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ISSUE 47

At the Heart of SA Energy Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa is supplying Eskomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Medupi and Kusile power stations with some of the most advanced and innovative products on the market. Also, the power of this global energy giant means that in the future it will supply more and more inventive products to Africa. Head of Sales and Business Development, David Milner tell us moreâ&#x20AC;Ś

Joel Churcher Building the BBC across Africa

Life Green Group Lean mean green machines

Absa Insurance Company Building on banking success

Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme Energy, when SA needs it most

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EDITOR’S PAGE

EDITOR Joe Forshaw SUB-EDITOR Harriet Pattison WRITERS Colin Chinery Tim Hands Roland Douglas Christian Jordan Helen Lake RESEARCH DIRECTOR Chris Bolderstone RESEARCH Manager Nick Davies PROJECT MANAGERS Ajuanne Payne Emily Woodhall Hal Hutchison ADVERTISING SALES SALES DIRECTOR Andy Williams SALES MANAGER Daniel Marshall SALES EXECUTIVE Holly Graham SALES EXECUTIVE Daniel Gillespie STUDIO STUDIO DIRECTOR Martyn Oakley DESIGNER Harvey Tarlton ACCOUNTS Mike Molloy, Jane Reeder ECP LTD MANAGING DIRECTOR David Hodgson OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Chris Bolderstone 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.

Welcome to issue fourty seven...

In recent weeks we have seen more sporting success for South Africa at the Commonwealth Games, especially in the pool where Chad le Clos, Cameron van der Burgh and Roland Schoeman all excelled showing that South Africa is one of the countries to beat in all swimming events. Again, on the sporting front, SAFA announced that Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba would take over from Gordon Igesund as coach of Bafana Bafana, bringing hope for a positive future in football. But what about in business? Where is the hope coming from? Well, this month we look in detail at the Medupi and Kusile construction projects, developments which will be ‘game changers’ in the regional energy industry and we find out that these projects will indeed bring hope to business and they are currently allowing local companies to display fantastic examples of business excellence. We hear from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and Head of Business Development, David Milner who tells us that these projects are receiving global attention for their sheer size and of course, brilliant statistics on safety and productivity. And while Medupi and Kusile demonstrate the very best of construction in South Africa, they will also provide much needed extra capacity to the grid, and so will be well received when complete in the coming years. We also look at the finance sector in Zambia where there is a concerted drive towards bringing banking to the masses and catering for previously underserviced sectors of the market, something which has bought great success for the country’s big name banks. Tell us about your experiences with Medupi and Kusile have you been near the sites recently? Get in touch online @ industry_sa

Joe Forshaw

editor@ecp-ltd.com

aug 14 PAGE 3

CONTENTS

3 EDITOR’S PAGE Sporting success and business excellence

6 NEWS All that’s happening in South Africa

12 EnTREPRENEUR ‘Better call Saul’

14 Innovation Another first from the CSIR

16 Inspiration SA Conquering the world

20 Joel Churcher Building the BBC in Africa

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CONTENTS

24 MHPS

74 Xylem Water Solutions

Power Players

Water way to go

27 Murray and Roberts Social investment

80 Absa Insurance

34 ISC Matla

84 Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme Pumping the balance

40 Afrisam Success set in stone

90 BancABC Zambia As easy as BancABC

48 Life Green Group Cultivating excellence

56 Zanaco Zambiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s banking jewel

94 Broll Facilities Management Letting you concentrate on your business

62 Gearhouse SA Curtain raisers

98 Creda Communications

68 Tri-Cor Signs All pointing in the right direction

102 CMC

The blueprint to success

Building a future

COMPANY REPORTS

Quality service, guaranteed

Risk takers business makers

AUG 14 PAGE 5

NEWS All that’s happening in South Africa

New fire station ensures safety of Ekurhuleni The recently launched R28-million Zonkisizwe fire station, in Ekurhuleni, will help in assuring the safety of residents in the case of accidental fires. The Zonkisizwe fire station has so far created over 70 jobs and is set to respond to emergencies that may occur within the southern border of Ekurhuleni, which has been growing rapidly over the years. Themba Gadebe, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality spokesperson said the development will help create new jobs: “This obviously means more job creation and also serves to attract interest from the townships to pursue careers in the emergency fields.” The border of Ekurhuleni covers areas including; Zonkisizwe, Zama – Zama, Sunrise View, Moleleki Section and Katlehong South, Sonwaba and surrounding farms. The new fire station will also serve along the Kliprivier Road and N3 corridor to assist

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with emergency related incidences. The fire station is also in close proximity to help the Suikerbosrand Game Reserve, often vulnerable to wild fires. The fire station was launched ahead of the envisaged major economic development, the Tambo Springs Inland Port, in Vosloorus. The Tambo Springs Inland Port was identified and proposed as a Gauteng – Durban critical in-land port and the freight corridor for the SADC region. The latest acquired emergency asset follows the launch of similar fire stations in Tsakane in 2013, Daveyton in 2010 and Etwatwa in 2009. The Tembisa Fire station received a major facelift in 2005. It is hoped that the municipality will develop new fire stations in Duduza, Kwa Thema, Germiston, Thokoza and the Albertina Sisulu Corridor in the next five years.

NEWS

R850m budget for nuclear development Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the Energy Minister says R850 million of her department’s R7.4-billion budget will go towards nuclear development. “On the nuclear front, R850 million has been allocated to the department and its relevant agencies in order to undertake further research and development, especially in regard to safety matters.” The regulation for the handling of hazardous materials, in terms of international obligations, and the development of nuclear policies and legislation to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy, will also be dealt with and controlled. South Africa’s nuclear energy policy was approved in 2008 and was further enhanced by the approval of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2010 – 2030, which stipulates that nuclear power will form part of the country’s energy mix to a level of 9 600 MW. Of the R7.4 billion appropriation for 2014/15, 93% of the funds are allocated for transfer to municipalities and state owned entities with the remaining 7% going to the department’s operational and capital expenditure. With this year’s appropriation higher than in 2013/14, this will allow for the expansion of the Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP), helping to increase the number of households connected to the electricity grid and also the number of non-grid connections. Minister Joemat-Pettersson said: “We will focus on substation infrastructure, and promote energy efficiency through the continuation of the solar water geyser programme. “INEP therefore receives an allocation of R4.1 billion, with Eskom and municipalities allocated R2.5 billion and R1.6 billion respectively. A further R96 million is allocated to the non-grid electrification programme.” The department will continue with the roll out of the Solar Water Heater project, which seeks to make solar water units more affordable and accessible. Eskom will then use their R1.6 billion for the installation of more than 200 000 solar water heating units in residential areas. In his State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Jacob Zuma said it was important to respond decisively to the country’s energy constraints.

Minister Joemat-Pettersson said: “The President has been unambiguous on what is expected from the ministry and what will constitute a radical transformation of the energy sector. The Energy Master Plan has been developed to crystallise the immediate actions that the Department of Energy and the entire energy sector will have to undertake. “I will be undertaking a comprehensive review of the entire sector and where necessary, will bring about structural changes within the department and in the role and functioning of the various SOEs.” The Independent Power Producer (IPP) programme will continue to receive focus, while the department will also ensure that the Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) is finalised. “This plan must be geared to address the short, medium and long term energy requirements of the country. One of the objectives of the revised IEP will be to look at multiple and alternative energy sources. On the electrification programme R4.1 billion has been made available and the department is confident that it will deliver at least 285 000 new grid and non-grid connection in this budget cycle,” said the minister. This year, the department aims to finalise the first draft of the Electrification Master Plan to ensure that universal access can be reached by 2025.

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NEWS All that’s happening in South Africa

A triple black hole discovery The Cabinet has congratulated the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) SA-funded researchers who discovered a triple supermassive black hole system. “This is positive confirmation of the dynamic and significant radio astronomy which has developed rapidly in South Africa,” said Communications Minister Faith Muthambi. According to SKA South Africa, multiple supermassive black hole systems are thought to have a significant impact on the way galaxies evolve, particularly through their impact on stars and gas as they spiral in towards one another. Funding this research, the discovery of the triple black hole system by SKA South Africa is now the tightest trio of black holes known to date. This is a remarkable revelation since most galaxies have just one at their centre and suggests that closely packed supermassive black holes are far more common than previously thought. The discovery has been published in the scientific journal Nature. Minister Muthambi said this internationally recognised research was a reminder of the unique opportunities presented to South Africa as a result of the successful bid to build the skills set by stimulating interest in science

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and engineering among youth. “It also provides the country with a basis to start producing scientists who will contribute to achieving Vision 2030 of the National Development Plan (NDP). This discovery is the beginning of many more that will be made possible with the Square Kilometre Array” The SKA project is an international effort to build a mega radio telescope – about 100 times more sensitive than the biggest existing radio telescope. The first phase of the project will be co-hosted by South Africa and Australia, with eight southern African countries partnering with South Africa during the second phase. Construction is expected to begin in 2017 and conclude in 2024, at an estimated cost to the 10 SKA member countries of €1.5 billion. The project has also opened up many opportunities in the country, in particular thousands of jobs in construction, operations and maintenance in the Northern Cape where the core of the SKA is being built. South Africa, meanwhile, has begun erecting the 64 antennas that will make up the MeerKAT radio telescope, the country’s precursor to the SKA, at the SKA South Africa site, outside Carnarvon, in the Northern Cape.

NEWS

Grohe spends R880 million for expansion into Africa

The German bathroom-fittings company, Grohe is to spend an estimated R880 million acquiring 51% of the sanitary ware companies of JSE-listed group Distribution and Warehousing Network Dawn. The deal will make Grohe one of South Africa’s leading suppliers of sanitary fittings, giving it a readymade platform for expansion into southern and eastern Africa. Dawn, for its part, will be able to globalise its manufacturing operations through access to Grohe’s technology, expertise and global distribution networks. David Haines, Grohe Group CEO and chairperson said in a statement that Grohe was “excited to be expanding our activities in Africa’s southern region. Dawn’s position of strength in the South African market makes it the perfect partner also for the continued expansion of the Grohe and Joyou brands. In return, the new company will benefit from our expertise

in research and development, as well as design.” Grohe Dawn Watertech Holdings, the new company formed by the transaction will include the majority of Dawn’s Watertech portfolio, including Cobra Watertech, Apex Valves South Africa, Exipro Manufacturing, Vaal Sanitaryware, Isca and Libra Bathrooms. Grohe said: “With gross sales of around €110 million, Dawn’s sanitary fittings business segment grew by approximately 10% in the last financial year. Dawn has a significant sanitary fittings market share in South Africa, which means that Grohe becomes one of the country’s leading suppliers of sanitary fittings as a result of the transaction.” The transaction is subject to approval from the regulatory authorities as well as Dawn’s shareholders and is expected to conclude by 30th November this year.

aug 14 PAGE 9

NEWS All that’s happening in South Africa

Samsung TV factory to be built in South Africa The South Korean electronics and technology giant Samsung is set to invest US$20 million (nearly R220 million) in a new television factory at the Dube TradePort in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to take advantage of rising demand for consumer goods in Africa. Samsung said in a statement to the Korea Times: “We plan to start construction of the TV plant in South Africa in the latter half of the year. The investment will be $20 million through 2018.” The Dube TradePort is an air-freight logistics hub located alongside King Shaka International Airport, 30km north of Durban and is expected to become one of the special economic zones that South Africa is busy setting up to help boost investment in the country.

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In an interview with news agency, Bloomberg, Trade and Industry Director-General Lionel October said Samsung had identified the Dube TradePort “as a space to operate from”. President Jacob Zuma “will launch the special economic zone within a month or so, and the first investment anchor will be Samsung.” The South African factory will be Samsung’s second in Africa after the first, located in Beni Suef, Egypt, began production in September 2013. Korea Times quoted an official from market researchers DisplaySearch as saying: “As the TV markets in North America and Europe are heading towards full saturation, Samsung needs to explore new markets. The South African factory will mainly produce TVs with ultra-high-definition (UHD) picture quality.”

NEWS

Drilling begins on South Africa’s first deep-water well

This month, French multinational Total and its partner, Canadian Natural Resources International, launched the drilling operation for South Africa’s first deep-water well in the Outeniqua Basin, south of Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. The multi-billion rand drilling operation will give fresh incentive to South Africa’s budding upstream oil and gas industry, especially while the eyes of investors in the sector are shifting further down Africa’s coastline. While substantial gas discoveries have been made offshore of Tanzania and Mozambique in recent years, South African petrochemicals giant Sasol recently announced plans to explore for oil and gas along South Africa’s east coast, and Australian company Sunbird Energy is pushing ahead with the development of a major gas project off South Africa’s west coast. Marc Blaizot, senior vice-president for exploration at Total, said in September last year, when his company completed the acquisition of a 50% stake in Block 11B/12B from Canadian Natural Resources: “South Africa’s deep offshore, in particular the Outeniqua Basin, is one of the few remaining under-explored offshore regions in Africa.” The block is located in the Outeniqua Basin, around

175km off South Africa’s southern coast, and covers an area of 19 000 square kilometres with water depths ranging from 200 - 1 800 metres. It’s been predicted, by the news agency Bloomberg, that the drilling programme is expected to take between three and four months at an estimated cost of more than R2 billion. This will be dependant on the weather conditions and Total will have to deal both with great depth and with very strong currents. Speaking last year, Blaizot said: “The results of the upcoming exploration well will be decisive, especially in terms of operability of the area in such a harsh environment. As the Operator, we will leverage our recognized deep offshore expertise and experience in challenging waters such as the North Sea and the Barents Sea, to quickly appraise the potential of this acreage.” Mineral Resources Minister, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, said earlier this month that Africa’s emerging upstream oil and gas industry had great potential to contribute to economic growth and job creation. He said: “Drilling in deep water is novel to South Africa and will therefore also bring with it avenues for skills transfer in the deepwater exploration space.”

aug 14 PAGE 11

Entrepreneur

Community minded Editorial: Harriet Pattison

Saul Kornik took the life-changing career move from chartered accountant to helping enrich the lives of others. Founder of African Health Placements, Kornik conducts his business with a focus on social profit, providing technical HR support to the healthcare sector. Today, AHP reaches over 10 million people every year and has placed more than 2,900 health workers into rural communities in Southern Africa.

Fed up of working to make everyone else rich, Saul Kornik, a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Accountant with a Master’s degree, decided to venture into the world of healthcare and so, in 2006, he established the Rural Health Initiative. With no background in health or human resources, Kornik went on to negotiate the merging of the Rural Health Initiative and the Foundation for Professional Development to establish Africa Health Placements (AHP) in 2007.

AFRICA HEALTH PLACEMENTS In a country which is continually struggling with medical staff numbers and effective management in hospitals and clinics, AHP is providing the perfect cure. Despite Sub-Saharan Africa having 20% of the world’s population, it only holds an estimated 2% of the world’s physicians. AHP is set to positively impact these figures and has been changing the face of public health in South Africa, helping to redevelop healthcare facilities in rural areas. Working closely with the Department of Health and the Health Professions Council of South Africa, AHP operates across Southern Africa with a focus on the rural and undeveloped areas. The main aim of AHP, a social profit organisation serving only the public sector, is to attract competent health workers and management into these rural regions. In return, the employees will gain fantastic experiences of working and acclimatising in different and, at times, challenging environments. Kornik wants to provide simpler and much more practical

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solutions to complex processes that are often faced in providing healthcare to rural communities. Speaking to eNCAnews in April last year, he explained: “Sometimes there are issues with accommodation in rural areas. It’s got to do with the facilities in the hospital, it’s got to do with the equipment and the availability of pharmaceuticals and it’s got to do with just basic management issues.”

HELP IN THE COMMUNITY Tackling such a global issue is certainly no easy task but since its inception, AHP has already placed 2,900 health workers into much needed rural areas across Southern Africa and places more than ten times the number of doctors in rural hospitals as all eight of the country’s medical schools combined. One such example is Bethesda Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. Since its relationship with AHP in 2010, the hospital has more than doubled its medical staff numbers with foreign doctors employed from the UK and other countries. Not only does this give back to the community but it also provides incredible experiences for doctors dealing with child malnutrition, HIV and TB. Kornik had previously worked with Lloyds TSB, Goldman Sachs and Deloitte in South Africa, London and Bermuda before he made the decision to enter into the health sector. In 2008 Kornik was awarded an Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship for his leadership potential. The Fellowship is the flagship program of The African Leadership Institute (AfLI) which aims to nurture the leadership capabilities of individuals across Africa, creating a network of potential young Africans to become inspiring leaders of the future.

Saul Kornik

ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVENTURER Kornik is certainly not one to shy away from adventures, especially if it is to fundraise and create further awareness of AHP. In 2005 in the African Odyssey Expedition he travelled alongside a team of five others along the East African coastline unassisted in an unconverted Arabian Dhow. Perhaps more impressively, Kornik participated in Life 2 The Limit in 2010 where he was one of only two survivors in the Andaman Sea survival challenge. Participants had to survive a full month on an uninhabited island with little food or supplies. Despite the challenges, Kornik said of the experience: “I loved my 30 days on the uninhabited island. De-cluttering my life of information and conversation and even food for a while was a real privilege.”

enrich the lives of others is not only inspirational but shows true entrepreneurial spirt. Saul Kornik has founded a company that works tirelessly to help disenfranchised South African communities and delivers invaluable experience to health workers. Here’s hoping it won’t be long before the company expands its footprint to help even more communities further afield.

YALE WORLD FELLOW 2013 Last year, Kornik was named as one of 16 Yale World Fellows from over 2,500 applicants. This signature award from the University is a global leadership development initiative and is a leading example the university’s continuing commitment to internalisation. Every year, Yale invites a group of promising professionals from a wide range of fields to take part in a demanding four month program of intense leadership training and academic enrichment. “We work in a donor funded environment and it’s a difficult environment to be in, especially at the moment. I’m hoping that through the contracts I’ll be exposed to in America these will open up channels for creating more work” Kornik told eNCAnews. Leaving a career path you have worked towards to help

aug 14 PAGE 13

Innovation

The world’s first underwater imaging system Editorial: Harriet Pattison

The CSIR has developed a world first: a 3D underwater imaging system which has transformed and revolutionised research and development.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is South Africa’s premier scientific research and development organisation. Established in 1945 by an act of parliament, it is Africa’s largest research and development organisation and accounts for an estimated 10% of the country’s entire research and development budget. The CSIR’s areas of research include biosciences, information and communications, laser technology, mining innovation and mobile intelligence autonomous systems. In August 2010, the CSIR developed the world’s first low element-count 3D underwater imaging system. The company initially built a prototype which was tested at the underwater facility of the Institute for Maritime Technology before it was launched. The innovative system showed world-first images which had never before been captured. The detailed information it provided is especially innovative as it has been designed with fewer sensory elements like many other imaging companies. CSIR’s Kiri Nicolaides explained: “Conventional imaging systems make use of a two-dimensional planar array of sensors to produce an image of a scene. In the underwater domain the discrete nature of these sensors leads to an

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extremely high level of complexity and cost. This is because a sensor consisting of, for example, 64 pixels by 64 pixels, would require 4,096 separate sets of receive electronics. “In a novel approach for the underwater field, our team developed a range of technology building blocks over a period of three years which can achieve the same image using only 96 sensors. This should make the system much cheaper than 3D underwater imaging systems currently available and, due to its acoustic properties, of a much higher resolution.” Working with Professor Andrew Wilkinson from the University of Cape Town in the Electrical and Engineering Department, the team developed the concept for a 3D imaging sonar that could be realised with a low sensor element count. A large range of technical problems required solving and many technology blocks were integrated together so this unique system could be achieved. With experience in the field of composite sensor materials over several years, the team at CSIR developed a set of transducer arrays which displayed particularly high levels of acoustic performance. Producing broad frequency bandwidth transmission levels allowed CSIR to develop this modern technological product. Generally the more conventional acoustic transducers have a bandwidth of only 20-30 kHz

Innovation

in comparison to the CSIR’s system which is capable of transmitting with up to 200 kHz bandwidths. These broad band transducers were not just made as single element devices but also as multi-element arrays, making use of the composite sensor material properties to be able to pattern electrodes directly to a monolithic structure. This achieves a reduction in device assembly complexity and greatly improves reliability. Explaining the benefits of this innovative system, the CSIR stated: “These broad band transducers were not just made as single element devices but also as multi-element arrays, making use of the composite sensor material properties to be able to pattern electrodes directly to a monolithic structure. This achieves a reduction in device assembly complexity and greatly improves reliability.” At the time of its inception, the imaging system was tested successfully in the South African Navy’s facilities in Simons Town with the help and guidance of both Armscor and Naval personnel. With the detail and features the imaging system captures, it presented not only an achievement of significant value but far exceeded any system that was currently available internationally to the Navy and other companies which continue to rely so heavily on viewing the underwater world.

