff members and just trying to better them as individuals as we know that that will benefit them and the effort they give to the company.

“Lastly, we are always trying to be better - we are signing new clients every year. In the bigger pool we are still a small fish, but we have so much more growth opportunity and that’s what we’re looking forward to,” he concludes

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company profile

Reliable power generation Editorial: Rebecca Bingley

With load shedding an increasingly prominent issue across Southern Africa, this family-run company based in Krugersdorp is providing effective solutions to the power generation shortages – successfully installing many generating sets to South Africa and neighbouring states. First founded in 1959 by Mick van Rensburg, VR Engineering now stands as one of the biggest manufactures of Diesel generating sets in the country.

A leading provider of Diesel Generators in South Africa, VR Engineering was established in 1959, initially supplying generating sets to the agricultural market at a time when South Africa’s electricity supply was limited.

Founded by Mick van Rensburg, who still heads up the company today, he explained to IndustrySA back in 2013, the growth the company has experienced since its inception: “When I started my apprenticeship, I started in this region and I started working on generators. This was in 1955, then in 1959 I decided to start in business on my own and I formed VR Engineering, selling generating sets mainly to the farming community.

“Later, we began selling on the open market and to various different industries. This included communications, media, banks, airports, hospitals, data centres, mining, construction and more.”

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A predominately family-run business, Mick’s son, Nico, came on board and joined his father’s business in 1997 – “By then we had been in business for a long time and today we are still servicing generators that we sold in the 60s and 70s,” Mick added.

VR Engineering secured its first order from the Post and Telecommunication sector in 1972 for 35 generation sets which ranged from 5 kVA to 175 kVA for stationary and trailer mounted units.

Over the next decade, VR Engineering continued on its growth path, moving to its current office located in Krugersdorp in 1982 – with a handling capacity of 30 tons and a floor area measuring 3500m2, this expansion led the company to increase its manufacturing power range from 20 kVA to 3500 kVA. Delving into a range of other markets in 1983, VR Engineering experienced growing success whilst

VR ENGINEERING

maintaining its stance in the region as a reliable and leading industry specialist with previous generating sets supplied throughout the company’s history to customers, still be maintained today due to ongoing records kept by the business.

“We are proud to say that A.M.F sets supplied since 1964 for SA Railways, P.W.D, leading hospitals and nursing homes are still in daily use with the same reliable control systems.”

POWER SHORTAGE SOLUTIONS In November 2014, country wide black outs due to power generation shortages meant that load shedding was reintroduced. The Majuba power plant – delivering an estimated 10% of the country’s entire power – lost its generation capacity following the collapse of one of its coal storage silos at the beginning of November so coal

deliveries to the plant were halted. A further crack on a second silo meant the plant had to shut down for the second time in two months.

In December last year, major stage three load shedding was launched in South Africa by Eskom, following the shutdown of two power plants as a result of diesel shortages. Eskom fell short of the 28,000MW electricity demands within the country on November 4th 2014 by 4,000MW, despite its ability to generate an estimated 45,583MW but due to “planned and unplanned” maintenance work, it produced just 24,000MW. With these rising and seemingly unmanageable demands in electricity across South Africa and the increasing occurrence of load shedding that we are now seeing on a regular basis, this is encouraging more and more businesses and homeowners to invest in emergency back-up power systems.

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company profile “Years ago, the demand for electricity was not anything close to what it is today and agriculture was our main market.

“Because of growth and development, markets and demand has changed completely. There is now a huge demand for emergency back-up power,” Nico explained to IndustrySA in 2013.

In case of these regularly occurring black outs, VR Engineering’s generator provides an excellent and efficient solution, working as either an emergency standby power supply during generation shortages or even as a prime power source for those will no permanent access to the national grid system.

“We are working with some of the biggest mining companies in South Africa and we work with all divisions, these guys are our biggest clients right now” If the slump in energy supply continues to plague South Africa, VR Engineering will be looking to invest in a larger manufacturing facility to cope with the demand for its generators. Larger industries, private firms and farmers are already starting to consider opting out of electricity supplied by Eskom, largely due to fears of continued unreliability and rising costs, so the solutions provided by VR Engineering certainly seem a viable and safer option going forward.

“A mixed energy system of multiple-suppliers is a necessity for South Africa. Relying on one supplier is proving to be too risky and we predict a marginal increase in sales of diesel generating sets,” VR Engineering explain.

Despite the economic crisis that has affected South Africa since 2008, VR Engineering has coped relatively well due to the variety of the activities it offers and the

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sectors it continues to be involved in.

“In 2008, just prior to the economic downturn, South Africa was faced with a power crisis. Eskom could not meet the demand and during this time we were successful,” explained Nico.

