SA Mag - Issue 15

pEopLE cULTUrE TrAVEL propErTy BUSInESS wInE SporT EnTErTAInMEnT

ISSUE 15 r40.00

BOSS THE

nissan South Africa’s managing director Mike whitfield on the auto giant’s future and plans to double new car sales

Tri-Nations preview

2011 Tri-Nations series will start on 23 July, as Australia host the Springboks in Sydney

Roll out the barrel

Oak Valley’s wines have consistently been rated 4-stars or better in the Platter wine guide

Kevin Anderson: Giant in the Making South African tennis star Kevin Anderson is set to cause a few upsets at Wimbledon

Avellini Bros

We visit KwaZulu-Natal-based Avellini Bros, a structural steel specialist

Anderson gets Wimbledon chance When it comes to tennis, there is arguably no better sight than two of the world’s best players competing in the English sunshine on the green grass of Wimbledon.

A tournament soaked in history, it is the tournament everybody wants to win. Of course, the other majors are a massive honour to emerge successful from, but Wimbledon is the one everybody wants to win.

Six South Africans will be in action at Wimbledon next week, three of them in the singles and three in the doubles.

The country’s two top-ranked players, Kevin Anderson and Chanelle Scheepers, are joined in the singles draw

by Rik de Voest.

Can Anderson cause a few upsets? Find out on page 12.

Staying with sport, the 2011 Tri-Nations series is only weeks away now and will start on July 23, when Australia host the Boks at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium.

Can South Africa win? Will their collective experience be enough? Find out on page 18.

Editorial

Editor – Ian Armitage Acting editor – Susan Miller Editorial assistant - Inger Smith Sub editors – Jahn Vannisselroy Janine Kelso Tom Sturrock Alison Grinter Writers – Colin Chinery Jane Bordenave John O’Hanlon

Business

Advertising Sales Manager – Andy Ellis Research manager – Chris Bolderstone Researchers – Jon Jaffrey Elle Watson Dave Hodgson Nicholas Davies Stuart Shirra Sales – Andy Williams Sales administrators – Abby Nightingale Katherine Ellis

Accounts

Financial controller - Nick Crampton

Production & Design

Magazine design – Optic Juice Production manager - Jon Cooke Images: Getty News: NZPA, AAP, SAPA

digital & IT

From the world of business, our cover story is Nissan South Africa; we have exclusive interview with managing director Mike Whitfield and Gilles Normand, corporate vice president, Nissan Motor Co. South Africa’s auto industry is on the rebound. The local automotive industry last year managed to claw back some of the ground lost during the global recession. You can read more about that on page 22.

Head of digital marketing & development – Syed Ahmad

We have much, much more inside.

I hope you enjoy these features and everything else in the magazine.

Telephone: 0044 (0)1603 343267 Fax: 0044 (0)1603 283602 emailus@southafricamag.com

Ian Armitage Editor

TNT Publishing

CEO - Kevin Ellis Chairman - Ken Hurst Publisher - TNT Publishing Ltd South Africa Magazine, The Royal, Bank Plain, Norwich, Norfolk, UK. NR2 4SF TNT Publishing Limited, 10 Greycoat Place, London, SW1P 1SB tntmagazine.com

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TrAV EL cULTUrE pEopLE

ISSUE 15

propEr

ES Ty BUSIn

Sp orT S wInE

AInMEnT EnTErT

BOSS

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THE

g director ’s managin nt’s future uth Africa gia the auto nissan So sales itfield on Mike wh to double new car and plans

s preview Tri-Nation ations series will

06 12

NEWS

All the latest news from South Africa

SPORT Kevin Anderson: Giant in the Making

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PEOPLE Meet the Author: Wilbur Smith

Wilbur Smith has sold over 120 million copies of his books worldwide. His latest novel is Those in Peril.

SPORT Tri-Nations preview

The 2011 Tri-Nations series will start on 23 July, 2011 as Australia host the Springboks at the ANZ Stadium, Sydney.