The underwater imaging system is another integral and innovative product designed by the CSIR for special research and development projects. The company’s portfolio of research and development “aims to enable clear understanding of national imperatives and the needs of industry to optimise the impact of the CSIR’s research and development outputs. It leverages public, private and international partnerships in support of cutting-edge science, engineering and technology.” The CSIR has clients in both the private sector and the public sector and deals with a range of developments and organisations including public enterprises and institutions, national safety and security establishments and development structures. Contributing to the national programme of development, performing relevant knowledge generating research and transferring technology and skilled human capital and strengthening the science and technology base, the CSIR’s underwater imaging system is still rated as one of the top innovations in Southern Africa to date. Although developed four years ago and with inevitable technological advances, the system continues to be a strong and innovative product both in Africa and internationally.

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Inspiration SA

South Africa’s greatest explorer? Editorial: Harriet Pattison

“Strive for great heights and remember that it is not about where you were born, where you live or what you become, do or have. It’s about what legacy you want to leave behind.” A motivational speaker, an adventurer and an author, Sibusiso Vilane is a true inspirational icon. Not to mention he also climbed to the top of the world’s highest mountain with Sir Ranulph Fiennes…

Working as a cattle herder from the age of seven to help provide and support his family, Sibusiso Vilane didn’t start school until he was ten years old. Despite a poor and underprivileged upbringing, Vilane strived for a better life and in 1996, aged 26, his circumstances were about to change his life forever. Whilst working as a Game Ranger in Swaziland, Vilane met John Doble, a former British high commissioner in Mbabane. Seeing adventurous potential in Vilane, the pair became hiking companions before Doble sponsored him to climb Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, in 1999. Doble then set about putting together a sponsorship for Vilane to tackle something much bigger, Mount Everest. Organised and prepared, Vilane ensured he had his climbing boots firmly on before tackling Everest, successfully summiting Mount Kilimanjaro again in 2002 and climbing the Himalayan peaks of Pokalde, Lobujé and Island Peak, all of which are over 6000 metres high. In 2003, Sibusiso Vilane successfully became the

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first black African to summit the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, from the south side. He tells IndustrySA that reaching the top of these monstrous mountains is difficult to put into words: “I get so fired up when I see the summit getting closer that I just want to get there! I get very energised as though nothing could stop me and sometimes I become very emotional and start shedding tears before I even get to the top. That is how exhilarating it feels always when I see that a goal is about to be realised. All my climbing expeditions come after efforts of preparation and sacrifices, so when I get to the top it just humbles me, every time!” Determined to tackle statistically the more challenging side of Mount Everest, Vilane successfully reached the summit from the north side just two years later in 2005, becoming the first black South African to climb the mountain by two different routes. An immense accomplishment in itself, Vilane fittingly climbed the world’s highest mountain with the world’s greatest explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Sibusiso Vilane

“It was such an honour for me when he accepted my invitation to join us for Everest. He is my super hero, and to have been able to share an expedition with such a great man was very special. I talk about it every time when I address my audiences! I am so pleased that in my life time I have been able not to just read about him, but to have teamed up with him on an expedition. “You learn a lot from the man, he was very open to talk and share very valuable lessons with us. He says, ‘Meticulous planning and preparation are key attributes to success.’ I think that sums up a lot about how to succeed in anything. Lesson learnt, lesson applied!” After his first Everest climb in 2003, President Thabo Mbeki personally congratulated Vilane on his courage and determination: “In this, he has shown the heights we can all scale in life if we put our shoulder to the wheel and work at things without flagging. Sibusiso, you have done us proud.” Not content with just being an adventurer, Vilane’s expeditions are helping others to realise their potential

too. His Everest climb helped to benefit three children’s charities across Southern Africa: The Birth to Twenty Research Programme at Wits University, the Africa Foundation and the SOS Children’s Village in Swaziland. “I have done a lot for charity and I am happy that I have done that. To have used my physical talents to help others is just profound. I am involved with a number of charity initiatives or campaigns, I am the ambassador for teach Children to Save South Africa and the Chief Scout of Scout Africa. I climb Kilimanjaro every year for the Trek4Mandela and Caring4Girls campaign. All these are changing lives, inspiring and serving others. Many have followed and are still following in my footsteps and are going to climb and adventure, simple because they believe that if Sibusiso could do it so can I!” In 2007, Vilane decided to take off his mountain harness to walk to the South Pole with his Everest companion, Alex Harris. Successfully completing the trek unassisted, they became the first South Africans

aug 14 PAGE 17

Inspiration SA

to walk to the South Pole with Vilane the first black South African to do so. The long walk won both of the adventurers the Solomon’s Adventurer of the Year in 2008. Incredibly, Vilane didn’t stop there, becoming the first black person to complete the Three Poles Challenge by arriving at the North Pole in 2012. Having completed the Seven Summits and the Three Poles, dubbed The Goliath Challenge, Vilane has become the first African to have accomplished the Explorers Grand Slam, which only a handful of adventurers have been awarded. The Seven Summit Challenge, summiting the highest mountains in each of the seven continents is considered one of the biggest mountaineering challenges and was first achieved in 1985 by Richard Bass. So what is it that gives Vilane such a zest for adventures and exploring? “I am a winning formula myself, I have such incredible determination towards achieving a goal that I commit whole-heartedly to the preparation. I have a fear of failure that is why I overprepare,” he explains. Even in-between adventures, Vilane is thinking ahead to his next mammoth accomplishment: “I run for physical fitness, it’s a hobby and I love it because it just keeps me fit for my expeditions, so I run marathons,

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ultra marathons and I now cycle a little bit. I mentally prepare by reading a lot and using a lot of visualisation before an expedition, I don’t mediate though, just pure visualisation. And I do that while I am out running.” Recapturing his ventures and challenging journeys, Vilane wrote, “To the Top from Nowhere”, published in 2008, which highlights his rise from poor beginnings to inspirational new heights. “I decided to write my book after realising that it was such a historic African story that I wanted others to access. And the only way I thought would be easy was to have a book on the shelves. I think that the book achieved that purpose - not that it was not difficult to narrate the journey of my life and how I got to climb Everest not having been a keen mountaineer. That is what To the Top is about, my journey to the top of Everest!” In such a relatively short period of time, Vilane has accomplished challenges and incredible feats of endurance and motivation many would only dream of. He has become a true figure of inspiration, not just in Africa but across the world for many budding young adventurers. In 2012 and 2013, he helped a number of South African’s up Mount Aconcagua in South America, one of the seven summits, it is the highest mountain in the Southern hemisphere. With

Sibusiso Vilane

the climb in 2012, Vilane helped five of these successfully summit the mountain, including South Africa’s youngest person aged just 15. In 2012, Vilane became a member of the British Alpine Club and in the same year, he was included in the ‘Green Book’ of South Africa’s 100 Most Influential People in the Sport. A motivational speaker, Vilane addresses audiences of all ages: “I have to find the correct vocabulary and anecdotes that makes the story or talk very relevant to that particular audience. But all my talks are focussed on being inspirational. I tell them that each one of us has an Everest, and we all have the capability to climb our personal mountains, however big they are. I tell them that life will always be tough for all of us, but if we do not give up then success is possible.” In April last year, Vilane teamed up with the long-distance runner, Bruce Fordyce to take part in the African-X trail run in the Cape. Later that year, he

successfully summited Kilimanjaro on Mandela Day alongside Richard Mabaso and Joshua Awesome and was named as Ambassador to the Mandela Bangle Program with the opportunity to meet the late Nelson Mandela. His work as ambassador benefits the Mandela Day School Library Campaign, which is funded out of bangle sales and donations to his “Participate for Good Expeditions.” Although Vilane has completed The Goliath Challenge, the Seven Summits and is the proud author of “To the Top from Nowhere”, he still has big plans and unrivalled ambitions and aspirations for

the future: “I would like to run big city marathons, climb a few big mountains, venture into other colder regions like Greenland. I am dreaming of big things every day. If sponsorship wasn’t a big challenge I would be on another big expedition right now! I am still yet to conquer. Ranulph Fiennes taught me that I cannot rest on laurels.”

aug 14 PAGE 19

Joel Churcher

As Africa grows, so will the BBC Editorial: Joe Forshaw

In March, Joel Churcher was appointed by BBC Worldwide as Vice President & General Manager Africa. Joel is responsible for strategy and business development across all BBC Worldwide businesses in the region, including TV and Digital sales, Production and Format sales, Licensing and Publishing, Live Events and the daily management of the BBC branded channels portfolio available on DStv and he tells IndustrySA that “as Africa grows, so will the BBC”.

Q: After three/four months in your new position, how are you finding the job? How do you get past the challenge of running the business without being fully settled in the area? Are you looking forward to being fully relocated to Johannesburg at the end of the year? It’s been a very busy period and I am still learning more about each of the business units that fall within the role and under my region. I have been at BBC Worldwide for two years and before my current role I worked across the advertising division for the region, so I had a head start in understanding the BBC brands and BBC’s core values as well as working with many stakeholders and clients across the region. I am extremely excited about moving to Johannesburg, it will be a professional and personal challenge that I am definitely ready for.

PAGE 20 aug 14

Q: What have been the main differences you have experienced working in South Africa compared to working in Europe? Working for BBC Worldwide means that you work within a global media environment rather than a European one. I would say that having an open mind and understanding that each market has a particular style or pace of working is crucial in operating in international business.

Q: How are you finding recruiting in South Africa? Is there a suitable pool of talent or have you had to bring in people from abroad? This is the next phase of opening BBC’s office. However the ambition is to grow a local team, recruited from the talent in South Africa. They will work closely with the Africa team that will remain in London’s HQ.

Joel Churcher

image courtesy of BBC Worldwide

Q: How important is Africa, specifically South Africa, as part of the BBC Worldwide portfolio? In a word, very. Despite the massive growth in new channel launches each year on the DSTV platform, BBC channels have remained in the top three international channels in South Africa. We are still very much a popular choice for South African viewers of all ages and backgrounds. From our own global research in 24 countries, we found South Africa is second to the UK that most associates BBC with Entertainment, Comedy or Cars and Motoring. And South Africa was in the top three with the highest likelihood to recommend the BBC. The research puts South Africa very much at the forefront of BBC Worldwideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plans to expand in the region and into the rest of Africa. South Africa is also the gateway to the rest of

Africa, and being established and well reputed in that market offers opportunities for long-term growth across the continent.

Q: What plans are in place for the coming six months in South Africa? Can we expect new shows that will compete with the mainstream in SA? Will there be more local versions of popular BBC shows? Yes. Our plan to bring the very best of British creativity and premium content to South Africa continues. BBC continues to be the home of African premieres of hit UK series, often airing just days after the UK. The plan is to continue to surprise and excite audiences with fresh new programming and formats and we feel now is the time to look for shows which we could introduce to the SA market.

aug 14 PAGE 21

Joel Churcher

Q: Do you have a personal goal for BBC Worldwide in South Africa and Africa? There is a huge appetite for BBC content and a large potential audience yet to discover the programming we have to offer. Personally, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see BBC programming accessible to a wider African audience, we have over 50,000 hours of quality content; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m looking forward to working with new partners across the continent who are able to assist BBC in reaching audiences wherever they are; linear television, digital or mobile platforms.

Q: What was your experience of the CEMA region before your appointment to this position? Previous to this role I was running the advertising division for our channels business which meant that I was responsible for markets as diverse as Poland, Italy, Norway and South Africa. The markets that fall within the CEMA region are undergoing tremendous change, both technologically and economically, and this makes it one of the most exciting regions to work in.

Q: Tell us about your history? When did you get into media and TV? Did you always have ambitions to be involved with TV or the BBC? I have worked for BBC Worldwide for nearly two years and before that I worked for the international advertising division of the RTL Group, Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest commercial broadcaster serving 200 million viewers daily. I have worked within the media and creative industries for most of my career and always enjoyed working in a client facing role. Working for BBC, an organisation that I grew up watching, is simply a privilege.

Q: Are we seeing a switch from traditional TV viewing to more mobile and internet based viewing channels? If so, is this something which BBC Worldwide will embrace? This is a global trend - specifically in Africa, we know the middle classes are migrating towards digital and mobile media consumption across an array of devices or, as some describe it, moving from mass media to My Media. The BBC will be constantly looking at how to reach the connected consumer with the ultimate goal of delivering engaging, personalised, relevant and unmissable content experiences to our fans. PAGE 22 aug 14

Q: Will there be a culture of idea sharing between Africa and the other CEMA regions? We have strong, regional teams that regularly collaborate on programme, marketing and format ideas with the aim of benefiting the larger CEMA region. What works in Central Eastern Europe, Poland and the Middle East could work equally well in Africa. BBC encourages best business practice across all our offices around the globe and this will continue.

Q: What is the main strategy for business development in Africa? Does it surround a traditional approach of advert sales or is there more of a focus on the sale of content and shows for distribution on other networks? How is the business model different in Africa to other BBC Worldwide markets? Each market is different; however we have worked hard in Africa to grow our channel business and build strong television brands which will continue to be very important. The BBC channels are sought after by media buyers and advertisers due to their reputation for quality, prestige, authenticity and trust. This attracts diverse brands and advertisers to our channels. We also want to drive growth in Africa through the introduction of other facets of our business - TV sales of our premium content, sales of our prestigious catalogue content, branded programming blocks, format sales, live events and consumer products. We want to deepen the connection with our local audiences through multiple touch points and reach new African audiences and fans. In other markets the BBC is already creating digital experiences as well as great content and the plan is to roll this out as soon as we can in Africa.

Q: Can we expect further expansion from BBC Worldwide in the near future? BBC Worldwide is investing in many markets; with the new regional structure in place, it makes decision making quicker and allows the local team to unlock potential growth across the region when they see it. Within Africa, I am keen to look at each market and explore how BBC can become more relevant to that audience and develop opportunities for them to watch quality BBC programming on the device they use most. As Africa grows, so will the BBC.

Joel Churcher

image courtesy of BBC Worldwide aug 14 PAGE 23

company profile

Global powerhouse bringing new technology to Africa Editorial: Joe Forshaw Production: Ajuanne Payne Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa is currently working on site at the Medupi and Kusile power stations, installing supercritical boilers. Each will be about 115m high and will combust coal to heat water and produce steam to turn turbines. Head of Sales and Business Development, David Milner tells IndustrySA more about this unique organisation and its work on these mega South African projects.

Something big is bubbling away in South Africa, something that is set to change the country’s energy mix significantly. Eskom’s Medupi and Kusile power stations are under construction and when they reach commercial operation in 2018 and 2017 respectively, each will add around 4800MW to the country’s energy mix. Medupi, a greenfield coal-fired power station, is located west of Lephalale in Limpopo Province and Kusile, a new coal-fired power station, is located in the Witbank area of Mpumalanga province, alongside the existing Kendal power station. But what makes these projects so important is not only their eventual contribution to the country’s energy demand, but also their sheers size.

PAGE 24 AUG 14

Employing thousands of local and international contractors, using innovative and exciting technologies, these are projects that will go down in history as some of Africa’s most significant. And right at the core of both developments is Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa (MHPSA), a subsidiary of the Germany-based Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe GmbH, established in 2014. MHPSA executes the engineering, manufacturing, supply, construction and commissioning of fossil fuel-fired power plants including steam and gas turbines in the sub Saharan Africa region. The company also supplies key components such as air quality control systems, coal mills and feeders and provides engineering services.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa

MHPSA Head of Sales and Business Development, David Milner tells IndustrySA more about the company’s involvement with Medupi and Kusile and more about some of the mega pieces of equipment that the company is currently installing on site in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. “To put things into perspective - normally in Europe when they put in a supercritical unit, they will build one or two of these in a block. Here we are building six units in a block and we are building two power plants so two blocks. We are involved in some of the largest construction projects in the southern Hemisphere currently at these two sites. “The energy produced by a single unit at Medupi and Kusile would power 80 high-speed German trains simultaneously and there’s six units going in

at each so at full capacity the power produced is significant,” he says. “Anybody that goes to the sites is amazed by the sheer scale of the project. It is enormous, the whole power plant is huge and the construction site, which extends beyond the boundaries of the power plant, is an enormous undertaking. Because of its enormity, that brings major challenges for us and we have of course been focussed on the first priority, safety, then productivity and maintaining the schedule. We have got the safety issue where we want it but productivity and schedule issues are giving us the challenges. “We and all the partners on site are working towards getting the first unit at Medupi online

AUG 14 PAGE 25

company profile by the end of the year and that is the number one goal at the moment.”

TURNING UP THE HEAT MHPSA has an extensive, extremely high-tech product range including some of the most advanced pieces of equipment available on the market today. At Medupi and Kusile, the focus is on boilers – supercritical boilers but Milner explains that in the future MHPSA will provide more and more products to different projects and industries around the Southern African region. “Right now at Medupi and Kusile, we are installing boilers but going forward the product range will be more diverse. There is a push within Southern Africa towards gas and we have a lot of good products for that market. It’s a market that we are addressing; we are active in Mozambique, Tanzania and in Namibia

PAGE 26 AUG 14

on the Kudu Project,” he says. “The boilers take the coal that is mined at the mine next to the power station, they combust that coal and heat water into steam. That steam has a lot of energy. The steam is then routed through a steam turbine; it turns the turbine which then drives a generator which produces electricity. “We have a number of similar units running around the world and a number under construction. Many of the units are in Europe and they are entering commissioning and commercial operation. We are following the progress on these units, which are mainly in Germany, but also in the Netherlands, Poland and Eastern Europe. The commissioning schedule of some of these units is ahead of Medupi and Kusile which allows us to transfer some of the resources out of Europe back to South Africa for continues on page30...

Mitsubishi Hitachi Powerand Systems Africa Murray & Roberts Projects (em)powering Medupi Kusile power stations Demand for electricity in South Africa is increasing progressively. This trend places significant pressure on existing power infrastructure. With the last power station built in South Africa more than 30 years ago, much of the South African skills and knowledge of organising and building power stations has been disseminated. However, Murray & Roberts has some of the best local capability through its experience in constructing much of South Africa’s existing power station infrastructure over the past 50 years and is playing a pivotal role in the development of South Africa’s new power station infrastructure with major involvement in the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power stations. These power stations, comprising 12 units of about 800MW each, will rank amongst the largest dry-cooled thermal power stations in the world. The social impact of this new build programme in terms of employment is significant, with Medupi alone employing some 17 000 employees and contractors at its peak. The Murray & Roberts Projects scope includes structural steel fabrication, erection and mechanical installation works for both power stations.