“When the slowdown came into full effect, we felt it.

We had projects lined up which fell through. Especially in the automotive industry, even to this day, companies have not purchased the generators that they ordered a few years ago.”

Looking forward, Nico explains to IndustrySA the importance and influence the mining industry has had in terms of business and the growing success of its machines being used across various mining divisions.

“We are working with some of the biggest mining companies in South Africa and we work with all divisions, these guys are our biggest clients right now.

“The machines we are making for the mining industry are very specialised. As far as I know, we are the only company in the world to have built these machines and we have done so with a very high success rate.

“Some of our machines have been so successful, we have refurbished them and sent them back to the mines where they are doing much more work than they were originally designed to do.”

A PRIME POSITION With over 50 years’ experience working within the energy generation space, VR Engineering has, despite the challenges it has faced operating in South Africa, established a prime position to offer its customers an alternative solution when energy supply falters.

Mick explained: “We are well placed to serve the Southern-African market but beyond that it becomes a competitive war especially with the challenges in South Africa arising from labour issues, inflation and rising manufacturing costs.”

However, with repeat and regular customers on its database, VR Engineering’s competitiveness and aim going forward is in ensuring it continues to meet the specific requirements of its customers facing reoccurring power shortages.

A manufacturer of stationary, mobile and sound attenuated sets, VR Engineering today stands as the sole manufacturer in South Africa that refrains from subcontracting, completing all steel fabrications for base plates, trailer chassis and panel chassis in-house emphasizing the company’s ethos of ‘better control means better product.’ Claiming to maintain one of the shortest delivery times within the industry has further helped in placing this family-run business firmly on the map

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VR Engineering

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company profile

A municipality for future generations Editorial: Harriet Pattison

A local municipality located in West Rand District in Gauteng, Mogale City, with a 10-person strong mayoral committee, has attracted investments worth R16.2 billion – half of which was realised over a five year period from 2009-2014. With infrastructural developments and transport upgrades underway, Mogale City’s main aim is to leave a cleaner and more environmentally friendly municipality for future generations to come…

Located directly south of the City of Johannesburg and forming one part of the three district municipalities that makes up the peripheral areas of Gauteng, Mogale City Local Municipality is largely rural with the northern parts comprising the bulk of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and the Magaliesburg and Witwatersberg Ranges situated in the north-west.

Assisted by the 10-person mayoral committee, the Executive Mayor has principal strategic and political responsibility over the city. Mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane, first adorning the mayoral chain in 2006, helps to identify the needs of the municipality, prioritise them and subsequently works to address the needs of the locals.

STRONG INVESTMENT During the State of the City Address last year, Executive Mayor Koketso announced that Mogale City has attracted R16.2 billion worth of investment – with almost half of this total realised during the period 2009-2014.

As a result of these investments, the municipality has seen numerous and significant infrastructural

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developments and plans taking place over the last few years with many still under construction, due for completion later this year.

R200 million has been devoted to help improve electrical supply capacity to accommodate new developments, this involved upgrading transmission lines and substations. Condale substation is currently undergoing construction upgrades to further increase its distribution capacity – currently supplying the CBD and two industrial parks – this will increase from 100MVA to 240MVA, in a bid worth R150 million.

R139 million has been spent over the past five years, upgrading the road and stormwater network with a further R79 million spent on road rehabilitation and maintenance, improving the flow of traffic and road access, chiefly for commercial purposes.

In recent years, R220 million has been spent on sanitation and water projects, with plans to improve the water network by the end of June this year following investments of R123 million.

With even more investments on the horizon, the new Cradlestone Mall was opened last year following construction costs of R1.5 billion and due for completion at the end of this year, Netcare is building a 150-bed private hospital in

Mogale City municipality

Pinehaven right next door. While 10km away, the Key West Mall underwent a R300 million expansion as a result of increasing market demands.

The Silverstar Casino is undergoing dramatic upgrades due to a R480 million investment from Tsogo Sun. In a singlephase refurbishment program, the construction will involve six cinemas – all boasting 3D screens, a 12-lane bowling alley, a large outdoor screen in the central square with four new restaurants also surrounding the area and two additional restaurants indoors, a refurbished casino, unique beer garden and upmarket indoor multipurpose events venue with additional parking.

The Leratong Nodal Development is also set to begin commencement this year – the R1.5 billion project, over a 10-year timeframe – will incorporate government precinct and service centres, a shopping mall and rented and bonded houses, including give away stock.

Working with the municipalities of Mogale City, Tshwane, Madibeng and Johannesburg, the Gauteng Provincial Government, alongside the private sector, is looking to unlock the potential of the Lanseria Airport Logistics Hub. With R500 million worth of investment in capex already put forward by the private sector, a further R10 billion is expected in investment for this project over the next 15 years.