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BUSINESS The Johannesburg Stock Exchange Africa’s gateway for international investors.

ing t in the Mak n rson: Gian Kevin Ande an tennis star Kevi few South Afric set to cause a is on Anderson Wimbled upsets at

Avellini Bros Zulu-Natal-based Kwa al We visit , a structur Avellini Bros ialist steel spec

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FERROPRINT JOBURG THEATRE OAK VALLEY ESTATE AVELLINI ZEAG NAAMSA SUPER GROUP NISSAN

Focus

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Tall and terrifying to opponents, South African tennis star Kevin Anderson is set to cause a few upsets at Wimbledon.

e tly been consisten Platter wine guid the better in

FEATURES

REGULARS

Contents

2011 Tri-N July, as Australia ey 23 start on ks in Sydn Springbo host the

barrel Roll out the wines have rs or y’s Oak Valle rated 4-sta

JAGUAR LANDROVER LAFARGE GYPSUM

MATRIX WAREHOUSE NAMPAK BEVCAN MULTISERV HARSCO METALS NOVO NORDISK IBM GLENCAROL PENFLEX LOUWILL ENGINEERING www.southafricamag.com

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All the latest news from South Africa Business

Tribunal approves Walmart-Massmart deal

US retail giant Walmart has been given the go ahead to acquire a controlling stake in Massmart, with conditions.

“Today [May 31, 2011] the Competition Tribunal approved the merger between Walmart and Massmart subject to certain conditions,” the Competition Tribunal said in a statement.

No further details were given. Full details of the tribunal’s decision will be made public within 20 working days.

In January, shareholders voted to accept Walmart’s bid to acquire 51 percent of Massmart for R148 a share in a deal worth around R16.5 billion.

The Competition Commission initially recommended the deal go ahead without conditions. It later changed its mind based on new evidence and recommended that Massmart reinstate 503 sacked workers. It also said the new merged entity should honour existing agreements with trade unions for the next three years.

Trade unionists and government 6

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departments have argued that jobs and local procurement in South Africa could be jeopardised by the deal.

Unions and government wanted the tribunal to either decline permission for the deal to go ahead, or alternatively impose enforceable conditions on Walmart.

Walmart argued that imposing conditions would violate numerous international trade agreements signed by the South African government.

Walmart said it was prepared to commit to no retrenchments for two years, and that the merged entity would honour all labour agreements to which Massmart was a party.

Massmart and Walmart also vowed to spend R100 million to develop local South African suppliers over the next three years.

Government is understood to be concerned about Walmart’s procurement policies.

BSI Steel

posts profit

Steel processor and trader BSI Steel says demand for the metal improved over the first three months of 2011, despite a slowdown in activity in South Africa’s construction and manufacturing sectors in the wake of last year’s Soccer World Cup. The quarter saw “improved demand and firmer prices, which ended the year on a positive upward trend”, the Pietermaritzburgbased company said of the last quarter of its full year to the end of March.

BSI, which also has operations in DRC, Mauritius and Zambia, said full-year revenue increased 29 percent.

Headline earnings gained 78 percent to R36 million.

Despite volatility in steel demand and prices, BSI said it still expected to “grow and improve profitability” consistently.

The directors said the company was rolling out retail outlets across SA to improve its geographic footprint. “This will allow us to access a different customer profile, bring in a cash sales component and expose the group to improved sales margins.”

In its African operations, the company said it had recently opened a branch in Ghana, its first presence in West Africa. BSI has eight branches outside SA. Expansion outside SA “will be more measured as a result of the increased challenges operating in Africa”, it said.

Business

SA employment

drops Employment has dropped for the first time in five months, according to the latest Adcorp Employment Index.

The decline has been blamed on sharp drops in jobs in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

“Employment dropped last month at an annual rate of 2.5 percent and we ascribe this decline -- the first in five months -- to a significant drop in employment in the construction (-20.1 percent) and manufacturing (-11.0 percent) sectors, as well as a small drop in government employment following the local government elections (-2.7 percent) last month,” said Loane Sharpe, Adcorp labour market analyst, in a statement.