Significant Project Scope To successfully complete the Medupi and Kusile projects, the following quantities, resources and equipment will be needed per station: Structural Steel: Ducting: Piping: Welding: People: Height of boiler structure:

102 000 tons (the equivalent of 14 Eiffel Towers) 36 000 tons 8 162 tons 300 000 field welds 6 000 (Murray & Roberts Projects specific at peak) 110m

The massive scale of the work being undertaken at Medupi and Kusile and the experience and skills gained, put Murray & Roberts Projects well ahead of its competitors in terms of proven capability to execute new power projects of various types. With a total focus on Safety, Production, Quality, Cost and People measures, Murray & Roberts Projects is confident it will deliver to the client’s expectations and through the emphasis of two way communication and engagement of all stakeholders, ensure a positive and proactive employee relations environment.

A Social Investment As a proudly South African company and one of the largest employers on site, Murray & Roberts Projects prides itself in the role it is playing not only in the development of critical power capacity, but also in developing much needed local skills for these and future projects. At Medupi, 572 apprentices have already been trained, while 182 have so far received recognised artisan training at Kusile. At both sites the transfer of skills from expatriates to locals is constantly emphasised. In addition, 14 bursaries have been awarded, while total training spend to date amounts to R49 million at both sites. Murray & Roberts is proud to be involved in Medupi and Kusile; they are examples of the way in which we add permanent value in whatever we undertake. This infrastructure will be utilised for decades to come and will contribute to social upliftment and economic growth.Murray &Roberts has created employment, developed skills, applied technology and delivered infrastructure throughout South and Southern Africa for more than 110 years. Post Medupi and Kusile, Murray & Roberts Projects will be well positioned to apply its experience and skilled resources to future power projects under consideration in South Africa and across the African continent. AUG 14 PAGE 27

company profile

Murray & Roberts is playing a pivotal role in the development of South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new power station infrastructure with major involvement in the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power stations. These power stations, comprising 12 units of about 800MW each, will rank amongst the largest dry-cooled thermal power stations in the world. The social impact of this new build programme in terms of employment is significant, with Medupi alone employing some 17 000 contractors and labourers at its peak. The massive scale of the work being undertaken at Medupi and Kusile and the experience and skills gained, put Murray & Roberts Projects well ahead of its competitors in terms of proven capability to execute new power projects of various types.

Tel: +27(011) 456-1000 Email: mrpcommunications@murrob.com Web: www.projects.murrob.com PAGE 28 AUG 14

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa

Murray & Roberts is South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading engineering and construction services company. It has delivered infrastructure throughout South and Southern Africa for more than 110 years and is today recognised as an international engineering and construction group. Murray & Roberts is a group of world-class companies and brands aligned to the same purpose and vision, and guided by the same set of values. The company offers civil, mechanical, electrical, mining and process engineering, general building, procurement, construction, commissioning, operations and maintenance services. Murray & Roberts does so in the global underground mining market, selected international oil & gas markets, selected African power and industrial markets and selected African infrastructure sectors. Murray & Roberts operates in Southern, Central and Western Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australasia and North and South America. The company is based in Johannesburg South Africa, where it has a public listing on the JSE Limited. It has principle offices in Australia, Botswana, Canada, Chile, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Zambia.

Engineered Excellence

AUG 14 PAGE 29

company profile continued from page26... the commissioning phases of Medupi and Kusile.” This sort of boiler technology is the result of years of research and development from both Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi Power Systems. Since the two companies joined forces, there has been a strong focus on Africa and this has required products to be tailored to African conditions. “The core technology is developed either in Japan or Europe,” explains Milner. “The investment required is so large that you have to do these things on a global scale. Our role in South Africa is to localise the technology so that it is fit for purpose for our local conditions and also ensuring we can add value to the economy in South and SubSaharan Africa by manufacturing the majority of the project here instead of importing. “For example; local coals have certain characteristics, the availability of water is different, climate conditions, elevations and temperatures are different. All this requires some modification of the technology to suit the regional requirements that we have here so we have to liaise closely with the parent companies in Germany and Japan, with

whom we have a wonderful relationship. We’re honoured to receive the group CEO, Takato Nishizawa, from Japan every two months. For such a large international group to take such a keen interest in us, is a wonderful achievement for us and indicates the level of interest the group has in Africa - we are very happy with the support that we are getting from Germany and Japan on these projects.”

“We are very happy with the support that we are getting from Germany and Japan on these projects” But even with a strong African impetus and a product range that is almost unrivalled, there have still been issues to navigate and these have surrounded the skills required for projects like Medupi and Kusile and the level of complexity of some of the machines involved. “One of the challenges we face is that the last power station that was built in South Africa was

1 Setchel Road, Roodekop Telephone: +27 011 865 2139/1511/1947 Fax: +27 011 865 3212 Email: segi@senagroup.co.za

Our emphasis at

Trucking is to be the transporter that customers can depend on. We

believe that our success has been the result of the loyalty and commitment that we share with our partners. We strive for continuous improvement, globalisation, and to understand the needs and expectations of our partners. In our view this has made us one of the best carriers in South Africa.

• • • • •

We are a black-women-owned BEE company We offer to transport containers, break-bulk and various other goods and materials based on individual requirements All vehicles in our ﬂeets are new and able to travel throughout Africa We have various types of vehicles available, from superlinks to tri-axle trucks Warehousing and handling can be arranged as required for various projects

SENA’s principal functional areas of freight transportation are:

• • • • •

Efficient and time-bound management of operations The maximisation of modal capacity; equitable infrastructure cost recovery Continual improvement in administration and institutionalisation The harmonisation of technical standards The effective interface with all the related stakeholders, organisations, as well as customs handling and clearing

PAGE 30 AUG 14

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa by our company so we have a significant amount of potential when it comes to providing service for that fleet and when it comes to Medupi and Kusile we are engaging with Eskom to potentially be responsible for the maintenance and the upkeep of the units at these two power stations.”

POWERFUL PARTNERSHIPS

completed over 15 years ago. This means a lot of the skills and experience have left the country or gone into retirement and manufacturing capacity has been lost. Therefore we have had to re-establish the entire industry value chain from manufacturing through to construction and commissioning; all of this has started from new. In addition to that, these units will be the biggest dry cooled units in Africa. Previous units supplied to Eskom have are around 600MW, these are 800MW, and these are supercritical units whereas previous units have been sub-critical so the technology is different and the machines are more sophisticated and complex,” explains Milner. But nevertheless, Medupi and Kusile still take up the majority of MHPSA’s current workload and this looks set to continue in the future even though the company does have a list of other prominent clients in South Africa. “They dominate anything else that we are doing,” says Milner. “We are working for Sasol, where we originally supplied 16 of their steam generators back in ‘80s and they’re looking at potential refurbishment and upgrades so we’ve got some contracts there. In addition to that, 30-40% of the boilers in the Eskom fleet were originally supplied

The birth of MHPS was an exciting one, not just for South Africa with Medupi and Kusile, but for the global power industry. The joining of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi Power Systems saw much of each company’s product range merged with the result being not just two competitors in the energy industry but one powerhouse company capable of offering advanced services to the global market place. “The thinking started in 2012, and the conclusion reached by both companies is that they were competing, both Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi Power, in the same markets. To be successful in this market you need global reach and a certain critical mass. What the two companies found was by working together they would be able to bring the best of the two organisations and the best of the two products

SELEPE PROJECTS is an electrical and instrumentation installation contractor. Our Services include manufacturing and installation of the following:

• Plant reticulation, cable racking and routing • Lighting and Small Power • Electrical Installation, Construction and Commissioning • Instrumentation Installation, Construction and Commissioning • Emergency power, UPS’s and Generator systems • MCC’s switchgear • Control Panels • Distribution Boards • Junction boxes • Earthing and Lightning protection • Construction management • Quality Control HEAD OFFICE: Unit 4 Persequor Close, 49 De Havilland Crescent, Persequor Techno Park, Lynnwood, Pretoria, South Africa | P.O. Box 74083, Lynnwood Ridge, 0040 TEL +27 (0) 12 349 2534/5 | FAX +27 (0) 12 349 2542 E-MAIL info@selepeprojects.co.za

www.selepeprojects.co.za

Electrical | Instrumentation | Installation | Construction We are proud to subcontract for MHPSA on Kusile and Medupi

AUG 14 PAGE 31

company profile two teams and support from both sides of the deal has resulted in MHPSA being firmly recognised as one company. “It is now one company and what the parent companies have done in Japan is quite clever. They have integrated the two sets of personnel into one team and ensured there is a sprinkling across the company of previous Hitachi people and previous Mitsubishi people who work alongside each other in the same office. They’ve consolidated the office locations, moved the various people and it now works as a completely integrated team,” he says. “In South Africa, Mitsubishi didn’t have any significant assets; it was really all Hitachi Power. So what we have seen is a significant contingent of personnel out of Japan, predominantly from the Mitsubishi folder, to assist us on Medupi and Kusile and further projects going forward. What we have now in the company is over 50 colleagues from Japan and around 100 colleagues from Germany plus around 400 South Africans in the company here in South Africa.”

together to have a unit that was able to compete with the other major power companies in the world - General Electric and Siemens,” explains Milner. “It took about a year to clarify how they were going to do it and they formally announced that they would go ahead with the merger in July 2013. From then up until the 1st February 2014, all of the arrangements were put in place for the joint venture. In South Africa, we started the local business on March 1st 2014 as we had a few more regulatory hurdles. “Mitsubishi and Hitachi have put together their thermal power groups into the joint venture but they haven’t put all their power assets in. For example, they have kept their wind and solar assets separate and they’ve kept the nuclear assets separate, but the thermal power, which is steam power, gas power, geothermal and some thermal renewable products have all gone into the joint venture which is Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems,” he says. Even though the completion of the merger in South Africa is still a recent event, Milner suggests that there has been no problems integrating the

PAGE 32 AUG 14

“Anybody that goes to the sites is amazed by the sheer scale of the project. It is enormous, the whole power plant is huge and the construction site, which extends beyond the boundaries of the power plant, is an enormous undertaking” And since the completion of the joint venture, MHPSA’s product portfolio has grown and can now meet most challenges put to it by the energy industry. Because of this, business development activities have been ramped up and Milner was bought in to assist. “Now that we have such a wonderful product portfolio, it’s completely changed the outlook of the organisation. Instead of just having one product which was largely boilers, we now have a complete set of technologies from gas turbines, steam turbines and boilers to Integrated Gasification continues on page37...

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa

We build them smaller, too. SVK Holdings prides itself on being solely responsible for Structural Steel logistics on both the Medupi and Kusile Power Projects, South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new coal-fired power plants. On completion, these will be the largest dry-cooled, coal-fired power stations in the world, delivering a total of 4764 MW each. But SVK does not only deliver excellence in construction, logistics and energy supply for mega projects. The experienced team also excels at smaller projects: from shopping malls, office parks, and aeroplane hangars, to schools and a variety of mechanical and civil work. Our skills include steel fabrication and erection, as well as alternative modular construction and sophisticated logistics management. However, our real talent lies in the values that drive the company: strength, vision and knowledge. Speak to us about your needs, however big or small.

Strength Vision Knowledge

T: +27 (0)86 143 6263 F: +27 (0)86 219 3490 E: info@svkconstruction.co.za www.svkholdings.co.za

AUG 14 PAGE 33

company profile

OUR QUALITY SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES CONFORM TO NOSA 4 STAR GREEN GRADING.

ISC HAS OVER 35 YEARS OF SERVICE EXPERIENCE AND WE PRIDE OUR SELVES IN FINDING AND GIVING OUR CLIENTS THE BEST SOLUTION TO SUIT THEIR NEEDS.

PAGE 34 AUG 14

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa

Maintenance & Project work: Insulation

Sheet metal work

ISC provides industrial insulation to vessels, piping, tanks and equipment (like boilers, precipitators, bag ﬁlters, ovens, reactors) for hot, cold and acoustic applications.

Our workshops in Vanderbijlpark and satellite workshops on speciﬁc sites, manufacturers ﬂashings, vents, ducting (all shapes), gutters, down pipes and various other form pieces in numerous types of metal like chromadek, mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium and galvanised sheeting (plain or coated) with a thickness of up to 1.5mm depending on the type of material.

Industrial painting, sand/shot blasting We have many years’ experience in the preparation and application of protective coatings in various environments and work closely with our suppliers who are specialists in their ﬁeld, ensuring that speciﬁc high standards are maintained and passed onto our clients.

Industrial Sheeting We offer sheeting and cladding in the domestic (housing, churches & schools), commercial (shopping centres & warehousing), industrial (factories & plants) and construction sectors of the industry. We have removed and replaced most profiles of sheeting used in the market such as industrial 7, IBR, Delta Rib and corrugated. These sheets can be replaced with various types of material such as chromadek, aluminium, zinc alume, stainless, galvanised and fibre cement sheeting as specified by the client’s needs. ISC also offers rain water goods such as guttering, valley gutters, down pipes and static ventilation systems as well as whirlybirds. Maintenance contracts with bigger role players such as Sasol, BHP Billiton and Arcelor Mittal ensures that the installations crews are updated with all the latest methods and safety requirements.

Asbestos removal When it comes to the demolition, renovation and upgrading of old buildings with asbestos sheeting, ceilings, gutters, ﬂashings or lagging, ISC has registered trained asbestos demolition teams to handle the applications. Procedures, training and decontamination units are available to carry out the correct and safe removal, disposal of the asbestos containing products. Our procedures comply with the regulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act

Fireprooﬁng This service is associated with construction work at most petrochemical factories. ISC ﬁreproofs structural steel work, vessel skirts and cable racks. This service is usually done during maintenance shut down.

Scaffolding ISC erects and maintains scaffolding to SANS 10085 standards. This is also offered to other mechanical contractors and disciplines of work.

SERVING THE PETRO-CHEMICAL, STEELMAKING, FOOD, MINING, PAPER MILL, POWER GENERATION AND WATER DISTRIBUTION INDUSTRIES.

AUG 14 PAGE 35

company profile

PAGE 36 AUG 14

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa continued from page32... Combined Cycle (IGCC) products etc, and therefore the company decided it needed to be able to take all of these products to the market in South Africa as well as the rest of sub-Saharan Africa so we have established, and we are busy expanding, our business development activities. “I was recruited and joined in March. My working career is in South Africa but I spent six years in the UK getting some international EPC experience and I was enticed back to South Africa by MHPS to run the business development activities for the group here,” he explains.

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES As you can imagine, for a company with such important and valuable products, the opportunities for application are large. Wherever there is a requirement for energy related activity, across the whole of Africa, MHPSA can assist. Milner tells us that while the continent is vast,

“Now that we have such a wonderful product portfolio, it’s completely changed the outlook of the organisation” there are still many opportunities within South Africa’s borders and MHPS products can address these opportunities while contributing to a more energy efficient economy. “We know that the government of South Africa intends to contract for 2.4GW of additional coal capacity through IPPs so we will be looking to participate in that in some way. In addition there is also an anticipation of a similar quantity of gas projects in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique which we are keenly anticipating. “Firstly, we have some of the most efficient gas turbine technology in the world. Secondly, we have some new technology that can be applied to coal integrated gasification combined cycle - which has much higher efficiency than a traditional coal fired power plant and therefore produces a lot less CO 2

and we are cognisant of the need to move towards a greener method of producing electricity and this is one way to make better use of coal resources while minimising the carbon footprint. “The third area is co-generation which is taking waste heat or waste sources of energy and converting into electricity and we have a good range of technologies here. Finally, we have geothermal which is the technology largely applied in the East of Africa where our company is already the number one provider of geothermal power plant and there are a number of projects anticipated going forward,” he says. Importantly, through this advanced product range and the work being carried out at Medupi and Kusile, MHPSA is classed as one of the top companies in its field and regularly competes with the some of the world’s biggest and most recognisable names. “There are one or two very large and very strong competitors in the field that we are in and largely we meet the same competitors, GE, Siemens and Alstom, throughout the world and likewise in South Africa. Right now, by value, we are the number one supplier of power plant in Southern Africa,” Milner explains.

Skye-lab Technologies Cc started its humble beginning in the year 2007 and has been actively involved in the area of providing Professional Services to the Power Generation, Petro-chemical, Civil and Construction, Water Treatment and Telecommunications Industries. Skye-Lab Technologies Cc assures its customers of professionalism, accountability and non-compromising standard of its service and solutions. Skye-lab Technologies Cc is 100% Black Owned and managed.

Our Services include but are not limited to: Implementation of Project QMS, Project Management, Design and Engineering, Manufacture, Conﬁguration Management & Data Control, Consultation, Training & Certiﬁcation, Metallurgical Failure, Investigations, Capability & Capacity Assessment, Technical Evaluation, On-site Technical Audits and Surveillances, Asset Tracking and Tracing, Review of Data Packages, Expediting and Procurement Support, Recruitment, Turnkey Structural Steel including Light, Medium & Heavy Steel Fabrications.

HEAD OFFICE: Ofﬁce 316 & 319, 3rd ﬂoor, Darras Shopping Centre Cnr Juno & Kitchner Avenue, Kensington, Johannesburg, South Africa 2094 Tel no: Email:

(011) 614 9518 / 9517 a_blignaut@skye-lab.co.za (Management) m_pather@skye-lab.co.za (Procurement & General) Jacquilene@skye-lab.co.za (HR & Recruitment)

AUG 14 PAGE 37

company profile MORE EFFICIENT, MORE GREEN Being part of this elite group, at the very forefront of the industry means that you have to address the concerns of market stakeholders. One of the primary concerns in the energy industry in recent times has been carbon emissions and how to effectively reduce them without impacting on operational performance. At Medupi and Kusile this is no different. The South African government has set out its targets on country-wide carbon emissions and with an everincreasing global focus on ‘green’ energy MHPS has to address the need for efficient systems and Milner says that the goal of the company is to produce power in the cleanest way possible through on-going research and development. “Any thermal power generation, by definition, produces CO 2,” he says. “Our goal is to produce energy in the most efficient and environmentally friendly ways possible. We recognise that whilst society wants to maximise its renewable energy technologies, currently, that cannot entirely replace thermal power generation, we have to have thermal power generation to provide base load energy when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. “Having said that, our goal is to produce power

in the most environmentally friendly way possible and this is one of the reasons for the merger between our two companies because the investment required in developing technologies to make them as environmentally friendly as possible is enormous and you need massive economies of scale to be able to do that. So our move into supercritical power generation, which is probably in the order of about 3-4% more efficient than sub-critical power generation, is one thing and the move to IGCC is the next step and which is 4-8% more efficient than supercritical.

“There is also an anticipation of a similar quantity of gas projects in South Africa and Mozambique which we are keenly anticipating” “Each time we get more efficient we produce less CO2. So if we look at an older power station and

We love extended plant life Howden’s world revolves around providing the finest equipment and the best aftermarket care to the power generation market. Having been in the business since its inception, the incremental value of our long-term relationships is proven. Our dedicated people develop air and gas handling solutions that prolong plant-life and allow your operations to prosper.

Tel: + 27 11 240 4000 Fax: +27 11 493 0546 Email: enquiries@howden.co.za

Revolving Around You www.howden.co.za

PAGE 38 AUG 14

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa

Zwane Inspections (Pty) Ltd is a BEE Company established in 2001. Zwane Inspections is rated as a Black Woman Owned (BWO) enterprise and is a level 3 contributor according to the BBBEE codes scorecard. We offer a wide range of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) services aimed at improving availability and safety of Eskom plants. Zwane Inspections is a well-established company with a multitude of experienced professionals working at the operational level. Zwane technicians are Eskom approved.