And in a statement earlier this year, Executive Major Koketso explained: “As part of meeting the goal of radical transformation and modernisation of the economy, the municipality will embark on a deliberate SMART CITY INITIATIVE which will stimulate socio-economic development and growth. The hallmark of this initiative will be a smart and digitally-enabled government that promotes mass access to and digital inclusion of the residents of the city through provision of affordable broadband.”

GREEN INITIATIVES As with so many municipalities in South Africa, Mogale City is continually looking at ways in which it can turn its waste into energy – leaving a cleaner and more inviting environment for future generations. With various projects and further investments planned, it hopes to reduce the city’s dependence on fossil fuels and the subsequent burden of landfill waste.

One such project leading the reigns is the R3.5 billion private investment by Blue Waste to Energy (Pty) Ltd, which will see the construction of a new power plant located at Luipaardslei Landfill site -

PAGE 95

company profile planning to generate 72 MW/h of electricity from an estimated 550,000 tons of waste every year.

The company’s patented Blue System Technology will help it to address the challenges faced with alternative energy through optimising the increasing waste disposed on landfill sites in different municipalities in a greener and more environmentally friendly way.

Truly innovative, this new technology does not release smoke emissions into the atmosphere, nor any form of incineration and does not rely on water resources. Creating 200 permanent jobs and up to 240 indirect jobs in the city, it will stand as the first of its kind in South Africa, ensuring it incorporates the valid participation of local people and local skills.

With future energy programs helping to limit supply challenges down the line, reducing the impact of convectional electricity generation on the environment, energy efficient street lights are to be installed and the implementation of a solar geyser programme, is currently underway.

Executive Mayor Koketso explains the city has already received numerous awards for being an efficiently run municipality: “We would like to add a feather in our cap as the most-green city in South Africa. In this regard, we intend to develop a large

PAGE 96

scale solar energy project. The solar energy project is expected to produce at least 100MW/h which can supply 20,000 homes.”

HELPING THE LOCALS Mogale City is certainly a municipality that focuses on its people, ensuring their needs are met and opportunities are provided in all walks of life. Running various programmes in support of economic development, the Cooperative Support Programmes are held to help its aspiring entrepreneurs to both register, finance and run cooperatives. And in collaboration with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), Mogale City now runs two incubators – the Chemical Incubator which currently has 24 businesses registered for capacitation in the manufacture of household cleaning detergents and the Construction Incubator, with 45 contractors now being trained in a variety of construction based programmes.

It has also set aside 50% of all its procurement to provide for local suppliers, charging 1% levy of tender value on the non-Mogale City based businesses, appointed to render services for the city, this will be used for Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives of the municipality.

In an unannounced visit to Mogale City earlier this year, Andries Nel, Deputy Minister for Cooperative

BP SA C o n s u l t i n g E n g i n e e r s a n d P r o j e c t M a n a g e r s

We at HAMSA aim to partner with our clients in developing infrastructure and providing the finest quality of service. Our intention is to ensure value, growth and sustainability for client’s stakeholders and shareholders.

We are committed to contributing towards improving lives and developing safe communities.

Our services include: • • • •

Electrical engineering services Industrial and mining Energy management and renewable energy Civil and Structural

•

Providing technical and project management services within the built environment Committed to meet the financial and technical requirements of our clients Innovation backed by reliability Economic value adding solutions Certified ISO 9001:2008

• • • •

Partnering with the Mogale City Local Municipality for a brighter and sustainable future

• • •

Quantity surveying Project Management Corporate social responsibility

Durban – Tel: 031 572 5723 Fax: 086 650 6477 Pretoria – Tel: 012 665 0861 Fax: 012 665 0873 Kimberley – Tel: 082 777 1847 Nelspruit – Tel: 013 754 6605 Polokwane – Tel: 015 291 0730 East London – Tel: 043 748 1370 Cape Town – Tel: 021 820 1418

BBBEE LEVEL 02

info@hamsaeng.co.za

www.hamsaeng.co.za

PAGE 97

company profile Governance and Traditional Affairs, defended the municipality in a statement full of praise: “We have all been inundated by media reports that reinforce a perception that local government is an area of incompetence, where corruption is rife and there is blatant display of uncaring attitudes by public servants.

We want to commend you for many things, but want to say that Mogale City is one of the municipalities that changes the narrative.

“Your municipality is doing well. You have sound financial management systems, good governance and a competent management team with relevant qualifications. Through our interaction with the community of Mogale City, we also found that you have high levels of resident satisfaction. We want to commend you for that.”