“Employment of machine operators and elementary workers dropped sharply, by 14.9 percent and 12.9 percent respectively.”

Adcorp also said that, based on World Economic Forum (WEF) data, South Africa’s labour market competitiveness fell by 8.1 percent over the past year.

“The WEF has revealed that South Africa’s international ranking fell from 123rd (an effective score of 11.5 percent) in 2008 to 133rd (4.6 percent) in 2011 in terms of the competitiveness of the country’s employment market,” Sharpe said.

“South Africa’s labour laws and regulations are now the seventh most restrictive out of 139 countries in the world.

“According to a survey of the world’s 1000 largest multinationals, restrictive labour regulations are the fourth most problematic factor for doing business in South Africa.”

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Business Money

Telkom Moody’s says SA profit down

Telkom has reported a 35 percent drop in full-year profit.

Africa’s biggest fixedline operator said that its normalised headline earnings per share dropped 35.2 percent to 444.9 cents hit by expenses from its new mobile venture and job cuts.

Operating revenue fell 5.2 percent to 33.4 billion rand, while EBITDA -- or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation -- dropped by 11 percent.

Telkom said last month it expected to post a 25 to 45 percent decline in earnings, citing the costs of its new mobile business, 8ta, and severance packages.

Telkom said the main reasons behind the fall were strong competition, pricing pressures and regulatory intervention.

The company said in April it would sell part of its money-losing Nigerian unit, Multi-Links, for $52 million.

Hit by a decline in traditional telephony and strong competition from mobile heavyweights MTN Group and Vodacom, Telkom has been struggling to rein in costs.

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economy rebounding According to the ratings agency Moody’s, South Africa’s economy is expected to grow by between 3.5 and 4.0 percent annually over the next two years.

“Moody’s Investor Services expects South Africa’s economy to grow by around 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent in the coming two years, after emerging from the contraction that began in 2008,” the agency said in a statement.

In February, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan projected growth to reach 4.1 percent in 2012 and 4.4 percent in 2013.

In 2008, the South African economy slumped into a ninemonth recession, the first since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Moody’s said the country’s banks that weathered the crisis were now “finding it difficult to return to pre-crisis levels of profitability because of challenges such as compliance with Basel II liquidity rules, the endemic high consumer indebtedness and continued high loan-to-value ratios.”

In November, Moody’s upgraded the outlook for the country’s banking system from negative to stable, saying a rebound from recession and low inflation will give the sector a boost.

Travel

Three big quakes rock

Christchurch Christchurch, New Zealand’s earthquake-devastated southern city, has been rocked by yet another huge quake, the most violent and destructive series of aftershocks to hit since the February 22 disaster killed 181 people.

Buildings shook in a 6.0-magnitude quake, which followed a 5.5-magnitude quake that hit at about 1pm local time, June 13.

A 4.4-magnitude quake hit about half an hour earlier.

The GNS Science website put the quake at 6.0, at a depth of 9km, and said it was centred 10km south-east of Christchurch.

Emergency services said there were no reports of deaths and only a few people reported minor accidents.

NEWSINBRIEF Money Crime: A 72-year-old woman allegedly shot dead an intruder in her St Francis Bay home in the Eastern Cape on June 13.

Two men had entered her home, tied her up and threatened her with a screwdriver. She managed to untie herself after one of the robbers left to withdraw money from her bank account. She, reportedly, got hold of her firearm and shot the remaining man.

Crime: Crime levels seem to be on the decline throughout South Africa, The Times newspaper has reported. Police, members of community policing forums, security companies and analysts agreed that crime levels were dropping due to cooperation between the law enforcement agencies and communities.

“Perpetrators see we are working together, which seems to be deterring them,” Chubb security spokesman Alison Bull told the newspaper.

Politics: The ANC alliance must take the warning lights from the recent local government elections seriously, the SA Communist Party has said. The decline in ANC voter turnout was in part an indication of frustration with corruption and ineffective party performance in some municipalities, secretary general Blade Nzimande told journalists after the organisation’s central committee meeting in Johannesburg.