Our Mission is to deliver professional service and advice to our clients in line with sound business and safety principles, which will enable them to increase plant efficiency and safety.

Zwane offers the following services:

Large scale projects related to the metallographic replication of industrial plants Metallurgical & Welding engineering consulting -In-situ Hardness testing; Surface preparation (polishing for NDT purposes); Metallographic Replica Evaluation; Project Management (Eskom experienced engineers to assist with on-site project management); Ultrasonic Testing (SAQCC & PCN certified technicians); Magnetic Particle Inspections (SAQCC certified technicians); Penetrant Testing (SAQCC certified technicians); In-house SAQCC Level III; Dimension testing. Pocket Ultrasonic Testing. Phased Array PMI Material Positive Identification Acousticeye Inspection

compare it to not only Medupi and Kusile but to IGCC, we are halving the amount of CO2 for each MW of power that we produce and we believe that is a positive contribution to reducing the overall CO2 that is produced around the world. In addition to that we have a number of renewable energy products that are thermal, such as geothermal – a completely renewable energy source – that we have put a lot of effort into. Then there is cogeneration, which involves taking biomass and other waste heats and utilising them in power generation.” And what about the future? Where will the next step in environmental improvement come from? Milner says that carbon capture technology is showing real potential, and of course, MHPS is again leading the way in this field. “Certainly on thermal power generation, either gas or coal, carbon capture is a potential major game changer and we are at the forefront of carbon capture technology. Once that technology is commercialised, that will again lead to reductions in CO2 from thermal power plant.” But right now, the focus remains on Medupi and Kusile and just last month South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister, Lynne Brown said that she was confident construction of the first unit at Medupi would be complete in December this year. The completion

Head Office 5A Laver Street Middelburg Mpumalanga 1050 Tel: +27 (0) 13 590 1273 Fax: +27 (0) 13 243 5630 Cel: +27 (0) 82 898 1834 E-mail: info@zwaneinspections.co.za

of the R105 billion power plant is expected to ease the pressure from Eskom’s ageing power grid which has in recent months buckled under pressure to supply electricity to both residential and industrial customers.

“Once that technology is commercialised, that will again lead to reductions in CO₂ from thermal power plant” And this demonstrates further the importance of the work being done by MHPSA, highlighting how important the newly formed company’s work in Africa really is. This is work that will positively affect the general population and for this alone MHPS should be applauded .

AUG 14 PAGE 39

company profile

Behind the drive towards green construction Editorial: Tim Hands Production: Chris Bolderstone

A leading supplier of superior quality construction materials and technical solutions, AfriSam has, since 1934, committed to making possible growth on the African continent, as a company guided by its values of people, planet and performance.

Over AfriSam’s proud and trusted history, one which spans 80 years, the company has worked ceaselessly to become a wellrespected and admired brand. It has long been known as a pioneer in both retail support tools and in the field of composite cement, but alongside this, sits proudly as the largest producer of aggregate and the largest supplier of construction materials, by volume, in southern Africa. Among its core strengths is the company’s ability to adapt its services to match the needs of the individual client – be it catering for an architect, an engineer or a home builder, or indeed whether call centre support, product information or a delivery is required, AfriSam can be counted on both for

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service excellence and on-going support. Cultural heritage plays a particularly important role in AfriSam’s operations, with the company always seeking to fully integrate with the communities within which it conducts operations. For such a company as AfriSam, sustainability can manifest itself in a variety of ways. Always striving for a responsible and engaging approach with all stakeholders, continual efforts are also made to support the communities and employees in the areas where it has dealings, through ongoing upliftment initiatives. These are designed to improve the quality of life of employees, their families and the surrounding communities, and encompass such vital areas as education and

AfriSam

development, conservation and legacy projects. A serious skills shortage in the country led AfriSam to invest heavily in education, with the central aim of empowering people with the relevant skills to enable them to become selfreliant and, as a result reduce poverty in these areas as a whole. The legacy projects and crisis opportunities in which AfriSam has involvement, meanwhile, aim to address past challenges, while linking to government national programmes. Encompassing a variety of areas, including sudden disasters and health and safety matters, a good example of this area of its work is the HIV/AIDS pandemic, whereby special needs are spotted and the opportunity taken to give assistance where it is

needed. Not limited to promoting development, with one of AfriSam’s three key values being ‘Planet’, conservation projects also feature at the forefront of AfriSam’s and its stakeholders’ thoughts and operations. Passionate about its environment, much time and many resources are dedicated towards research on improving its products, working with the relevant communities and industry figures to help it to realise this positive impact. The cement industry is as a whole, given the nature of the business, responsible for around 5% of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere throughout the world. A major aspect of AfriSam’s sustainability efforts is therefore ensuring the

AUG 14 PAGE 41

company profile

REFRATECHNIK Head Office:

Crocker Road, Wadeville Ext 4, PO Box 14676 Wadeville 1422, South Africa Phone +27 (11) 902 6930 Fax +27 (11) 902 5749

KZN Office:

Quality Street, Jacobs, Durban PO Box 13256 Jacobs 4026, South Africa Phone +27 (31) 461 4383 Fax +27 (31) 461 2864

minimisation of its emission of these harmful gases, helped hugely by the development of its Eco Building Cement. The result of AfriSam’s characteristic ongoing research, this is a product that has a carbon footprint of 453g/kg, almost half of the world average of 890g/kg. This cement is a specially blended high quality product, and suitable for use in all structural and building applications. It is made using a combination of Portland cement and mineral components which are less harmful to the environment. The introduction of this type of sustainable building material is one of the central aspects of AfriSam’s intensive research and development programme, with these advanced composite cements expected to play a central role in ensuring that the property industry meets the requirements for green buildings. It appears inevitable that sustainable design will, more and more in future projects, come to be not something merely to be considered, but rather a non-negotiable, central part of the building industry. As such, AfriSam and the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA) are behind the

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CPT Office: 12 Matthews Street, Atlantis Industria Dassenberg 7350, South Africa Phone +27 (21) 577 1901 Fax +27 (21) 577 1702

AfriSam-SAIA award for Sustainable Architecture, which have the dual aims of recognising outstanding achievements within this field of sustainable architecture, while simultaneously raising public awareness and debate on architectural issues. Striving to advance the influence of the local architectural community on the sustainability of the construction industry, the awards, first introduced in 2009, span two entry categories - one for built work and the other for works of social importance, including research – and entries are judged against four criteria: harmonisation, people upliftment, planet rejuvenation, and place-making performance. AfriSam’s CEO, Stephan Olivier, spoke of the awards’ importance as a starting point from which to provoke wider discussion on the issue “We recognise that the next decade is going to see major changes and innovations in architectural approaches to the built environment, largely driven by social development needs. Our sponsorship of these awards is our way of encouraging both established and emerging architects to focus on building in an authentically sustainable way, in both

AfriSam the consumer and commercial arenas.” Clearly, the opportunity to raise awareness on such a pressing issue is a vital one, and to be exploited as fully as the stature of the partners behind the awards allows, but for the entrants too it is a chance not only to showcase their talents, but also to receive personal and professional recognition from the industry. The awards’ dedicated website serves just this purpose, presenting to a far-reaching audience all those qualifying designs and, furthermore, displaying to the world the endless possibilities for sustainable architecture. Reon van der Wiel, whose Lebone II College design in Phokeng, North West, won the AfriSam-SAIA Award for Sustainable Architecture last year, is just one example of how South Africa’s foremost architects and sustainability thinkers have got behind the project. Van der Wiel’s states that, in order for South Africa to have a healthy environment for future generations, cities and buildings must be designed to consume less than they produce, and to have

a restorative relationship with their ecology. “Sustainability and education are joined at the hip, as they are both concerned with the future and future generations. For teaching to have lasting value, it needs to embody sustainability. By the end of this century, it is projected there will be four times more people living in Africa than there currently are. If this happens, and we want our grandchildren to live in a healthy world, we need to put these aspects into reality.”

“We wish to encourage both established and emerging architects to focus on building in an authentically sustainable way, in both the consumer and commercial arenas”

InnovatIon. ExpErtIsE. DElIvErED. At Unitrans, our focus on helping our customers improve their bottom line means constant attention to innovation, the use of our industry expertise, and the holistic management of their supply chains. This results in reduced costs, improved service and safety levels, and a more effective and efficient supply chain for everyone we do business with.

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AUG 14 PAGE 43

company profile

Cement

THE POWER TO MOVE YOU. Klipstone Transport brings together the innovation and expertise of Unitrans, and the corporate scale of AfriSam in an exciting joint venture to transport cementitious product for the concrete giant. Klipstone shows that empowered partnerships work!

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Johannesburg architect Hugh Fraser also stresses 10002136MH Unitrans_Klipstone 112x151mm 04.indd 1 the importance of acting immediately, in order to make the necessary changes while it is still possible to have a significant positive impact. “In spite of the length of the built environment history, or perhaps because of, change comes very slowly; usually forced rather than by choice. The evolution of technology and proliferation of materials have allowed us to build buildings that are not always appropriate for the climate in which they are placed. While the Climate Change debate rages on, we should not be waiting to see the outcome, but rather committing to the small changes that are possible while we still have a choice.” The idea that the way a building looks must be an inseparable consideration from the way in which it functions, and thus how it meets the social, cultural, economic and environmental needs of the people it serves, is a crucial one. Among South Africa’s leading sustainability thinkers is Gita Goven, who comments that: “The future worth having will not come from doing the same things and expecting a different outcome. We need to build collaborative and co-creative capacities to find simple, relevant,

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real, cost effective and harmonising solutions. We 2014/07/31 2:52 PM need to define what we want to sustain, why, for who’s benefit and how. We then need to examine and generate our commitment to what is worth doing.” Change of this kind must begin in the design phase, whereby sustainable or ‘green’ design methods combine to ensure that a structure complies with those all-important principles of social, economic and ecological sustainability – the objective here is to ensure that the building remains environmentally friendly for the duration of its lifetime. Innovative design in a whole range of areas, from energy efficiency, water conservation and reduced waste, through to lower waste emissions and less dependence on use of natural resources, can all help to achieve the environmental responsibilities of the construction industry as a whole. While arguably still in its infancy in South Africa with regards domestic dwelling construction, a noticeable shift has been triggered towards green construction in the corporate and commercial world. AfriSam predicts that demand for sustainable design will grow as a direct result

AfriSam of raising the awareness of local consumers as to the global trends of green construction, while local architectural researchers, presented with an opportunity to help the country realise the long term socio-economic and environmental benefits associated with sustainable construction, can invest in this drive and thus pioneer the green movement at the design stage.

“The construction of the second kiln will not only benefit Tanga Cement and AfriSam, but will also contribute to the economic development of Tanzania and the East African region.” Partly owned by AfriSam, with its 62.5% shareholding, Tanga Cement Company Limited (TCCL) plays an important role in the company’s African growth strategy. Tanzanian-listed TCCL recently began the $165-million construction of a second kiln for its Tanga plant, which is expected to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2015. AfriSam CEO Stephan Olivier remarks: “The construction of the kiln is in response to the consistently high demand for cement from the Tanzanian and surrounding markets. Until now, Tanga Cement has had to import clinker to meet this demand and the new kiln will enable the company to produce enough clinker to meet all its requirements and reduce imports significantly.” The kiln will increase Tanga Cement’s clinker capacity of 500,000 t/y by 600,000 t/y, more than doubling its current capacity, with the contractor having begun the geotechnical investigation for construction, approved in May. This is something of a significant milestone for the company, only the second kiln construction that AfriSam has undertaken, having constructed its first ever kiln for Tanga Cement back in 1985. Infrastructure improvements and housing needs in the East African market have stimulated rapid economic growth, resulting in a wealth of project opportunities for AfriSam, as Olivier points out: “The company has a significant competitive

AUG 14 PAGE 45

company profile advantage by being the first to add clinker capacity to this market. The construction of the second kiln will not only benefit Tanga Cement and AfriSam, but will also contribute to the economic development of Tanzania and the East African region.” A further aspect of its development policy, the opening of a third rail to road depot in the Eastern Cape, in Markman Industrial, Port Elizabeth, looks set to increase AfriSam’s market share in the province. The depot comes in addition to the company’s existing depots located in East London and Queenstown, and incorporates a 1000 ton bulk cement silo capacity and a 3600 tonbag holding capacity. Grant Neser‚ AfriSam sales and marketing executive, explained the decision to service the western area of the province via another fullyfledged rail to road depot. “Historically we’ve

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enjoyed a very strong presence in the eastern side of this province, supplying these areas from our Ulco plant in the Northern Cape via the two rail to road depots. This allows us to take advantage of the cost effective rail rates down to the depots, allowing AfriSam to focus on the last leg by road.” Implementing a depot in Port Elizabeth will allow AfriSam to offer the traditionally superior level of service associated with a cement supplier of choice, and as such gain a significant share of the market in the area. “This has traditionally been a market dominated by a single supplier and our arrival offers local customers more choice. We’re confident that we will compete favourably in this market with our quality products, a highly responsive sales team, skilled technical support team and reliable supply infrastructure,” explained Neser.

AfriSam

MISSION

Your Partner in Rail Logistics

To be a world class profitable rail company, committed to service excellence, listening to and satisfying our stakeholder needs, and conducting business with respect and integrity.

Services ~ Rail Shunting & Operations ~ Rolling Stock Hire & Maintenance Proud supplier to ~ Rail Track Maintenance ~ Fourth Party Logistics (4 PL) Afrisam Cement ~ Rail Personnel Labour Broking & Training ~ Rail Safety Management and Consulting ~ Rail Logistic Solutions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mining (Terminal Management) ~ Automotive Solutions Telephone: (0) 861 SAFLOG ( 723564 ) / +27 (11) 608 0247 http://www.saflog.co.za | info@saflog.co.za

AUG 14 PAGE 47

company profile

The big green gardening team Editorial: Helen Lake Production: Hal Hutchison

The Life Green Group provides landscaping and horticultural services to a vast number of clients across South Africa, primarily in Gauteng. IndustrySA speaks to Founding Director, Oscar Lockwood, about their work, their young workforce and their visions of a greener future.

Life Green Group has been around for 10 years, although Founding Director Oscar Lockwood and his partner Deighton Clegg have been in the industry together for more than 30 years. Previously, they owned a company that started in 1984 - around the same time as Sandton began development. With that company, they created many of the gardens that beautify Sandton’s office parks and complexes today, and having built good relationships, are being called back as Life Green Group to maintain and recreate those gardens after building work has taken place. They originally started Life Green Group as a way of maintaining the creative side of landscaping and gardening in an industry that was becoming corporatised and profit driven. As a result, the company has seen great success from the outset, developing into a business with three fruitful divisions: Life Indoors, Life Sports Turf and Life Landscapes. Each division has its own complex needs. Life Indoors supplies indoor plants and

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gardens which the company maintain, sending in teams to water and tend to plants on a daily or weekly basis. Life Sports Turf is a very specialised division as laying foundations for golf courses and sports fields is very precise work that uses specialised equipment and skilled individuals to operate that equipment. Life Landscapes specialise in bedding in gardens and horticulture, often on a large scale, with distinct maintenance programmes in place. “All three divisions have continual ongoing maintenance. With the indoor plants, we come every week and water the plants and do whatever else needs to be done to them. On the landscaping side, we still have to maintain these office parks that we put together – whether it’s an office park or a hotel complex or whatever it is, we still have to look after the gardens themselves. Then obviously, with all the fields we do, they also require service every single week. In fact, most of them require service daily. On the really big sites, our teams stay

Life Green Group

on site, they never leave,” Lockwood explains.

KEEPING THE COMPANY YOUNG With approximately 1000 people working for Life Green Group in maintenance teams and management positions, one would think they needed people with skills and experience, but actually, the company likes to keep young blood coming into the business. “Our preference is to take people from scratch and train them our way, but it doesn’t exclude us looking at other people from the industry. We know the industry and the industry knows us,” Lockwood says, “Deighton and I are not young anymore and it’s good to get the new energy and the new computer skills and that new way of thinking – and I like that young energy in the business.” Even though the majority of their work is hands on, outdoors work, having technologically minded staff is of high importance to the smooth running of the day to day business.

“On a maintenance contract there is horticulture, but a lot of the horticulture is programmed - we fertilise all in the same month, we top dress in the same month, we compost in the same couple of months. Unless it’s a one off problem that has occurred on a site, a lot of it actually is repetitive work and you have to be really organised in your repetitive work,” says Lockwood. Another aspect for them to consider is the necessity to document and report on any damage to a site, keeping clients abreast of what is going on and also as evidence of repair work. Many young people already have the skills required to fulfil this need. “A lot of the time we are reporting to these facilities management companies and/or property companies and you need to take photographs to document the damage that might have been done by a truck that drove over the lawn. If you don’t photograph it and document it, you will end up doing a repair job and not getting paid for it. So

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company profile there are some limited skills required to do the reporting and the merging of the photographs.” Not to mention the staff management that takes place, with teams of up to 200 people, the managers need to be able to keep track of leave and rotas and this also requires limited skills in computers and mobile communication, as Lockwood explains: “It’s a lot of organisation and a lot of communication and a lot of that communication is mobile now – all the youngsters have got that automatically.” Along with the youngsters benefiting the company, Life Green is also investing time and energy into these young people, giving them the skills they need to succeed. “They’re always learning because we don’t go and make decisions without them. We tell them why we’re making that decision, what the decision is and we discuss it. So the next time they have the same problem, they don’t have to call me. They can actually make that decision themselves,” says Lockwood.

ICONIC CONTRACTS Life Green Group was recently awarded the

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maintenance contract for Sun City who, after 37 years with their previous contractor, decided to change. “For us it was iconic that they chose us and it is also iconic in terms of the botanical offer that Sun City has – it is a very special garden designed by a very special man who some people call a genius and I think he is.” Lockwood is referring to the Landscape Architect, Patrick Watson, who designed the Palace Gardens and the Lost City Jungle. “It’s nice to have those kind of jobs, you know, they’re good to do. What’s really nice about the Sun City contract is that it’s an inspirational contract – you get excited when you go there. It’s a job that even if you’ve been doing gardening for 30 years, you can go there and get inspired by it because it’s so clever and so well done.” In 2013, Life Green Group was the overall winner of the South African Landscapers Institute (SALI) Shield for Excellence in Landscaping for the work they did on the Alexander Forbes Head Office in Sandton. The contract required the movement of large amounts of soil and horticulture up all seven floors and even trees as far up as the seventh floor

Gearhouse SA

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Sports construction utilising artificial synthetic turf for football( full field and five-aside), hockey fields and cricket pitches as well as multipurpose arenas/surfaces (football, tennis, hockey and cricket)

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www.africaunited.co.za AUG 14 PAGE 51

company profile

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Life Green Group itself. “That’s a special job in itself and something that we’re very proud of,” Lockwood tells us.