The city recently announced upgrades to Krugersdorp one of the central towns - it is home to many businesses and the local university. In a bid to make this town an even more enticing place to live and work, upgrades include developing a range of housing options, improving existing public transport facilities, boosting the already rich and cultural history of the town and creating a sustainable environment in an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint are in the implementation stages.

PAGE 98

VISION 2016 Looking to the future for Mogale City, with further investments and projects planned to ensure its efficiency and reputation as a green city; Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, has recommended that the towns and cities of the West Rand be merged into one metropolitan municipality, with Mogale City at its core.

Mayor Seerane is in support of this decision in helping to not only place Mogale City firmly on the map, but in moving it forward: “In our view, nothing less than the establishment of the metropolitan municipality will adequately define and help us respond to one of the Ten Pillars of the GPG which is decisive spatial transformation as well as speedy achievement of the goal of creating a metropolitan system of local government for the Gauteng City Region.

“We support the metro because it will bring about sound governance in the region; efficient financial management; integrated and costeffective planning and development based on the three themes of functionality, viability and sustainability.”

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BP SA APR

JUN

2012 ISSUE 1

DEC dec

2012 ISSUE 2

2012 ISSUE 5 issue

CAMERON VAN DER BURGH

OAK VALLEY AN AWARD WINNING FAMILY LEGACY

THE BEST STROKE

REZIDOR HOTELS RESOUNDING QUALITY

A.S. VILJOEN BOERDERY

JOSIE FIELD EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE

A FAMILY AFFAIR

FORESTRY SA

DAN PATLANSKY

BRIDGESTONE EARTH MOVING INNOVATION

REFORESTATION OF THE RAINBOW NATION

BRINGING THE WORLD TO ITS KNEES

SOUTHERN AFRICAN

CELLUCITY

SHIPYARDS

THE ORIGINAL RETAILER, STILL LEADING THE WAY

EXPLORING UNCHARTERED TERRITORIES

ALTECH UEC DRIVING DIGITAL MIGRATION IN SA

COCA-COLA DOME ENTERTAINING A NATION

The Sky’s the Limit

Mining’s Golden Boys

We meet The Denel Group, the largest manufacturer of defence equipment in South Africa.

Engineering the Future IndustrySA speaks with dcd DCD mining Mining & Energy group marketing manager, henk energy Henk Schoeman, about the towering successes schoeman, of this highly regarded engineering and manufacturing company.

Harmony Gold - IndustrySA talks with CEO Graham Briggs about the challenges facing the mining industry

#Innovation www.industrysa.co.za MAR

NOV NoV

2014 ISSUE 19

ISSUE 15 issue

Embracing People Power One of the most progressive companies in the country, BMW SA recently launched the 2-Series and 4-Series. However, one of the world’s most recognised automobile brands is more than just a manufacturer; it is in fact a committed and engaged corporate citizen. MD, Bodo Donauer explains more…

MAY

2013

2014 ISSUE 21

Ultra-Heavy Capabilities Genrec, a division of Murray and Roberts, has played a huge part in the development of the Medupi and Kusile power stations. Business Development Manager, Michael Mamotte tells IndustrySA that the company’s ‘ultra-heavy capabilities’ set it apart from the rest.

Global Presence, Local Knowhow

Benteler South Africa is the local division of the global steel processing company, Benteler International AG. According to management, the business is looking to grow and “show the world what we can do here in South Africa”.

Lyle Stewart ADDRESSING AFRICAN AUDIENCES

Pienaar Bros WORKING HAND-IN-GLOVE WITH SA INDUSTRY

Howden Africa LEADERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

Rolfe Laboratories UPLIFTMENT IN THE KAROO

ChianoSky

Midvaal Municipality

NEW AUDI AMBASSADOR

DEVELOPING SAVANNA CITY

DetNet

V&A Waterfront

BUSINESS WITH A BANG

CELEBRATING NO.1 SILO

Jeannie D

Forestry SA

DISPLAYING eNtrepreNeuriaL dispLayiNg ENTREPRENEURIAL spirit SPIRIT

NO substitute No SUBSTITUTE For FOR wood WOOD

De Keur

Colcab

SOWING the sowiNg THE seeds SEEDS oF OF success SUCCESS

OPTIMISING dispLay optimisiNg DISPLAY eXceLLeNce EXCELLENCE

Are you an entrepreneur? Do you have an innovative idea that has the potential to change lives? Is your company celebrating a milestone? Get in touch with us and let us know.

Some of the country’s biggest company’s use IndustrySA to promote their success and we look forward to hearing more stories of development as South Africa continues to grow. Your industry, their future, our South Africa.

@industry_sa PAGE 99

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