Manuel pulls out of

IMF race Former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel has pulled out of the race to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund and said he wants to focus on driving his country forward.

“Today is the deadline.

I haven’t put my hat into the ring as I speak to you,” Manuel told public radio station SAFM. “My adrenaline is flowing about South Africa right now. It’s where my focus is.”

Manuel is rumoured as a candidate for the IMF leadership, with South Africa and other developing countries pushing for the institution’s next leader to be from an emerging economy but failing to agree on a nomination of their own.

“I’ve said before that it’s not a decision that’s

a Trevor Manuel decision.

Its a national decision, its a global decision,” said Manuel, saying the post also involved lobbying campaigns by would-be candidates.

Manuel currently heads the government’s National Planning Commission (NPC) meant plot a 2030 vision for South Africa.

“I’ve just been part of this amazing process in the National Planning Commission. We’ve got to turn this country around,” he said.

The former head of the IMF, Dominique StraussKahn, seen as a French presidential contender, resigned from the post after being charged with sex offences in New York.

He has denied all charges against him. www.southafricamag.com

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Kirsten

Sport Business

‘delighted’ at new job

South African batting legend Gary Kirsten has been confirmed as the Proteas’ new coach.

It was widely anticipated that Kirsten would fill the role as head coach and he will be assisted by fastbowling legend Allan Donald and former Warriors’ coach Russell Domingo.

Kirsten said he was both honoured and delighted to be the Proteas’ new coach, after his appointment was confirmed in Johannesburg.

“I am delighted by my appointment and consider it a major honour to be offered the position,” he said.

Kirsten was born in Cape Town and played 101 Tests for South Africa, accumulating 7289 runs. His more recent claim to fame was the success he enjoyed coaching the Indian cricket team.

During his three-year stint, he not only helped India lift the 2011 World Cup trophy, but steered them to the number one spot in the Test rankings and moved them up to second position on the ODI log.

“I had a lot to consider from a personal perspective and also needed a cooling off period from India,” said Kirsten.

“I had a tremendous time there but, as time moves on, I had to consider new things. I am humbled by my appointment and looking forward to working with the players and adding the value to the team, which I think I can add.” Kirsten emphasised the players were his most important consideration.

“It’s all about the players. We’ll do our best to get them ready and I promise you we’ll will give 100 percent of our efforts.”

Both Kirsten and Domingo start work on August 1, but Donald would accompany the SA A side to Zimbabwe at the end of June.

The Proteas’ 2011/2012 season gets underway in October when they host the Australians, and later the Sri Lankans, for their summer tours.

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Visa acquires

Fundamo

International payments group Visa has bought Cape Townbased Fundamo for $100m cash.

Fundamo is a locally developed cellphone-based payment system with customers that include MTN and Standard Bank and investor Shuttleworth.

Visa said in a statement that the deal would “accelerate the execution” of its global strategy announced last month to provide the next generation of payment solutions, enabling consumers to transact “wherever and whenever they choose, using a card, a computer or a mobile device”.

“We are pleased to add Fundamo’s industry leading technology solutions to our portfolio,” said Joseph W. Saunders, chairman and chief executive officer of Visa Inc. “Mobile network operators and financial institutions will now be able to take advantage of Fundamo’s trusted mobile financial services platform backed by Visa’s high standards for security, reliability and scale,” Fundamo CEO Hannes Van Rensburg said.

Van Rensburg and the Fundamo management team will continue to manage current and future Fundamo implementations as valuable members of Visa’s mobile product organisation.

Mining Travel

on Court prohibits Chaos Gauteng roads Exxaro workers following storms

from striking

Mining company Exxaro has been granted a temporary interdict prohibiting workers from striking.

“The court decision is being communicated to the National Union of Mineworkers [NUM] representatives today [June 10, 2011],” Exxaro finance spokesman Wim de Klerk said in a statement.

He said the Labour Court interdict declared the strike action unprotected and restrained workers from participating.

The NUM issued a strike notice earlier this week informing the company that it intended starting strike action, following a dispute over restructuring plans.