TAKING IT GREEN

LO O K

F O R T H E

H A N D T H AT

C O U N T S

One of the values at the very core of the Life Green Group is their determination to have a positive effect on greener practises in gardening. “When we came back into the industry, one of the opening statements that Deighton and I made is that anybody can mow lawn, you just need a van and some lawn mowers and you can mow lawn. We didn’t want to be that kind of maintenance company, we wanted to be a company that was going to be green because fundamentally, we are green people,” Lockwood says, “We are the one bunch of contractors that somebody would employ on a site which can actually motivate a different way of thinking… People may like it or not like it, but they will know, for example, that there is a compost heap or some kind of composting system on that property which relates directly to their own garden.” The company is finding, however, that most clients and businesses are responding positively with a big push to start reducing

the carbon footprint of business in and around Johannesburg. “We’ve found that businesses are taking us on very positively and, in fact, are asking us to report on our contribution to the carbon foot print saving they’re making on their properties,” Lockwood says. In fact, the company can get involved in other parts of their clients’ operations to help assist in greener running of the site. “The second phase of the greening, composting and reducing of the carbon foot print is to try look at the kitchen waste and find ways of absorbing the kitchen waste into the compost system and we’re doing that quite successfully on quite a few sites. That’s proving to be a further carbon foot print saving on the sites themselves. Some of the companies that we’re doing this with now are asking us to separate the cardboard and the paper and the plastic for them and they organise to get it taken away,” Lockwood explains. This movement towards a greener way of life for businesses is a priority to Life Green Group and something they base many of their business practises on, an example of which is questioning

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AUG 14 PAGE 53

company profile whether the use of pesticides and herbicides is necessary and if so, what types they should be using. Another aspect of this is reliance of wildlife on things like urban islands and water features. “These islands are massive receivers of wildlife in the evenings, where they may roost or nest. They find a safe place of refuge because these office parks are quite quiet in the evenings,” says Lockwood, “There’s a big push and I think it’s probably the next generation of gardening… I think we need to find ways of becoming positive contributors to the greater environment that we’re living in. I don’t propose any job that we do unless I actually propose that process because I think it’s important. Whether the client takes it or not is irrelevant, but we propose that process.”

A GROWING FUTURE The Life Green Group is expanding very quickly, a clear mark of their achievements, but Lockwood

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expresses that they are cautious of expanding too quickly. “We’re growing really fast. I always believe that you can’t grow a business faster than 30% (a year) because your staff won’t be able to keep up… If you’re growing at faster than 30%, your wheels are starting to rattle a bit. We like to keep it at 30% and we’ve done that every year, considering we’ve never bought a business and we are 10 years old now. We have definitely exceeded 30% growth compounded. We’ll carry on doing that.” At the moment, this is certainly set to continue with one of their current contracts being a major one, Lockwood tells us: “It’s for a large shopping centre in Port Elizabeth. It’s a very big contract. It’s big landscaping on a massive scale with thousands of trees going in.” And so, even after their 30 years in the industry, a decade of which they have spent running the Life Green Group, Lockwood has this to say: “We love what we do. We’re passionate gardeners.”

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AUG 14 PAGE 55

company profile

Banking on achievement Editorial: Helen Lake Production: Chris Bolderstone

Zanaco saw outstanding financial results at the end of 2013 and recently invested US$13 million in its IT Infrastructure. IndustrySA speaks to Managing Director Bruce Dick about this huge investment and its ongoing plans for growth. Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) was privatised by the Zambian government in 2007 with Rabobank acquiring a 49% stake. In 2008, the bank was listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange and now 29% of the bank is represented by the public. This privatisation turned out to be an exceptional move by the Zambian government, resulting in an increased client base of 600,000 customers taking the bank from a client base of only 200,000 to a vast 800,000 customers. Managing Director, Bruce Dick, was appointed to his position in March 2014 after serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2010. At the end of 2013, Zanaco saw big success in

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its financial results and also embarked on its 18 month Business Efficiency Programme, the most notable feature being the US$13 million IT infrastructure development.

INVESTING IN EFFICIENCY The US$13 million IT infrastructure investment was one of the largest single IT investments in Zambia and was aimed at upgrading Zanacoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core banking platform as well as building a stronger tier 3 data centre and disaster recovery site. The reason for the investment, according to Dick, is the need for the bank to remain sound in its infrastructure, ready for future business growth.

Zanaco

“It is basically a statement about how we see the future and our confidence in investing for the long term. It was to set the business up so it could grow and continue to develop,” he says. “If you look at any bank, there is obviously a continual program of investment. I don’t think you ever get to a point where you can put a system in and it can go sleek for 20 years, it doesn’t work like that. It’s one of those ongoing upgrades that you do. I think the life of a system can be anywhere between seven to ten years if you’re lucky. You just have to continue to keep these things modernised to reflect efficient ways of doing things. So it comes with a bit of efficiency, it goes a bit faster, it can cater for

more customers, more products and so it gives us a lot more flexibility about how we can grow the business for the future.” According to Dick, the next step for Zanaco is building on the foundations that this new system gives the bank in a way that will allow it to better serve its customers. However, these plans are not in fruition just yet, as Dick tells us: “Customers don’t see a lot from the existing change because it’s more about speed and enhancing the reliability of things… The real advantage for customers is that hopefully we can provide more products and services. They have yet to see the full benefit - we’ve seen more of it in the back office.”

AUG 14 PAGE 57

company profile

BANKING THE “UNBANKED” Zanaco is making a big push to provide products and services to people who have previously been underserviced. The focus is specifically on commercial farmers who have usually been affected due to their location. “In terms of the ‘unbanked’, there is a huge population of people

PAGE 58 AUG 14

who have largely been in cash economies, or cash societies, where if you can link them into the financial world, it gives them a lot more security over their cash flows and how they handle their money,” says Dick. “We have that social agenda or that strategic focus that some of the other banks don’t have as a cornerstone to their businesses. That comes a bit from our shareholding base

Zanaco where what we see as the primary objective of the bank, is to try and extend banking services to the outlying areas, particularly into the rural areas where there may be the kind of people who don’t

“It is basically a statement about how we see the future and our confidence in investing for the long term. It was to set the business up so it could grow and continue to develop” get access to bank accounts.” Many of these people, the ones who are based in the rural areas and could benefit from banking services,wizz.int.advert.FINAL.pdf are farmers. Zanaco not7/29/14 only wants 1:41:27 PM to reach the business of the large commercial

farmer, but it specifically wants to service the emergent farmers – farmers who run commercial enterprise on a much smaller scale. “These are the people that are not commercial farmers, but they are just a bit less than the commercial activity and these are the people for the future - the ones that can grow and develop – and we put a big focus on that,” Dick explains. “There is another group before you get right down into the subsistence farming who are basically the small farmers, the small croppers, the people who do get a cash return out of their crop but it’s a relatively small amount. It’s those people who we try and organise into cooperatives and we try to service that though the Zambian farmers union and that works well.” One of the questions that comes to mind is how Zanaco is able to stretch its services into these areas that were previously unserviceable. “The mobile phone is the technology platform for banking for the personal consumer and it does everything that a customer needs to do – they can shift money around, they can make deposits, get cash and pay transactions. For all intents

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AUG 14 PAGE 59

company profile

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and purposes, most people have a phone and you don’t need a high powered phone to do it, you need a basic phone. It works very well for the unbanked and personal consumers. It also reaches out to the outlying areas – the network coverage in Zambia is quite good and if you have a phone, you can operate in most parts of the country. From that perspective, it does allow people to become connected to banking,” Dick explains.

AGENTS OF CHANGE Mobile electronics is used in combination with branches and with Zanaco Xpress Agents. “Quite often in outlying areas, there is only a small customer base so setting up bricks and mortar doesn’t make a lot of sense and it’s a very expensive distribution platform. The other thing is that the mobile is a distribution platform in itself and they can reach pretty much everywhere in Zambia’s case – so it’s a combination of bricks and mortar, agents and electronic connections,” says Dick. Zanaco Xpress Agency is a model whereby Zanaco appoint Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) to act as agents on its behalf. They are

PAGE 60 AUG 14

training@dionysus.co.za

able to provide basic banking services such as opening accounts and giving out and taking in cash. “You can arm these people with a Point of Sale device and they can do the simple things... It’s a way to reach out to relatively lowly populated areas and put in place an infrastructure that allows people to be connected closer to their homes,” Dick says. The agency model started off as 65 agents in 2012 and grew rapidly to 160 agents in 2013. The use of agencies is a popular practise, Dick tells us: “People have found that if you go back to the conventional opening of a branch that it’s a very expensive model to try and roll out to outlying areas. People had to come up with a more creative solution and we went down the agency route. It’s one that is becoming quite widely practised in Africa so I think it’s not only true here, it’s also in other African countries. You’ll find that the agency model is being extensively used as a distribution platform.”

YESTERDAY’S SUCCESS TOMORROW Whatever the economic future may hold, Zanaco is in a strong position to keep striving forward.

Zanaco “We’re in the corporate market, the government sector, agriculture and we’re in the personal segments with private customers so the spread of the business means that even when the economy is going through more difficult times, there are parts of it that are working very well and there will be other areas where the growth isn’t there for the time being. The spread of the business protects your ultimate long term growth plans,” says Dick. After the success of 2013, Zanaco is still set to continue on its rollercoaster of accomplishment. For the past few years, Zanaco has expanded consistently at approximately 20% per year and in an economy that is growing at approximately 6 – 7% per year, it is easy for banks to perform well. “It’s a market where there is quite a lot of competition between the banks, with quite a big proportion of the population that doesn’t have a bank account. There are lots of new customers that we can attract so it makes expansion a bit easier,” Dick explains. “We are not announcing anything yet, but we are on track for continued growth and that’s what we prefer to do – we like to be a steady, consistent performer.”

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AUG 14 PAGE 61

company profile

Great events by design Editorial: Colin Chinery Production: Ajuanne Payne

What makes a great event? Vision, passion, teamwork and a commitment to service excellence, says Ofer Lapid. And as a key organiser in momentous national events like the State Funeral of Nelson Mandela, and the 2010 World Cup, the founder and Joint Managing Director of Gearhouse South Africa should know.

When death finally came it was just before 21:00, December 5, 2013. And while the news broke across the world and before the first banners had been written – ‘A Nation Mourns’ headlined the South African Star; ‘Goodbye Tata’ posted the Sowetan - the special task team had been assembled. Its assignment had been minutely planned; the coordination of the memorial service and state funeral of The Man Called Madiba; South Africa’s first Black President; former prisoner 46664. Nelson Mandela. At Qunu, Eastern Cape, Mandela’s childhood home and the site chosen for his State funeral, a vast temporary structure went up, soon to host the

PAGE 62 AUG 14

leaders and princes of the world. 108 metres long and 36 metres wide, it was designed, manufactured and assembled by Gearhouse In2Structures, a member of South Africa’s leading events supplier, Gearhouse Group. Founder and Joint Managing Director Ofer Lapid recalls those hours.

TEN DAYS TO ZERO HOUR “The State Funeral of Mr Nelson Mandela was one of our biggest challenges. It involved the build of one of our enormous In2Structures Dome venues - the SupaDome - and we had 10 days from the

Gearhouse SA

notice of his death to final delivery of the complete structure, including all the interior lighting, sound, stage etc. “It was built in extreme circumstances in driving rain, on unlevelled surfaces and with very limited access in Mr Mandela’s home village. Yet we delivered a very beautiful end product of which we are justifiably very proud.” The Gearhouse Group is South Africa’s premier supplier of technical production services to the events staging industry, with a range of services, turnkey solutions and cutting edge technology that puts it among the world’s leading companies of its kind.

Specialising in lighting, audio, staging, power, rigging, audio visual, daylight screens and sets, Gearhouse SA and its other event related service companies, provides equipment for anything from small-scale conferences and sell-out concerts to international events such as the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Gearhouse South Africa offers the skills and expertise of many internationally recognised experts with technical design services offered as a value-added service to facilitate accurate planning and budgeting for the event. Leadership in safety practice assures incident-free eventing.

AUG 14 PAGE 63

company profile “Our competitive advantage lies in the fact that we provide a turnkey technical solution with specialists in each field and are unique in having the widest range of services currently available in SA. ”And because we are used to working together, the individual technical production aspects fit together smoothly under the co-ordination of our project managers. “This means our clients get the benefit of a single contact access to the whole range of services, technical expertise as well as the advantage of a globally negotiated price.” Born in Jaffa, Israel in 1960, Ofer Lapid is an entrepreneur natural, and more than that, a free spirit. Aged seven and holed up in a bunker during the Six Day War in 1967, he first heard The Rolling Stones on the radio, which inspired him to want to work in the music business. After two years in the military he began lending a hand in the entertainment industry, working with Israeli shows and artists, multi-skilling and assisting with sound and lighting. He loved the drama and

PAGE 64 AUG 14

freedom of expression of life in the theatre, and in 1985 while working the lights for a touring Israeli rock and roll act, he finally arrived in South Africa. He was 25 and knew right away that he wanted to create his life here. “I knew immediately… and the entertainment industry was a natural choice.” Gearhouse’s roots reach back to 1991 when Ofer Lapid founded Lighting Unlimited, a small, Johannesburg-based lighting company. Since then his business has grown through acquisitions and operational excellence into a world-class total technical solution provider. “The original goal and objectives were to bring the technical service industry in line with international standards; in South Africa, by South Africans. “In early days of the late 1970s and 80s, although this industry was amazing fun, we worked like dogs and didn’t always earn either the right amount of respect or the right amount of money…not in the country I came from nor here. “Not to mention that there was no forward

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company profile

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planning in respect of Health and Safety, insurance, education or knowledge. It was a case of survival of the fittest.” In 1996 Lighting Unlimited was acquired by Gearhouse PLC, a UK-based company with operations on five continents. Five years later a management buy-out secured its South African division, since when this locally based, proudly South African company has reached dominant market share under Ofer Lapid’s strong leadership. The following year Gearhouse South Africa finalised its BEE agreement, and the current Board of Directors include Nasser Abbas, Nkosinathi Biko, Relebogile Moshidi and Neelofar Khan. Headquartered in Bezuidenhout Valley, Johannesburg, and with branches in Cape Town and Durban, Gearhouse offers its clients nationwide, single contact access to its full range of technical services.

PASSION AND SERVICE Vision, passion, teamwork and a commitment to service excellence are the foundations on which

PAGE 66 AUG 14

Gearhouse SA Gearhouse South Africa has been built, says Mr Lapid. “And my own passion lies not only in creating a future for lighting, studio and AV technicians, stage and set builders and the rest but also to find a way of educating people towards both greater knowledge and greater recognition. “We have a hard earned reputation for technical service excellence and creative distinction, and a stringent system of client service checks for every event. Delivering a consistent and thoroughly professional service is key to our success. “We are the industry leaders in southern Africa and the largest by far. But there are plenty of smaller competitors and we are doing our best to stay a step ahead. “We have just announced the launch of our West African Operation based in Accra, Ghana and have our eye on opportunities in East Africa as well.” While the current freelance pool of GH employees includes the “doers” of our industry, says Mr Lapid, developing skills and broadening the technical knowledge of clients are on-going challenges. “What we look at is investment into the future of the younger generations that have the combination of physical and mental strength required for this industry as well as the knowledge. “Our way of doing that is through the Gearhouse Kentse Mpahlwa Academy. The Gearhouse Group has an extremely proactive training and development policy, with a high priority placed on ongoing training and skills development to keep personnel abreast of all the latest technological advancements. “We run a year long, free of charge learnership countrywide for industry entrants which provides a solid foundation in all technical disciplines and instils a sound safety ethic enabling our students to emerge as work-ready candidates.” What has been the key to the company’s success over these past 20 years? “Delivery of highest standard of service - and doing it with a smile. Always being helpful, considerate and going above and beyond what is required.

technical going forward. “Music makes people happy. In sport you have an audience that is supporting two opposing sides, but at a music event the people are united in their support of the band. “Everyone is equal regardless of colour, age or gender, and most of the time it is a happy gathering. And that makes me happy.”

“And my own passion lies not only in creating a future for lighting, studio and AV technicians, stage and set builders and the rest but also to find a way of educating people towards both greater knowledge and greater recognition”

SA Backline Co.

Starting off his music career in 1968 as a bass player, R “Gorksie” Madeira became a very prominent musician in the SA music scene both with bands and as a session musician. In 1972 he travelled to Europe to continue his music career. Unfortunately, having a South African passport hindered his progress immensely. On his return to South Africa, he was very fortunate to be part of the transformation of the music scene to a multi racial melting pot of cross over music. In 1998, being very unhappy with the standard of backline gear supplied locally, he decided to stop playing and start a backline company. The success of this endeavor has made him a standard setter for a lot of the international and local music concerts. Gorksie is known throughout the industry, here and abroad, as a professional in his ﬁeld and is SA Backline’s team leader. Successful gigs include: Loyiso, R Kelly Tour, Jozi, The Killers, John Legend Tour, Backstreet Boys, Oasis, Rihanna, Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Faithless, Dionne Warwick, UB40, Usher, and many many more.

GIG TOGETHER “In our industry after sales means maintaining an excellent relationship with your client. A good gig for us is when our client standing next to us is happy with the way everything went, places his trust in us and Gearhouse becomes the ‘go-to’ for all things

Tel / Fax 27 11 314 4419 Mobile Fax 27 82 131 852 5220 Mobile 082 852 5220 PO Box 7158 Halfway House 1685. Republic of South Africa Email: sabackline@gmail.com

AUG 14 PAGE 67

company profile

All pointing in the right direction Editorial: Christian Jordan Production: Hal Hutchison

Tri-Cor Signs has been successfully operating out of Industria, Johannesburg for 25 years. The company has recently expanded, buying new machinery and building on its already impressive service portfolio, and Sales and Marketing Director Kobus Barnard tells IndustrySA that expansion on the continent is one of the next targets for this innovative, quality focussed company.

The sign is perhaps one of the most underappreciated innovations of all time. Its purpose is simple, its process is even simpler, and every day millions of signs around the world help the flow of people, whether around towns and cities, around the workplace or around popular locations; but very few appreciate the work of the sign. Signs have been used throughout time with the first directional signs being used by the Romans on stone columns to show the distance to Rome across the Empire. The first modern road signs were erected in the 1870s and showed directions and distances to towns and cities. Over time, road signs have developed and now different regions around the world have standardised designs for different instructions. In South Africa, directional signs are green or blue and tourism signs are brown. Warning

PAGE 68 AUG 14

signs are triangular with a red and white colour scheme and each group of signs (regulatory, warning, guidance, temporary) has its own specific standard of size, shape and colour. One company who does appreciate the importance of effective signage is Tri-Cor Signs. Headquartered in Industria, Johannesburg, Tri-Cor is one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading manufacturer of not just road signs but safety signs, mining signage and corporate signs. Capable of manufacture, installation and maintenance, Tri-Cor has 10 offices around the country and is growing its presence north of the border in Africa. More recently, the company added road marking to its growing list of products and services and this is a sector of the business which has witnessed positive growth over the last year. Sales and Marketing Director, Kobus Barnard explains.

Tri-Cor Signs

“We diversified our business around 18 months ago from pure signage and manufacture and we purchased some road marking equipment. It’s a new venture and it adds to our portfolio without being drastically different from our core business. We see it as more of a recurring business need. Road markings need to be maintained much more often than road signage. It’s growing nicely; in the last nine or ten months it has grown to account for around 10% of our business.”

STRONG HISTORY Tri-Cor was founded in 1989 and initially, the business focussed on safety signs for the mining industry. Today, the business portfolio is wide and much more developed and the company has seen fantastic growth allowing for serious expansion of facilities.

“The business was started by John Mayer, our current Managing Director. He started his business around 25 years ago, manufacturing number plates in Vereeniging and from there he bought another small business and eventually Tri-Cor. “Tri-Cor was an existing business in Industria, Johannesburg and he bought it out and built it up by focussing on the mines - safety signs and safety equipment. Initially, the mines were predominantly Anglo and BHP Billiton. “In ’89 when he bought the business, there were probably only around 20 or 30 people in the company and there was a branch in Johannesburg and Krugersdorp and John had the branch of his other business in Vereeniging but Tri-Cor quickly grew, opening branches all over the country, establishing outlets wherever the mines were.

AUG 14 PAGE 69

company profile “So, from working in a relatively small factory working only for the mining industry, we’ve built the business up and now we have a factory with around 10,000m² of space.

