B O P H E L O N G C O N S T R U C T I O N
FEATURE
contract wins BOPHELONG CELEBRATES
B
ophelong Construction has enjoyed a good start to the year, winning new contracts totalling R104 million. Director Andrew Oelofsen says the contracts include the upgrade of Allandale Road in Midrand and work for Anglo Platinum in Limpopo. Bophelong won the construction contract worth R30 million with Anglo at the end of last year, Oelofsen says. Bophelong currently has an impressive number of completed projects in its portfolio, mostly in Gauteng. “We won three big contracts at the end of 2011. We, as a business, cover everything from road works – including road maintenance, earthworks and
2
www.southafricamag.com
project management – to the installation of municipal services, sewer, water, minor concrete works and building works. In fact, through partnering with industry associates, Bophelong can provide a full turnkey design and construction service, providing the perfect solution for any construction project.” He says the work being undertaken on Allandale Road will address traffic congestion issues on what is a very busy road. “It is part of the Waterfall Development being constructed in Midrand, which is a huge property development. It will be mixed-use consisting of housing, a shopping centre near the Allandale Road turnoff, a retirement village, a hospital, schools and a business park. “That contract is a high value contract, worth R40 million. Once the residents start buying
Bophelong Construction FEATURE
Three recent contract wins have given mid-sized construction firm Bophelong a great start to 2012, says director Andrew Oelofsen. By Ian Armitage
property and move in, we’ll have a lot more traffic in the area, on Allandale Road in particular, which is the main feeder from the freeway. Now our role is basically to upgrade the road so it can handle the future volumes and throughput. We will be upgrading and widening Allandale Road, constructing a new intersection and relocating a bulk water line. It is a big project.” It is due for completion in 2012, he says. But it is a project not without challenges. “What makes the job slightly more complex, besides the large volumes of existing traffic, is that there is a massive cut that has to happen. We have got about 170,000 cubic metres to cut out of the existing road - and that is where we are stuck at the moment. We would like to climb into it and start moving that material but we can’t because there are a lot of services running in the cut. They have to be relocated prior to us doing those bulk excavations.” Anglo Platinum is a company Bophelong has worked
with in the past. In December it was awarded a R30 million, eight-month contract, which will see it construct a car park, earthwork platforms and water dams at its Hackney and Twickenham shafts. “That’s up in Limpopo,” says Oelofsen. “The work will be at two shafts, Twickenham and Hackney, which are a few kilometres apart. They are platinum mines that require infrastructural upgrades in order to improve their mining processes. Both of these shafts have packages of work that will we be doing – building www.southafricamag.com
3
Bophelong Construction FEATURE
dams, waste dumps, and roads, parking areas.” These mines account for about 40 percent of the world’s platinum output and are very safety focused. This is an exciting aspect of the contract, says Oelofsen. “They have incredibly high standards. You have to rise to the occasion there. If they find any of your personnel working unsafely, they’ll stop the project. You have to be trained and monitored constantly and they are very strict in terms of occupational health and safety and the environment. But look, this is normal. It is a very nice job, a nice secure job to work on, and an extremely good client to work for.” The final recent contract win was with the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA), a contract worth R34 million. The JRA has embarked on a project to upgrade gravel roads to a surfaced standard in the informal settlements of the greater Johannesburg municipality. “You might think all roads are the same,” says Oelofsen, “but this is very different to the Allandale Road project. The JRA has awarded us the Orange Farm project on a design and construct basis. Orange Farm has terrible infrastructure, which needs upgrading. It is a big project, a complex project. We were awarded that at the end of last year. We have been on site now for about two months. Construction is well underway there.” Beyond these, Oelofsen is optimistic of securing more work soon. “We have a fair bit in the pipeline. We were very busy 4
www.southafricamag.com
towards the end of 2011 when it came to tendering.” Founded in 1984, Bophelong is a real homegrown success story. It was formed by Bryan Westcott as a family business in partnership with his brother-in-law, and chartered accountant, Andrew Vos. Originally, Bophelong was engaged in very smallscale work, such as building driveways and shopping centre car parks and went on to be involved in more complex construction work for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Bophelong is based in Randburg, Gauteng, and close to 90 percent of its work is carried out in the province. The balance takes place in the Limpopo Province. The company’s client base is apportioned according to a 70:30 ratio, with the majority of its work coming from the public sector, and the balance being sourced in the private sector. “Work for municipalities, such as building roads, is a good, steady, reliable source of income,” Oelofsen says. “What really sets Bophelong apart in the eyes of its clients, other than its ability to successfully take on projects big or small, is that we can work well under pressure, delivering projects on time, within budget and according to specification. The level of customer satisfaction in this area is so high that we have won contracts even when our bid was higher than some competitors’. We also look to avoid the escalation of any problems, preferring instead to work together with consulting engineers and the client to overcome these challenges.” To learn more visit www.bopcons.co.za.
END
TJDR 51762/E
APARTNERSHIP SOLID STARTS
WITH A LONG-TERM
VISION Behind every successful partnership is a solid vision. Which is why we at PPC, are not only proud to be associated with Bophelong Construction, but would also like to thank them for their continued support as we seek to create pillars of success together.
Our strength, Your vision.
South Africa Magazine, Suite 9 and 10, The Royal, Bank Plain, Norwich, Norfolk, UK. NR2 4SF
3 Gerhardus Street Strijdom Park Ext 2 Randburg South Africa
TNT Multimedia Limited, Unit 209, 16 Brune Place, London E1 7NJ
PO Box 104 Ferndale 2160
ENQUIRIES Telephone: +44 (0) 1603 343367 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 283602 andy.ellis@tntmultimedia.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Call: +44 (0) 1603 343367 andy.ellis@tntmultimedia.com
www.southafricamag.com
Tel: +27 11 793 3619 Fax: +27 11 793 4811 Email: info@bopcons.co.za
www.bopcons.co.za