Exxaro had announced that it would restructure parts of the group to improve productivity, reduce the cost of services and operations, and streamline its organisational structures. This could lead to about 250 retrenchments.

The NUM said the strike action involved all Exxaro operations except Zincor and Rosh Pinah, which were not included in the restructuring.

De Klerk said contingency plans were in place to avoid or limit potential disruptions to production and product supply.

“Exxaro remains open to engaging with organised labour to address matters of concern relating to the implementation of the restructuring,” he said.

The return date for confirmation of the temporary interdict is July 31.

Unseasonal stormy weather caused chaos on Gauteng roads early June.

On June 8, Joburg metro police closed roads because of flooding and fears cars would be washed away.

“It’s horrific! My roads are flooded, there’s water everywhere!” said Johannesburg metro police spokeswoman, Edna Mamonyane.

Metro police closed New Canada Road in Soweto because of flooding.

Klipspruit Valley Road, and a bridge between Orlando East and West, were also closed. Johannesburg residents tweeted about the unusual winter storm on social networking site Twitter.

“After 6yrs in Joburg, today’s weather is the most bizarre,” Twitter user @Phinda_n said.

Another user, @VampyreJourno, tweeted that Johannesburg does “everything intensely -including the weather. Felt right at home when I awoke in early hours to sounds of a torrential downpour.”

“Miserable rainy weather today in Joburg and the weather is not really on in winter,” @joemisika said.

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Kevin Anderson:

GIANT

In ThE MAKInG Tall and terrifying to opponents, South African tennis star Kevin Anderson is set to cause a few upsets at wimbledon.

By pierre de Villiers

W

hen Novak Djokovic beat South African tennis player Kevin Anderson in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami he breathed a huge sigh of relief. While the 6-4, 6-3 scoreline might suggest otherwise, the most in-form player on the planet had to battle every step of the way to subdue the 6ft 8ins man from Johannesburg.

“The result doesn’t show what we had on the court definitely,” Djokovic said after the game. “I mean, I kind of expected him to be aggressive, but he was really going for the shots. He was really putting a lot of pressure on me. A lot. His serve was exceptionally well and hard to read.”

The respect Djokovic has for Anderson is further enhanced by the fact that the last time the two locked horns in the tournament, in 2008, the South African came out on top, causing a major upset. Judging by his form the

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last couple of years, it’s won’t be the only time Anderson claims a huge scalp. Anderson’s impressive run started at the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas two years ago when, as a qualifier, he made it all the way to his first ATP tour final, losing in three sets to Sam Querry.

That famous win over Djokovic followed but it was on the grass at Wimbledon that the bigserving Anderson really caught the eye. In an epic contest, the South African - then ranked 95th in the world - pushed the seventh seed Nikolay Davydenko all the way, finally losing in five sets in the first round.

Anderson bounced back from that disappointment to advance to the semifinals of the Atlanta Tennis Championships in July last year before winning his first Grand Slam match at the US Open over Somdev Devvarman in straight sets. Underlining his reputation as a real rising star, Anderson in February won the SA Open, his maiden ATP Tour title, jumping 19

Kevin Anderson: Giant in the Making pEopLE

positions in the rankings to a career high of 40. It was a victory that will stand him in good stead come Wimbledon.

“My end of year goal is to finish the year in the Top 20,” he explains. “There’s still a lot of tennis to be played and it’s just important to recognise the accomplishment [of

winning the SA Open] and build in confidence for the rest of this year.”

To follow Kevin Anderson’s progress see www.satennis.co.za END

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MEET ThE AUThor:

WILBUR

SMITH wilbur Smith has sold over 120 million copies of his books worldwide. his latest novel is Those In peril.

South Africa Magazine caught up with the wordsmith.

By Susan Miller

W

ilbur Smith has sold over 120 million copies of his books worldwide.

A busy and successful writer, he is also amazingly warm and very funny to talk too.