“We have expanded to increase our capacity and meet customer demands but also to be able to offer our customers a wider range of goods and services” “On the back of the success with mining and safety signs, the company diversified into manufacturing road signs and has in the last ten years or so done various contracts on the provincial level, municipal level, and on the national road agency level. “Our biggest growth in the last two years has been with road signs but around 60% of our business is still in the mining industry with safety signs and

PAGE 70 AUG 14

visibility projects. With visibility projects, we don’t only do the signage but we cut the stencils and the kits for big mining trucks. We put all the reflective material on the mining equipment so everything is visible and this is part of the health and safety requirement in the mines,” Barnard explains. “We are able to manufacture signs and we have big teams and fleets of trucks and equipment so that we can install these signs.” Because the company has expanded successfully, there has been a need for new machines and new equipment to keep up with growing customer demand and act as a platform for further growth in the future. Barnard says that as well as expanding the physical floor space of the Tri-Cor factory, the company has also invested in top-of-the-range equipment so that customers can enjoy a wider range of products and services. “We have expanded on two levels. We have increased actual production floor space by purchasing and leasing an additional factory. That happened in the last six months. We’ve also purchased various

Tri-Cor Signs

pieces of equipment, the biggest of which are digital printing machines. We’ve also just purchased a HP flatbed printer, a water-jet machine and a laminating machine. “We have expanded to increase our capacity and meet customer demands but also to be able to offer our customers a wider range of goods and services. The water-jet machine, the laminator and the flatbed printer just gives us a little more flexibility and gives our customers a bigger portfolio of services,” he says.

ON THE ROAD TO THE TOP The business of sign manufacturer is a fairly simple one to get involved with. All you need is the right equipment and some raw materials and you can do a basic job but what separates Tri-Cor from smaller competitors is the company’s ability to undertake large contracts. “There is significant competition,” says Barnard “but the challenge in the industry is that the barriers to entry are quite low. If you have the right piece of equipment and materials, you can put together signs but what we have got right is being the biggest manufacturer with the biggest capacity, allowing us to take on the bigger contracts. “We have competition but we are currently the biggest manufacturer of road signs in Southern Africa

and we would call ourselves the market leader.” And this market leading status attracts big name customers from all around the country. All of the major mining houses, municipalities, government, construction firms and many more all call Tri-Cor a partner. The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) has been busy in the Eastern Cape planning a new BRT system for the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan region and Barnard says SANRAL is a significant client. “They are an important customer, not our biggest but we do a lot of work for them; we recently did some work for them in the Eastern Cape in the Nelson Mandela Metro region. “We also deal with provincial governments. For example, we do all the road signs for the City of Tshwane; everything including installation, servicing and maintenance.” Tri-Cor also recently celebrated the completion of a big project in Limpopo, another area where roads have received a lot of attention. “The contract was for the RAL (Roads Agency Limpopo) and we were awarded the tender at the end of last year to put up all the road signs on Limpopo provincial roads. The contract was in excess of R16 million and around 16,000m² of signage. Over a two month period, we had our factory running 24

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company profile

hours a day to meet the demands of the customer. We completed the job in around nine or ten weeks,” Barnard explains. Another reason why Tri-Cor has become the manufacturer of choice for many big name organisations is its commitment to safety. Safety is a principal concern and the company is committed to providing a “consistently safe work environment, and the peace of mind that accompanies knowing that our employees can return to their families at the end of the day free from harm.”

“On the back of the success with mining and safety signs, the company diversified into manufacturing road signs and has in the last ten years or so done various contracts on the provincial level, municipal level, and on the national road agency level” And safety is not just a concern internally. Many of the signs produced by Tri-Cor are made in a certain way to ensure that they are durable, fit for purpose and above all, safe.

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“We are also part of SARTSMA (South African Road Traffic Sign Manufacturers’ Association) and we make sure we stick to the necessary requirements and that the industry understands that a road sign is not just a road sign – there is a reason why it needs to be manufactured in a certain way, have a certain level of reflectivity, why the products used should be of a certain grade and warranty; it’s all about the safety of the public,” explains Barnard.

EXPANSION Since its establishment 25 years ago, Tri-Cor has seen exponential expansion and that is something which is not set to slowdown anytime soon. The company has an insatiable appetite for growth and will not rule out expanding in any part of Africa. “There is no part of Africa that we would not consider but for now we are still seeing significant opportunities closer to home. “We are about 14 months into our expansion in Mozambique. We’re in the process of setting up a business in Namibia and we are dealing with partners in both Zimbabwe and Zambia. We do see that a big part of growth will come from the development that’s happening north of our borders. “This business is geared to grow with infrastructure development and a lot of that is happening in Southern Africa. I know we are in an economic slowdown but the reality is that Africa is a resource based continent and infrastructure,

Tri-Cor Signs specifically road infrastructure, is important for growth in our economies,” explains Barnard. The focus for the near future will be to continue with the strong growth that has been witnessed throughout the first half of 2014.

“This business is geared to grow with infrastructure development and a lot of that is happening in Southern Africa. I know we are in an economic slowdown but the reality is that Africa is a resource based continent and infrastructure, specifically road infrastructure, is important for growth in our economies” “We are currently negotiating deals with several of the bigger mining companies including Anglo, Exxaro and BHP Billiton so expansion will come through there,

specifically in the Northern Cape. “The focus is also on building our Mozambican business which is starting to take off nicely and we see a lot of growth potential there in the next 18 months. Locally, we are also tendering on some of the development and construction projects that are happening around Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng,” says Barnard. To complement the company’s growth and expansion, Barnard also notes that Tri-Cor is aspiring to become a ‘greener’ company. “It is something to which we aspire,” he says. “The reality is that the industry is very competitive and the requirements from the customer are always focussed on price but from our perspective we recycle, we have energy saving programmes, we manage our electricity and energy usage and we also sit with customers to advise on which products will be more environmentally friendly. “We understand the importance of it and we try to manage the practicality around it.” As infrastructure spending in line with the NDP continues and as the country’s mining and road construction industries grow, Tri-Cor Signs is perfectly placed to serve clients, big and small, and make sure that the company and country continues to move in the right direction. For information on all Tri-Cor products and services, go to: www.tricorsigns.co.za

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AUG 14 PAGE 73

company profile

Let’s solve water Editorial: Harriet Pattison Production: Chris Bolderstone

In just about any industry, water treatment and services are essential, helping businesses to run smoothly and cleanly. Xylem Water Solutions South Africa, the South African arm of the global water solutions leader, Xylem Inc. is at the forefront of innovative solutions for clients in South Africa and the African continent. With ‘very exciting’ products launching later this year, it seems this company has things flowing rather nicely…

Xylem Inc. re-branded in 2011 from a ‘spin off’ of the American-based ITT Corporation. Since then, Xylem Inc. has positioned itself as a global thought leader in water technology. Active in mining, residential, commercial, agricultural, municipal and industrial sectors, Xylem Inc. is responsible for the transportation, treatment and testing of water. The company currently operates in over a 150 countries. IndustrySA spoke to Heinrich Louw, Marketing Manager: Middle East and Africa for Xylem Water Solutions. Louw has been at Xylem Water Solutions South Africa for two years after moving back to South Africa from New Zealand in 2012. Joining as Marketing Manager for South Africa, his role recently expanded to include African and Middle Eastern countries. Louw explains that In January 2011, Xylem’s parent company, ITT Corporation decided to divide its business into three independent companies. “The ITT Corporation was known for

PAGE 6 AUG 14

telecommunications but not for water specifically, so it was decided to rebrand in order to push our own water capabilities. The sub-brand, ITT Water and Waste Water didn’t describe all the applications we offered, so it was decided to create a unique identity,” Louw explains. The name “Xylem” was chosen, as it is derived from classical Greek and refers to the tissue that transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of its water-centric business by linking it with the best water transportation of all – that which occurs in nature . The company’s profile has escalated rapidly over the past few years – and Xylem Inc. has become a widely recognisable brand in bespoke water solutions. Louw explains that Xylem Water Solutions South Africa boasts an array of global brands within its stable. These include well-known pump brands such as Flygt, Vogel, Lowara, Sanitaire, Leopold, Godwin and Wedeco. “Because of the wide selection of top-tier products, we are able to address client-specific needs

Xylem Water Solutions

through a wide range of product applications.” In terms of Xylem Water Solutions’ core focus within the South African and African market the mining sector is where it does most of its business. “For the Southern African region, as much as 60% of our business is mining related but our products and applications span many industries. Our water treatment products and applications for example, can also be used in the mining space and mining applications. There are a lot of cross-application solutions,” he explains. “We also work extensively in the areas of water treatment, water re-use, water purification and water transport within residential, commercial, agricultural, municipal and industrial markets,” he adds.

MAIN BUSINESS AREAS Its work spanning across multiple industries, Xylem Water Solutions South Africa comprises four growth centres – Transport, Treatment, Dewatering and Applied Water Systems. These lines of business are interconnected, anticipating and reflecting evolving

needs and sharing their applications expertise to cover every stage of the water cycle. Louw explains that the biggest focus area from a South African point of view is dewatering. This is the removal of water using specialised pumps from areas where water-ingress creates a potentially harmful or unsafe working or living environment. “The pumps and ancillary products we use within the Dewatering Growth Centre are specifically geared towards the dewatering of mines (open mining and shaft mining), construction sites, or wherever water or slurries needs to be removed” Water treatment is perhaps one of the most important operations in terms of health and safety. Louw explains there are five technologies that sit within the Water Treatment Growth Centre. Oxidation, clarification, filtration, disinfection and aeration are used to treat water, wastewater and water for re-use. The Applied Water Systems (AWS) Growth Centre offers “off the shelf” products which are used mainly

AUG 14 PAGE 7

company profile in residential, commercial and industrial applications. “For instance: We might use booster pumps to move water to the top storey of a hotel, or perhaps smaller pumps are required in food manufacturing processes.” The fourth treatment Xylem Water Solutions South Africa offers its customers is Water Transport, which involves moving both clean and sewage water. Louw explains that for the transportation of sewage water, pumps have been specifically designed for these applications. Xylem Water Solutions South Africa also moves large amounts of water in bulk within the clean and wastewater space for larger clients.

INNOVATIVE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND With sustainability and environmental compliance becoming increasingly important in South Africa, for Xylem Water Solutions South Africa, it’s all about the green technology. With this in mind, Xylem Water Solutions South Africa is committed to providing innovative and effective water treatment services. These advanced technologies provide environmentally friendly treatments of drinking water, wastewater and process water, helping not only to recycle and conserve water but adopting greener, nonchemical methods. The Ultraviolet disinfection system, a chemical-free and environmentally friendly alternative to chlorine disinfection, uses UV light rays to kill harmful bacteria

PAGE 8 AUG 14

and prevents it from multiplying. Ozone oxidation can be used where water contains pollutants, helping to remove unwanted substances without the need of chemicals. This method also operates with reduced energy consumption, lower oxygen consumption and is often more cost effective. These design capabilities extend across Xylem’s full product range, from the pump stations to the full treatment works and secondary biological treatment which involves a variety of methods, including aeration, filtration and UV or Ozone disinfection systems. Ultimately these treatment services are kinder to the environment whilst providing a much more costeffective solution to the customer. “First and foremost we look at the design of our own products on an ongoing basis where we try and develop smarter technology that will encourage environmentally -friendly use of pumps. We employ technology that increases both energy and cost savings, wherever possible. There is also a marked focus on building product from sustainable sources. We do a lot of recycling in our plants and warehouses and everything is disposed of in a responsible manner,” Louw explains. Gerhardt Crous, who joined Xylem in June 2013 as Growth Centre Manager: Treatment, explains that in addition to greener technology, Xylem also places a strong focus on monitoring and control. “When we pump it’s not an on/off application – we can control the running of the pump or the running of any application we have designed or installed.”

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company profile

PAGE 10 AUG 14

Xylem Water Solutions CONSISTENT SERVICE With Xylem Water Solutions’ exponential growth over the past few years, staff training remains integral to the company. This is to ensure its customers receive the most efficient and consistent service, wherever they are. “Globally, Xylem has online training facilities where employees are enrolled in specific courses. If we take ‘customer excellence’ as an example, the relevant staff members will be enrolled via an online system and will complete the course with constant oversight and evaluation. Xylem Inc. maintains this level of consistency and training throughout the world,” Louw explains. “The company also employs a vast distributor network across the globe. Our distributors consistently undergo training on products and new developments.” In South Africa, there is a strong focus on training for staff, with experts on call to give a helping hand. “When we launch a new product, service or technology we will do training for our staff locally as we have a world-class in-house training facility. We also fly in experts from our factories across the world depending on the products we’re launching to conduct product training with our staff,” Louw explains. Technicians at Xylem Water Solutions South Africa also help to provide a fantastic after-care package for customers: “Each Xylem-branch has a team of technicians that can service and repair products. Part of our company offering is that you don’t only buy the pump from us but we also maintain it for you. We keep spare parts and have technicians on call in all our areas of operation.”

Eastern Cape is a growing region for us, so development into the area has been earmarked for the immediate future. Another region that is growing quite rapidly is the Northern Cape.” Louw explains that Xylem Water Solutions South Africa also looks to local companies for expansion and meeting customer’s needs: “We follow our customers and we follow the industry. If a lot of mining activity starts to take place in a certain region, we would follow the trend and the client. Where it’s not always feasible to build a new office, we often make use local companies within our distributor network to help serve the customers and the customer’s needs.” The same model applies to sub-Saharan Africa: “We employ our distributor model here too, rather than opening new offices in every country. Presently the team at Xylem Water Solutions South Africa is reaching out to additional distributors across Africa to come join its already vast network.” It seems as though Xylem has a busy and exciting future ahead, staying ahead of its game and launching new water solution technologies: “We listen to the market to see that the need is. Product development is a big part of our growth strategy in remaining competitive,” concludes Louw.

RENTAL SOLUTIONS Another standout offering by Xylem Water Solutions South Africa is its rental fleet. Xylem Water Solutions South Africa’s Rental Division are specialists in the rental of submersible pumps, pump flotation devices, mixers and aerators, they offer innovative rental solutions for water and underwater applications in the municipal, environmental, mining, construction and industrial sectors; no matter what the need. A great advantage of this offering is its affordability and ease of access. The rental division is uniquely positioned to offer both short and long-term rental solutions to its customers.

AN EXCITING FUTURE Looking to the future, Louw explains that Xylem Water Solutions South Africa wants to expand its footprint further into Africa: “We are aiming to open up several new branch offices in the future. In South Africa, the

AUG 14 PAGE 11

company profile

Insurance with a difference Bank on it Editorial: Colin Chinery Production: Ajuanne Payne

Absa Insurance is a fast expanding arm of one of South Africa’s leading and most popular banks. It’s a unique “perfect fit,” leveraging inter-active capabilities, bringing protection closer to the customer and driving expansion into other parts of the continent. “If you are looking for ideas and opportunities, being part of a bank is an amazing place to be,” says Managing Executive Andries Van Staden.

On a Thursday afternoon last November a massive storm peppered hail stones as large as golf balls on parts of Gauteng Province, bringing damage, havoc and insurance claims topping two billion rand.

based Barclays, and Absa Insurance an amalgamation of two companies in a 1992 internal consolidation. Absa’s range of short-term insurance solutions extends across home building and contents – its major sector vehicles, portable possessions and watercraft.

“It was the biggest insurance event in South Africa’s history, and it threw up some key questions,” says Andries Van Staden. “How you help clients, how you restore them back to the position they were in, and how you learn from events like this”? Mr Van Staden is Managing Executive of Absa Insurance, part of the Absa Group, one of the largest banking institutions in South Africa and voted ‘Number One’, and ‘Coolest Banking’ brand in SA. Johannesburg-headquartered Absa - Amalgamated Banks of South Africa - is a subsidiary of the British-

MASSIVE FOOTPRINT

PAGE 10 AUG 14

“Absa, as the biggest retail bank, has a very strong footprint in the home loans market, but we have evolved from a pure mono line product house to looking for opportunities where we can support the bank. “Similarly on the commercial side we are working with the Absa Business Bank in the areas of business property, vehicles, and business interruption. Absa also has the biggest agricultural banking arm in South Africa with products including asset and crop cover.” The Bank and Insurer entity says Mr Van Staden, is

Absa Insurance Company

a “natural fit,” one bringing reciprocal and interlocking capabilities and opportunities. But if Bank-Insurer delivers advantages denied to the stand-alone insurer, it was not an instant fit. “When I joined in 2008 it was very much a case of the insurance being on the side, with the main focus on the banking. The good news is that over time this has changed, developing into a very nice collaborative environment. “We are now the third pillar in the banking accord. Today it’s very much an integrated culture of collaboration and ideas sharing, identification and opportunities.” One example is client segmentation - whether by product or earnings potential – an important strategy in the Banking operation. “It’s another area where we work with Bank, putting our products in areas they have

identified. “Historically we were very much product focused, but having diversified out of purely home loans and vehicle financing ,we believe it’s essential to understand our customers - and more specifically in the business bank and the consumer space. “We look at the customer’s earnings potential, and now we are starting to look at the life stages of a customer from maybe studying to entering work, building a family, to maybe retirement. “At each of these stages customers have specific financial needs; building capital, buying assets. Then you can clearly market insurance at the right points. “This again underlines the benefits of us working very closely with the Bank, understanding a lot more about the customer than a stand-alone insurer. If we look at our data showing how and where our customers spend their

AUG 14 PAGE 11

company profile money we can get a very good idea of the risk profile. “Another area where we can grow is through innovation, not quite cutting edge technology but taking full advantage of the Absa on-line banking platform which gives our customers great flexibility while taking pressure off our back office and our costs.

“There’s not a strong broker/ distribution force such as we know it in South Africa, so the place the customer trusts is his bank” “So if you are looking for ideas and opportunities, being part of a bank is an amazing place to be.” While Absa Insurance is strong in the house owner sector, it continues to look for all opportunities where it can leverage the banking relationship, says Mr Van Staden. A chartered accountant with an insurance background at Ernst and Young – South Africa and the UK - he joined Absa in 2008, becoming Managing

PAGE 12 AUG 14

Executive in 2012. ”You have an existing customer base and in many ways existing distribution channels, so a lot of our products are sold through the branch network. “More recently we have been leveraging the on-line banking platform so you can buy your insurance on your on-line banking profile. You can even log a claim, and we want to expand this self-service element a lot more. “The banking arm has an excellent tele-sales telemarketing space with several call centres. We are not strong on branding individual products or individual business units, but we leverage the Absa brand and the trust that goes with it. “Together with this great opportunity comes a big responsibility. The quality of our service is critical, and should we have a service failure it doesn’t put just our product and our customer at risk, but potentially several banking relationships – cheque, mortgage and investment accounts - also at risk. “And of course this has the same effect in reverse. If the banking side doesn’t deliver, we might lose a policy even if our performance had been faultless.”

Absa Insurance Company opportunities in East Africa around Kenya and Tanzania. And, says Mr Van Staden, “Where Barclay’s Bank has its footprint we want to follow. We see great growth and will be focusing very strongly in the next three years.” We returned to those Gauteng golf ball hailstones, the R2 billion industry bill, and the lessons such incidents can throw up. “Its constant improvements on the procurement side; how we can react better, save costs to avoid upping premiums.

THE WAKENING GIANT

AFRICA’S POTENTIAL EXCITES Three years ago Absa bought the Mozambican insurer Global Alliance Seguros. While lightly penetrated with insurance, the Mozambique market has been growing in significant double-digits, and across much of Africa Andries Van Staden sees significant opportunities for growth. “The South African market is similar to the rest of the world where specifically commercial rates are very set, and where at the moment, profits are very low. “So while we are cautious about our growth opportunity in South Africa because of the market, and with opportunities in-house that others may not have our strategy here is to focus 100 per cent on our bank assurance opportunities. We do very well and have a very good strike rate on the house owner side. “The exciting growth opportunity for us is Africa. Last year Absa bought out Barclay’s Africa subsidiaries and then listed under the name Barclay’s Africa Group, and this presents great opportunities for us in terms of existing customers and distribution platforms. “Acquiring the Barclay’s branch network has been hugely beneficial. There’s not a strong broker/ distribution force such as we know it in South Africa, so the place the customer trusts is his bank.” Absa Life, with subsidiaries in Botswana and Zambia and shortly to launch a Kenya licence, is looking at

“This is a people intensive business; you need people to speak to people. We believe in focusing on our customers, knowing their needs and how they operate - That’s where we can grow. “But it’s also on the IT side where there’s some really interesting developments to help customers self-serve. It’s a dynamic changing environment at the moment and it’s not going to stop for the next few years. “Absa has been a sleeping giant, and when the giant wakes up, it takes the insurance industry by storm. For me it is a great chance to see how I can leverage this opportunity and help this giant wake up. “The short term industry is very exhilarating and it’s great to be part of it. And yes, every day I’m excited to come to work.”

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AUG 14 PAGE 13

company profile

Beyond the peaks Editorial: Colin Chinery Production: Emily Woodhall

South Africa’s energy demands continue to outpace the rise in generating capacity. But a R26 billion Eskom project nearing completion is set to redress peaks and lows imbalances in demand and supply.

High up in the Drakensberg Mountains on the border between the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal a short span of plateau is answering to a long-time national predicament. For South Africa the margin between electricity supply and peak demand has been perilously thin since 2008. At best a recurring inconvenience; for a developing nation dependent on energy-intensive industries such as mining, critical and unsustainable. But here within the Drakensberg range near Ladysmith, and four and half km apart, the Bramhoek and Bedford Dams are being linked in a R26 billion Eskom project to help balance supply and demand. Six years under construction and expected to go live in

PAGE 84 AUG 14

the second half of next year, the Ingula storage programme will pump water up from the Bramhoek to the Bedford dam during off-peak hours, an elevation of 470m. During peak demand water will be released from the top dam and pass through underground waterways into the lower - each with a water capacity of 22-million cubic metres – and generating electricity. During times of low energy demand, the four turbines will pump the water back again. The scheme has an installed capacity of 1333 MW (4 x 333 MW). “Pump storage is a system that allows us to balance demand and supply,” says Colin Logan, Project Manager and Chief Supervisor for Gibb Engineering and Science South Africa, one of the companies in the Ingula consortium.

Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme

BASE LOAD BASICS “In South Africa we are very dependent on our base load being coal-fired. But coal-fired power stations are not particularly responsive in terms of flicking a button to suddenly generate more energy, or dropping output by flicking it off. “So to run the system more efficiently we try to operate those below the peaks at a base load level. And when there’s surplus energy in the system we use it to pump water and store it in the form of potential energy in an upper reservoir, and in peak times release water through the system to generate power.” Operating since 1956, Johannesburg headquartered Gibb is a leading multi-disciplinary engineering consulting

firm with a portfolio of complex projects in engineering disciplines across many African countries. When completed Ingula will be the biggest pumped storage scheme in South Africa and one of the biggest in the world, its 1333 MW output 30 per cent higher than Eskom’s next biggest. The construction details are correspondingly impressive; a power station the underground equivalent of a 20 storey building, 8.28km of waterways lined by 15,000 tons of steel, 2.5 million tons of aggregate quarried, and three million tons of rock excavated for the 16.07 km of tunnels. At 187m long, 26m wide and 54m high, the cavern housing the four generating units is said to be the largest in this type of rock anywhere in the world. And within the cavern and spanning its width are two

AUG 14 PAGE 85

company profile 265 ton, 480-ton lift capacity cranes among the biggest in Africa, raising and lowering equipment into the generator

Looking ahead to the future energy needs and mix in South Africa, I strongly believe there’s a huge future for pump storage.” and turbine pits. Unsurprisingly, tunnelling and underground work are major issues. “Underground work - driving an incline shaft for instance - is always a challenge. “There are contractors that will waive the work because of the risks attached to it and just a few elite companies out there that can do it successfully and viably,” says Mr Logan,

PAGE 86 AUG 14

who joined the project at the outset as a young engineer focussing on design. Now overseeing the final stages of commissioning, he heads a team of 110 engineers drawn from three local consulting firms and seven international consultants. “From a design perspective, things were put forward somewhat conservatively and the geological and tunnelling conditions were far better than anticipated - and I think we have proven this to be the case all the way through.” But multi-participant collaboration on schemes of this scale is not always seamless. “It’s an environment in which you are mandated to do a specific job. We would have liked to have had a more synergistic approach, and in the case of interaction or changes to the original contract and trying to agree on a way forward, we have been faced with large contractual battles. “But this is a commercial environment we are operating in, and any changes have to be met with a commercial process which is strongly fought by the parties. Even so the project is moving ahead and the work is of a very high standard. We are very satisfied.”

Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme

WHERE TO IN ENERGY MIX? With advocates of coal and nuclear pressing their case, where is Ingula positioned in South Africa’s future energy mix? “I’d like to think that it’s not one or the other. Nuclear powers and coal are base load generators supplying a constant load throughout the day, which means at various times a surplus or deficit supply. The issue is how you successfully meet those peak periods. “As the overall energy demand increases you would expect those peaks also to increase - in which case you would introduce pumped storage schemes into the system. “There’s always going to be a need for peaking power, and

storage and pumped storage accomplishes this very well in terms of a more balanced generating fleet. “There are other technologies of course, and in South Africa we have open cycle gas turbines. But it’s a very expensive way of generating peak power, to be used as a very last resort and a back up to the system.” But while South Africa’s need for schemes of this kind is clear, Colin Logan says the immediate potential for southern Africa as a whole is limited, a conclusion re-enforced by a study on the energy needs for the SADC nations in which he took part. “The emphasis in these countries is still on increasing base load supply, and so storage schemes of this magnitude

AUG 14 PAGE 87

company profile are unnecessary. We certainly do not believe there would be a return at this stage. “But while there’s no need in the short term, looking at the medium to long term that need will be there. We see this developing beyond 2030, but bearing in mind these projects take 10 or so years to develop, you will need to be getting these schemes off the ground in 2015-2020. And that’s not that far off. “However, the South African power pool is obviously large enough in terms of generation mix to support pumped storage technology. And as base level supply increases, the need for technologies like this will be significant.

FACE THE UNCERTAINTIES “We are a water resource scarce country and don’t have huge river systems that can support peaking power unlike Nigeria for instance, an economic hub with great potential. “Around 40 per cent of the new generating capacity in South Africa is developed around other renewable technologies wind and solar - and with these you introduce a lot of variability into the system. And so there are a lot of uncertainties about how reliable these energy sources will be.

“But pumped storage can provide support by continuously generating and pumping to balance the effects of that variability. Looking ahead to the future energy needs and mix in South Africa, I strongly believe there is still a future for pumped storage.”

“So to run the system efficiently we try to operate those below the peaks at a base load level. And when there’s surplus energy in the system we use it to pump water and store it in the form of potential energy in an upper reservoir, and in peak times release water through the system to generate power”

Partnerships, People and Projects Knight Piésold (Pty) Ltd has expanded across the globe since its inception in South Africa in 1921, in response to a demand for engineering services and infrastructural development. We have a global team of over 800 professionals who deliver specialized services and innovative solutions that respect social, environmental and economic responsibilities. Knight Piésold focuses on building close working relationships with its clients through a thorough understanding of their project requirements and their business in today’s global environment. Integrated efforts in all disciplines, with back-up from specialists on all five continents if necessary, enable the company to provide innovative expertise and the maximum investment value to clients. Knight Piésold has a strong presence in the African market. With offices in five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland, and also more recently Zambia, Knight Piésold is able to efficiently service its clients on the African continent. Project experience extends as far Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Lesotho, Mozambique, Madagascar, Mali and Zambia. We operate in a wide range of African environments from urban to rural, and therefore have the skills and capabilities to ensure that a project is completed successfully irrespective of the setting. Our principle of “Local knowledge, Global expertise” also helps to ensures that every project is a success through an understanding of local practices. At Knight Piésold we recognise that it is the strength of our staff and their dedication to our clients that determine the success of the company. By offering an exciting and rewarding work environment where our employees are encouraged to excel, reach their full potential and fulfil their career aspirations, Knight Piésold attracts and retains some of the top professionals in the industry, who have the knowledge and expertise to ensure that projects are delivered timeously and within budget.

PAGE 88 AUG 14

Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme

Local knowledge, Global expertise Knight Piesold (Pty) Ltd offers a comprehensive range of consulting engineering, environmental and project management services to the mining, water, power and transportation sectors, complemented by extensive structural, hydro-geological, geotechnical and GIS expertise.

HEAD OFFICE 4 De La Rey Road Rivonia 2128 Tel: +27 11 806 7111 Fax: +27 11 806 7100 E-mail: rivonia@knightpiesold.com www.knightpiesold.com South Africa I Botswana I Namibia I Swaziland I Zambia

Knight Piésold is actively engaged in hydropower development projects throughout the world, including North and South America, Europe, Africa and South East Africa, taking a lead in identifying and developing concepts for power generation projects that are considered “Green” on account of their environmentally benign attributes. AUG 14 PAGE 89

company profile

Fresh thinking meets smart banking

STRAPLINE

Editorial: Tim Hands Production: Ajuanne Payne

With over a decade experience of operating in Zambia, BancABC Zambia, formerly African Banking Corporation, today offers a vast range of banking products to its customers from its 22 branches, spread throughout the 10 provinces of Zambia.

A number of sub-Saharan African banks operate under the parent company of ABC Holdings Limited, whose brand offers a diverse range of financial services, from personal, business and corporate banking all the way through to asset management, stockbroking and treasury services. BancABC’s stated aim is to be the preferred banking partner in Africa, guided always by its core values of professionalism, people, innovation, passion and integrity, through making available world class financial solutions in order to build profitable, lifelong customer relationships. Formed as a result of a series of mergers and acquisitions of Southern Africa-based financial institutions, the Group boasts a strong geographical footprint as well as a sound understanding of the range of financial markets within the region, which has allowed it to effectively undertake operations in Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as a group services office in South Africa. From its head office in Botswana,

PAGE 1 AUG 14

BancABC’s heritage dates back to 1956, while its re-branding from African Banking Corporation to its current name came in April 2009, to coincide with its expansion into retail banking. A recent restructuring exercise within BancABC units in Zimbabwe and Mozambique is the result of Atlas Mara — a company co-founded by exBarclays Plc chief executive officer Bob Diamond — being on the verge of acquiring a controlling shareholding in the pan-African banking group. BancABC Chief Operating Officer, Francis Dzanya has stated that, while these changes were not caused by the impending Atlas Mara transaction, the group continues to “make good progress to secure regulatory approvals for the Atlas Mara deal”, adding that the group has received “overwhelming support from all the regulatory authorities on all the approvals we have sought,” and that confidence is high that, “all the necessary approvals will be obtained before the transaction closure dates.”

APRIL 12 PAGE 1

STRAPLINE

This reshuffle will see Hashmon Matemera returning to group level after a four-year stint as Managing Director for the Zimbabwean unit. Dzanya said Matemera, having taken over the reins in 2010 to replace Zandile Shaba, will head the newly created Special Operations Unit “which will be managing our non-performing and classified asset portfolio across the group and disposal of non-core banking assets”. Matemera had been seconded to the Zimbabwe operation following the country’s adoption of a multi-currency system, in order to manage the transition from the Zimbabwe dollar era, and also to lead the rapid roll-out of BancABC’s retail banking model. Exemplifying BancABC Zimbabwe’s steadily rising performance over the years, its total asset market share rose from the 3% seen in December 2009 to a peak of 10.7% in December 2012. This diminished slightly to 9% in December last year, but last year saw instead customer deposits leap to 9.3% from 3.9% in December 2009.

PAGE 2 APRIL 12

BancABC Zambia

EXPANSION BancABC’s presence in Zambia will be bolstered yet further this year by the opening of two more branches, following an impressive set of first quarter results seeing the bank post a net profit after tax of K12.6 million. Managing Director Clergy Simatyaba detailed that the bank’s costs to income ratio had fallen markedly to 49% in this quarter, from 62% in 2013, and praised the Bank of Zambia’s move to tighten monitory policy in a bid to arrest the fall of the Kwacha: “This performance was largely assisted by strong regulatory capital position which exceed the minimum requirement of K520 million.” Simatyaba also spoke of the banks intentions to expand its footprint this year, laying out the extensive plans to expand of these successes. “BancABC is poised for further growth, especially with the recent announced acquisition of ABCH” “BancABC is poised for further growth, especially with the recent announced acquisition of ABCH, our holding company by Atlast Mara Co-Nvest Limited, a

AUG 14 PAGE 2

company profile

company owned by Bob Diamond and Ashish Thakkar, both renowned successful business men. The bank looks to grow by opening two more branches in Nakonde and Mazabuka whilst upgrading our Choma and Mpika branches.”

“With mobile money on their phones, people won’t have to carry a wallet and a mobile phone at the same time” Another central focus for the coming year is the limitation of ‘bad debt’, an amount owed by a debtor that is unlikely to be paid, as Chief Finance Officer, Moses Vera explains: “While our revenues and costs have improved, bad debt becomes an area of concern

PAGE 3 AUG 14

STRAPLINE

on which our team is now focusing more attention.” With the launch of its mobile money service, originally as a pilot project in July of last year, Mobile Telecommunication Company (MTN) reports that this partnership with BancABC helped it to acquire over 170,000 mobile money customers and 340 agents. This success resulted in the Central Bank granting a full operating license in January this year, to allow MTN the right to offer the service to the Zambia populace. A strategic partnership between MTN and BancABC, it is one which offers both MTN subscribers and BancABC customers the opportunity to load and withdraw money from their mobile phones, both by using the BancABC branch network, as well as various other MTN agents. MTN Chief Executive Officer, Abdul Ismail, speaking in Lusaka

APRIL 12 PAGE 3

STRAPLINE

BancABC Zambia

during the official launch of the MTN Mobile Money Service, spoke of the benefits the service will offer to MTN subscribers: “We are happy to have this joint partnership with BancABC whose role will be to assist in agent liquidity and providing cash in and cash out services for our customers. This essentially means that customers will now have a wider range of access points for Mobile Money transactions because of BancABC’s wide foot print.” A further, and important, benefit brought by the service is that of security, as Ismail explains: “With mobile money on their phones, people won’t have to carry a wallet and a mobile phone at the same time. The mobile phone now becomes their wallet and the significance of this is that there is a reduced risk element because it will no longer be necessary for people to carry cash around.” Availability of the MTN Mobile Money product will be ensured by the wide mobile coverage of MTN in Zambia, even in the remotest parts of the country, a development which is in line with the Bank of Zambia’s (BoZ) objective of maximising financial inclusion through the development of a mobile money account which is secure, convenient and reliable. Embodying the importance placed by BancABC on

the relationships it builds with its customers is the innovative housing loan scheme it has introduced, designed to cater for the low earners among the country’s workforce. Simatyaba explained the rationale behind the bank’s decision to tailor the much-needed product to lowincome groups in the country: “The bank has seen that there is a high housing deficit in the country and I think the low-income earners have not been managing to get housing mortgages.”

“Our housing loan scheme will assist a lot of people in the low-income brackets” As such, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with Lafarge Cement in September last year for the supply of cement to the clients who would receive the loans, with Simatyaba stating that the product, “will assist a lot of people in the lowincome brackets looking at the housing deficit the country is experiencing,” and goes some way toward achieving the partnerships it seeks based on trust, respect and understanding, to promote loyalty and secure continued business well into the future.

The vision of the company is to offer solutions and harness the resources in order to invest in other portfolios which fall within our areas of strength. New Techniques Zambia Limited was formed in 2007 by Zambian entrepreneurs with a view to create employment and help in growing the country economy and provide high level services to the clients. The Incorporation came about after realizing how a sister Company New Techniques G.D which was set-up in 2002 had performed as a business name; this showed a lot of promising business growth which would be beyond what a business name could do.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ELECTRICAL • Domestic and Industrial • Repair of Electrical equipment • Computer Networking Installation and Support • Installation and support of cctv,alarm,biometric access control systems Our main objective is to give quality electrical installation and competitive pricing; this will help reduce cost of installation on the market to make it affordable for everyone at all levels of life.

UPS New Techniques is one of the leaders in UPS service provision. The UPS supply, installation, maintenance and repair are the strongest areas of operation of New Techniques Zambia Limited. The vast experience of our technical team has enabled us to attend to any UPS problem.

PLOT NO:1423, Mwalule Road, P.O. Box 33763, Lusaka, Zambia +260 211 233131 info@new-techniques.co.zm

PAGE 4 APRIL 12

AUG 14 PAGE 4

company profile

“Letting you focus on your core business”

Editorial: Harriet Pattison Production: Hal Hutchison

Broll Facilities Management has been using its technical expertise and innovative thinking to become one of the leading and best facilities management companies in South Africa. Responsible for the operation of prestigious educational institutions and world-class sports stadia, it is quickly becoming a hard act to follow…

Offering advice and consulting to clients on property and maximising value has classified Broll as one of the leading commercial property services groups across Africa.One of Broll’s growing business sectors in South Africa, Facilities Management (FM) is also joining in on its success. Facilities Management is becoming big business within Southern Africa and remains a very competitive industry. It is dedicated to numerous management responsibilities including the administration of schools, offices, convention centres and hotels and within these environments, FM is dedicated to the coordination of people, infrastructure, space and organisation.

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Helping to manage and add value to core businesses, the competencies of a Facilities Management company involve numerous roles including helping clients with leadership, communication, environmental impact, finance, business, project management and technology. Broll sets itself apart from many other Facilities

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Management companies being one of only a handful of FM companies that is responsible for the dayto-day operation and care of prestigious education institutions and world-class sports stadia. IndustrySA speaks to Rowland Gurnell, Broll Facilities Management Division COO and Chris Aslett, Director Technical at Broll Facilities Management Division to find out just what is making this company such a growing success. “We manage all the technical services and soft services for our clients thus giving them a chance to concentrate on their own core business. “We also look after all the infrastructure around that, this can be a range of technical services such as electrical, mechanical, generators and Uninterupted Power Supply (this provides emergency power when the input power source, typically mains power, fails). We also look after soft services which can be your reception, security, landscaping, courier services and mail rooms,” Gurnell explains.

FROM WSP TO BROLL Both Gurnell and Aslett joined Broll from the

Broll Facilities Management

WSP Group after Broll acquired the company in December 2012. Gurnell explains that when they were working for WSP Facilities Management, Broll at that stage had a small FM Division. Broll then had to make a decision on whether to keep the FM business going despite its size or focus on its property management business. At that stage, Broll chose to have the FM Division as part of their business. At the same time, WSP FM was bought by a Canadian company, Genivar, who wanted to change it to a pure consulting engineering business. Broll happened to be at the right place, at the right time as they put in their offer and WSP FM was acquired and consolidated to its FM Division turning it into what it has become today. After leaving military service, Gurnell went on to gain an Electrical Engineering Government Certificate with Goldfields and went on to serve in top positions in the mining industry specifically in manufacturing before working for Siemens. He worked for WPS Facilities Management Division as

COO prior to joining Broll in 2012.

EXPONENTIAL GROWTH With 160 employees and contacts coming over from WSP FM, the Facilities Management business now has 280 staff members and looks after six million square meters of property in South Africa. Gurnell explains that overcoming initial challenges in the move has now seen its footprint increasing significantly: “Most of our staff came across from WSP to Broll. It took us about 12 months for the integration and getting the two businesses to work as one. There were differences, the culture and the FM methodologies, and so we had to look at both sides and set up a new FM business which we are in the process of learning.” Broll FM has presence in all major towns with technical teams covering virtually every major town in South Africa every quarter. “We have various clients of various sizes across the country. We work with Barclays and ABSA as well as various investment banks and mining houses,” Gurnell says.

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company profile THE BROLL ACADEMY

BEING GREEN

Broll’s employees are integral to the company and to bolster this commitment, it has introduced its own academy which is linked to the University of Pretoria. Gurnell explains: “Our staff do get opportunities to do FM courses and property management courses. We are starting our own training within the FM business, but it is more on the technical side so we’ve bought in an accredited training organisation. This will help us on our technical training that we envisage happening in the next few months and rolling into next year.” “When we present training to employees internally, it will have a national qualification framework grading, not just a certificate of attendance, but it will be an FM national qualification accredited achievement,” says Aslett. Aslett began his career in the telecommunications industry, and went on to study at the Pretoria University and later worked at the University of Witwatersrand for eight and a half years then ended up as the Deputy Director for the Facilities Management Portfolio. Aslett worked for five years at WSP Facilities Management Division then joined Gurnell at Broll following the WSP FM acquisition.

With sustainability and greening being a big business in South Africa, Broll’s Facilities Management focuses much of its business on keeping up with industry trends and participate on sustainability and green issues on a regular basis. Aslett explains that the company is registered with the Green Building Council of South Africa, an independent company that promotes green building practices across the Country. He says being a green company is about motivating clients too: “We advise our clients on the possibilities with regards to scoring on the Green Building score card and motivate their involvement too. The support from our client base also helps us to achieve the goals set by the Green Building Council of South Africa.” To continue being active green members, Gurnell explains: “I think it’s important for us to be involved - Our FM operations role is to look at sustainability. You’ve got buildings that are now certified green star buildings and if you are going to look after people’s buildings which are green star rated when they’re built, or have existing buildings which are now rated, you need to make sure your operations going forward maintain that green star. “For example, if a building has lighting which is signed off and installed and certified as green, when the

Rowland Gurnell COO Broll Facilities Management

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Chris Aslett Director Technical- Broll Facilities Management Division

Broll Facilities Management fuse blows, you can’t buy a bulb off the shelf you have to make sure that your staff and your processes take into account all those issues,” he says.

CONTINUING SUCCESS With such dedication and a strong work force, and despite a growing number of FM companies in South Africa, it’s easy to see why Gurnell places Broll Facilities Management in the top four companies. With an increasing global footprint, the company ensures that standards remain consistent so clients can expect the same level of service wherever they operate from. “For some of our global clients, the way they operate in the UK and in Europe or America, they want it done in the same way in South Africa. Whatever they are doing on sustainability in those countries we must incorporate in this country and into Africa as well,” explains Gurnell.

A BRIGHT FUTURE The future certainly looks bright and promising for Broll’s Facilities Management team. “We brought in all the technology which we started developing at WSP FM and that still continues so we’re very technology driven at the moment. I definitely think we’re the industry leaders in South Africa in FM technology at the moment; it’s not known yet, but it will be coming out in the next few months.” Aslett says the focus in the next coming years is business expansion into Africa: “We already have offices in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria. Our focus is now to increase our footprint in these countries in the next five years.” He points out that this is a long-term objective as they want to become a major FM role player in the continent. “We don’t necessarily want to the biggest but we want to be the best,” Gurnell adds. Using innovative techniques, Broll FM remains at the forefront of business in South Africa. Gurnell says they follow and are currently studying trends with regards to corporates and businesses in South Africa and how this impacts on similar operations in Africa. “One example is Barclays SA, they are already moving into Africa and we need to follow, we need to be at the cutting edge to actually service these clients wherever they go,” says Aslett. Counting technical expertise as its strongest point, Aslett says it is also vital to remain competitive and innovative in this industry: “One thing we also do differently from other FM companies is that our policies and procedures aren’t rigid, we customise them to whatever the client wants.”

AUG 14 PAGE 97

company profile

New age in print Editorial: Helen Lake Production: Hal Hutchison

Creda Communications is a one stop shop in graphic communications with the technology and expertise to create the finest communication materials from anywhere in the world. IndustrySA speaks to Managing Director, Eugene Brandt, about the services they offer in the age of electronics and their vision of the future.

From its inception in 1953, Creda Communications has been a well-known company and brand in South Africa and is now one of the largest privately owned commercial printers in Southern Africa. The company has gone from being just a printer to now having a reputation for taking their clients’ concepts from mere ideas and turning them into tangible products. Creda Communications prides itself on being able to provide clients with maximum flexibility while offering cost saving measures that won’t affect the quality, especially when it comes to print. “We pride ourselves on our quality – our quality is there. We do have systems in place and we run it according to international standards by running our densitometers to a certain density, but if it doesn’t look right, we’ll use our initiative to say that it can’t run to that density and we’ll suggest ways to make it acceptable,” says Managing Director, Eugene Brandt.

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MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY The company has a seven stage process that fulfils the communication objectives, taking the idea to the end-user. Not only do they take care of the design, reproduction and print, but they take care of all the finer details in between. “We are a one stop shop for a client that calls for it,” says Brandt. The company is able to get involved at almost any stage of the process. Whether the client has their concept fully designed and ready to print or if they need help with the design aspects, Creda are able to provide that service. Importantly, Creda has a system in place that allows the client to make changes to the project up until the print is run - and the print is only run with the client’s go ahead. “Creda has always seen itself, not just as a printer, but as a solutions provider. Creda gets involved with the typesetting, the design and we also hold the information on our server and came up with the software whereby the client could

Creda Communications

enter the server and do all the changes by using a password. For example, if an author decided to make changes to their book, before we go to press there is a production person that will see the flag on that specific file. Only when the production director or manager removes the flag, can we go to press because he/she will be aware that there have been changes made to that specific book,” Brandt explains.

SEVEN STAGE PROCESS Creda’s seven stage process starts with the creative aspects of graphic design, illustration and digital photography while the design team might suggest input on format, sizing, finishes and paper. “We come up with ideas. We got involved with the World Cup 2010. The invite for the draw was done by Creda and we were part of that for the design. We try to get involved with the design upfront, not to let them ask for something ridiculous and then it’s

very expensive. We can make recommendations that will save them thousands like cutting down the size of a design by only five millimetres can still achieve what you want to achieve, but save a lot on the costs,” Brandt says. The process then moves on to origination where Creda is fully skilled and equipped to handle all the front end reproduction processes and finished art for the lithographic print operation, from relief flatbed scanning, typesetting, page layout and high end proofreading through to the latest computer plate output equipment and imaging technologies. The project also goes through a content conversion process whereby the Docutech scanner converts printed material with its text and picture into a fully editable digital file, allowing for out-of-print materials to be revitalised if needs be. Within this step, the document can be translated into other languages, proofread and even typeset using software that formats large amounts of text which ultimately saves

AUG 14 PAGE 99

company profile on turnaround time and costs. The project is then saved to Creda’s digital library that has one of the most advanced digital asset archiving systems in South Africa. The system allows clients to store and access documents either through the server directly or through a web portal. On top of that, clients can integrate their own databases with Creda’s print systems, allowing them to customise the content. After this, the project moves on to Creda’s core function – print. Creda has committed and skilled operators working with the most advanced print technology that wins numerous awards. This technology includes computer to plate services, colour management, variable data printing and multiple outputs. At this stage, the project can be sent to press for hard copy print or transformed into HTML for a webpage or even a PDF. If the project is printed then Creda will do the finishing and binding. “The bindery division is massive – it does all the bindery that comes from the litho department. It has two saddle stitch machines. We have three binding lines including two semi-automatic sewing machines and folding equipment. We have an area where there is a lot of hand work involved, putting CD’s in books etc. We have a huge warehouse,” Brandt tells us, “We have

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sewing machines as there are still people who request books to be sewn, especially novels and educational prints. Outside the South African border people still want sewn school books.”

“We have to work together to see how we do things to make sure the end user, especially in education, gets what they need and to get the information in a way that they can benefit from it” Finally, the materials can be sorted and packaged for mailing or stored for clients in the warehouse awaiting future delivery. One of the key services offered by Creda is its “Just-In-Time” delivery of reprints that can be requested in order to replenish dwindling stocks. With everything electronically driven, the ability for companies to save on shipping and print on demand is invaluable. “It all works

Creda Communications

from computer to plate – everything is driven from the Cape Town servers, even if the button is pressed in Cape Town it can be printed in Jo’burg. It’s all electronically driven. In digital, where we have an Oce, we can produce a novel in no time. We have a contract with a big publishing house in America and if they have an order for 200 in South Africa, we run it,” says Brandt.

We are looking at innovative ways to work with electronics. That’s what we’re trying to achieve with our publishers and maybe look at holding all their stuff on our server. As much as printing will decrease in percentages, that doesn’t mean volume won’t be the same because population growth is another story. Our biggest challenge is structure – what structure is in place to recover. If there is an issue at a school for example, how quick do they go and fix or recover stolen tablets or lost information so that the student’s studies are not affected?” Brandt says, “We have to work together to see how we do things to make sure the end user, especially in education, gets what they need and to get the information in a way that they can benefit from it. We are living in a period that is quite exciting and quite challenging.” Creda is serious about working together. This means not only working closely with its own clients to produce maximum quality at a minimum price, but it also means working closely with competitors - something they are happy to do. When asked what the future holds for Creda, Brandt tells us: “To form a memorandum of understanding with some of our clients and other people within our industry so that we can buy smarter as a group in raw materials. We keep looking for ways to work smarter. To get a product at a better price… You can’t stop thinking, you can’t stagnate.”

THE FAST TRACK TO THE FUTURE – THE NEW GENERATION OF PRINTING PRESSES

HAPPY WORKFORCE Creda recently rewarded some of their staff for their long service with at least one employee approaching 40 years with the company. Creda sees its workforce as being a vital part of its success and understands how important it is to have committed and skilled people at the heart of the organisation. “The more advanced the equipment, the greater the cost of failure. With a machine that used to run 2000 prints an hour, now runs 50,000 prints an hour, if the operator doesn’t discover a mistake in the first minute, there is huge waste, huge spoilage. Therefore training is more critical than it was in the past. We need people to be detail orientated, you can’t miss a beat - it’s too expensive,” says Brandt.

THE CREDA FUTURE With the electronic age upon us, Creda recognises the need to think about the future of the print industry. “One of the things affecting the printing industry is electronic media.

Heidelberg Graphic Systems Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, the parent of the Heidelberg group located in Heidelberg, Germany. Heidelberg produces precision printing presses, platesetters, postpress equipment, and software for integrating all printshop processes. The portfolio also provides general services ranging from spare parts and consumables to the sale of remarketed equipment. Heidelberg has been represented in Southern Africa since 1923. Heidelberg Southern Africa is also directly responsible for service and sales in the following SADC countries, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Heidelberg Graphic Systems Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd Johannesburg Tel 011 574 4000 • Cape Town Tel 021 534 0460 • Durban Tel 031 705 3366 www.za.heidelberg.com

AUG 14 PAGE 101

company profile

The underground construction specialists Editorial: Harriet Pattison Production: Hal Hutchison

A series of large, global-scale construction projects has placed Cmc as a recognised global leader in underground construction, and rightly so. Decongesting South Africa’s busiest roads and working with Eskom on the Ingula project has seen exponential growth for a company that was originally founded in Italy over a century ago…

Founded in 1901 in Ravenna, Italy by a group of 35 masons, Cmc was a cooperative among workers, masons and hodmen of the Ravenna Municipality. Eight years later, the company merged with the Cement Workers Company and since then, the Masons and Cement Workers have been marking the Cmc logotype. From 1975, the Cmc company began operating overseas with a project in Iran and there began a long line of sophisticated and large development programs, operating on a global scale. In the 1980’s, the company began constructing in Africa with flour mills in Algeria, roads in Somalia and Tanzania and dams in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. For 30 years, Cmc was head-quartered in Mozambique before it moved to Cape Town. Operating in infrastructure and industrial development, Cmc continue to be involved with many large-scale and vital projects throughout

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Africa and Southern Africa.

THE MONTEPUEZ UPGRADE The Montepuez - Ruaca road upgrading in Mozambique is an ongoing project for Cmc. Employed by the Republic of Mozambique, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, National Roads Administration (ANE), the 135 Km Montepuez to Ruaca Route runs through the Cabo Delgado Province, west of Pemba. The development involves construction to upgrade the entire section of road from Montepuez to Ruaca to a surfaces standard. Seven bridges are also under construction on this stretch of road.

UNDERGROUND EXCAVATIONS The Zambian Copper Mine is another ongoing contract for Cmc in a joint venture with the South African company, Bomar Project Pty. Owned by the Konkala Copper Mines, the largest copper producer in Zambia, the development of the underground

Cmc Di Ravenna

copper mine involves the excavation of the access tunnels and muck at two levels of abstraction, called 2900L and 3150L, which are approximately 880m and 960m. These tunnels are about 63 km. with an estimated amount of material to be excavated at 1,200,000 m3. Digging using traditional methods, the contract for Konkala also involves the excavation of the access tunnels depth, which will have size of 5.50m to 5.50m, accessible through the extraction wells. The shafts, at 4.20 x 4.20m that branch off from the access tunnel that will reach the various levels of the geological structure with the copper ore are also included in the contract which is expected to take an estimated five years.

ROAD IMPROVEMENTS Perhaps one of Cmc’s biggest projects in South Africa to date is the Gillooly’s interchange on the Johannesburg ring road. The contract was awarded to Cmc and Civil Engineering company, G4, in May 2008 and was reportedly valued at an estimated

€110m. Notoriously one of the busiest and most congested roads in the country, the upgrade to the 25km road and bridge improvements opened just in time for the 2010 football World Cup.

GLOBAL-SCALE CONSTRUCTION The Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, located on the border of Free State and KwaZulu Natal, will generate power for the national grid. A project owned by Eskom, the development is costing an estimated R8.9bn and involves the construction of two dams, a powerhouse, two tunnels that carry water from the reservoirs to the powerhouse, access roads and transmission lines. Without doubt the company’s biggest contract to date, Cmc were awarded the €19m contract for the construction of the main access tunnel which is 1,275m long with a height of 8.7m and was excavated up to 482.90m.

SANRAL PROJECT Construction began in June last year by The

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company profile

South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) on the R816m improvement project on the N2/M41 Mount Edgecombe interchange in KwaZulu-Natal. Funded by Sanral and the KZN Department of Transport, the development will see the interchange upgraded to a four-level freeflow configuration to help with the build-up of congestion in the area, with an estimated 40 000 cars at peak times. Jointly funded and supervised by engineering and development consultant Smec South Africa, Cmc is looking after the civil construction with a hope that the project will be completed by the end of 2016. Sanral communications General Manager, Vusi Mona, explained at the time that the new development will provide two additional lanes on each of the major roads. Directional ramps will also be in place, helping to eliminate controlled signalisation so traffic can flow freely in each

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direction. “To achieve this, two bridges will be constructed on the directional ramps. One of these will be 26m high and 947m long, which will make it the longest incrementally launched bridge in South Africa. The second bridge will be 18m high and 443m long. It will be a free-flow system interchange, which is similar to how the EB Cloete spaghetti junction, in Durban, currently operates,” Mona says. At an estimated cost of R11.5b, it is hoped the project will be completed with the next four to five years. “Sanral has played an integral role in spearheading the N2 extension project after commissioning an environmental-impact assessment (EIA). Now that we have buy-in from the community, we can move forward with this project, which will add to our already world-class national road network,” explains Mona.

Dispak has come aGearhouse long way SA since inception in 2007 . With many changes over the years, our objective still remains the same: To give our clients the best deliverable packaging to maximise their sales.

CIFA S.p.A. – via Stati Uniti d’America 26 – 20030 Senago (MI) ITALY Website: www.cifa.com Email: sales@cifa.com Phone: +39-2-99013.1

CIFA COGUARO 4: the new truck mixer for mines. Compact size for moving in small spaces and effective transport capacity. Only 2.5 m high and drum with a maximum capacity of 4 m³. Innovative electrically operated hydraulic transmission. Hydraulic pump and two hydraulic motors directly mounted on the axles, without moving mechanical parts. Four driving and steering wheels and a sturdy frame for a high agility. All the machine functions are always under control thanks to Control Speed Drive. Driving safety guaranteed by ROPS-FOPS closed cab. High visibility thanks to electronic sensors for obstacle detection and infrared rearview camera. It mounts a Perkins STEP 3-A diesel engine, and on request a fire extinguishment system

AUG 14 PAGE 105

company profile Mona explains that the overwhelming support has been shown for the N2 Wild Coast toll-highway project, largely due to the development benefitting the region and social benefits for KwaZulu-Natal. Although challenges will be faced, mainly due to the scale and inevitable delays it will cause motorists, the development remains a positive one for South Africa. Mona explains: “Such additional infrastructure will not only help the local populace in the short term but will also benefit future generations. Further, industrial, office and residential accommodation will also be required for the engineering and construction teams. Such facilities will be designed, constructed and located to serve tourism and business facilities once construction is completed.”

CMC’S COMMITMENT This month, Cmc were awarded a contract to help with the construction of the Luanda-Soyo motorway which will link the Angolan capital to the Northern provinces. The contract is for the remaining 44.8km of the motorway which lays between Luanda and Soyo in Northern Angola, an important area for the oil and gas industry so efficient road connections are imperative. This project reinstates Cmc’s continued commitment in Angola, with a portfolio of major

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infrastructure projects and developments, Cmc has been working in Sub-Saharan Africa for over a decade. As with so many construction projects, especially those on colossal scales, health and safety is paramount to Cmc. In 2004, Quality, Safety & Health and Environment Policies of Cmc merged together to create a structure of reference to ensure a single quality-safety and health-environment program.

SUCCESS DESPITE INDUSTRY ADVERSITY Despite the construction industry facing challenges over the last few years after the economic slowdown of 2008, the industry rose to a new five year high in 2013 with a welcomed recovery in construction activity and moderation in tendering competition and although the South African construction industry continues to struggle, the Asia-Pacific region has had a positive impact on the bigger South African construction firms, including Murray & Roberts and Aveng. It seems that with many ongoing and future projects throughout Africa and across the world, and despite the industry challenges, the future of Cmc is looking a positive one. Employing over 7,000 employees on a global scale and reaching an exponential turnover in 2013 of €355m in South Africa alone, it’s easy to see why this company is recognized as a true global leader in the underground construction industry.

Xylem Water Solutions

#BeInspired

Every month we discover awe-inspiring stories of successful entrepreneurship, world-leading innovation and universal inspiration. In the future we will bring you further stories of business excellence and highlight the hard work that is going on in South Africa to grow the nations industries into global leaders.

Your success is our inspiration

AUG 14 PAGE 107

Introducing... The Wilderness Expansion Project The Wilderness Expansion Project is an ambitious initiative aimed at growing and protecting wilderness spaces, relevant to conservation. The Project is as much a humanitarian initiative as it is of conservation, and was set up specifically to address relevant BB-BEE credibility for South African companies. The Wilderness Expansion Project thus promotes conservation and sustainability in the form of humanitarian resources and infrastructure. Your complete CSI Solution South Africa’s only 100% BB-BEE wildlife conservation project All contributions are 100% relevant for your company’s financial year end and BEE Audits

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