Born in Central Africa and educated at prestigious South African school Michaelhouse and later Rhodes University, he has never lost his love of the African continent and his fascination with its people. He had just finished talking to the Farmer’s Weekly when Susan Miller had a chat about Those In Peril and his career.

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Wilbur Smith pEopLE

Those In Peril is your 33rd novel?

Yes, it’s a lot of work and it took me a long time over a number of years... how much research do you still put in?

Those In Peril is very topical...

The research on this was a piece of cake because I know the area well and you just have to read the headlines. For things like oil exploration and oil drilling, my next door neighbour is a doctor of geology and he has worked in the fields so I could get it all from him. For the technicalities of the firearms, Hugo Beretta is a friend of mine, and invited me to his factory in Lombardy, and I got to shoot all the machine guns and all the nice toys there… so it’s all hands-on stuff.

Did you base it on an amalgamation of other people’s stories?

No, it’s all mine...my creation, I haven’t interviewed people who have been kidnapped, I just used my own imagination and characters.

Do you come up with the story and then create the characters?

I come up with the characters first and then place them in the story, I’ve got a huge fund of characters to draw upon and if necessary like with this book, new characters present themselves. your huge fund of characters, are those from your life?

From my books as well, from the series ... my favourites that I go back to very often like Sean Courtney but really it’s no problem for me to create characters, it’s what I do well.

So the story works around characters and how they react?

I often say it is like hunting with a pack of dogs, the characters are the dogs and I let them loose and they run off and lead me through the action.

I often say it is like hunting with a pack of dogs, the characters are the dogs and I let them loose and they run off and lead me through the action hector Cross in the book is initially described as a racist by hazel Bannock, then she changes her mind. In one passage he defends moderate Islam...did that come naturally or did you feel that one had to put that in?

A lot of what Hector Cross thinks and says is a lot of what Wilbur Smith thinks and says. So he’s a man of action and a hard man but he’s fair. Like I think I am (laughs)...when they were discussing religion after watching a horrific execution of some hapless people she is www.southafricamag.com 15

appalled but he says Christianity was like that at one stage and there are still some sects of Christianity which are pretty raw.

This is what I feel about things – I hate any religion or political belief that victimises and punishes innocent people and I feel that some aspects of Islam, of extreme Sharia law are outdated. We’re talking sixth century stuff, not 21st!

The revolutions happening all over the Middle East, do you follow the news and then think of an idea?

I don’t know enough about it, I haven’t spent any time at all in Libya except to see the Roman ruins – like I haven’t dealt at all with post-apartheid South Africa because it’s running itself now and it doesn’t excite my interest. I can’t imagine writing a book about the Middle East...or the upheavals in Islamic countries.

What would you like people to take from Those In Peril?

That sometimes it is necessary to stand against evil and ignorance and combat it. Just as our parents did during WWII. There is often a comeuppance in your books – the villains are not only beaten but are made to suffer…

If you make the villains sadistic and evil, then they must be thwarted at the end, that is what the reader expects and wants. I am an old-fashioned kind of writer with a beginning, midle and an end - and at the end my readers must be satisfied.

I was shocked by some of the scenes in the book.

Aah, well then I got you and my job was done!

With your knowledge of Africa – what do you feel are the main problems that it faces now?

Poverty, ignorance – lots of people don’t have access to proper schooling, high expectations 16

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have been aroused amongst the populations and those will be impossible to realise because there just isn’t enough to go around for everybody and everybody wants Ferrari motorcars and Brioni suits, you know. So that’s not going to happen and that’s a big problem. Degradation of the natural habitat, cutting down of the forests, strip mining, the encouragement of extreme radical political thought – anti-white or anti-black, all these are things that have to be sorted out. you have a number of homes?

I have homes in Cape Town, London and Switzerland and Malta.

What’s it like?

It’s great...(laughs) Do you still think of yourself as citizen of a specific country?

I don’t really ... I think of myself as Wilbur Smith, having fun and moving around. I will always have a strong attachment to Africa, particularly southern Africa because that’s were I spent most of my life – I never left Africa until I was 30 years of age and I had

Wilbur Smith pEopLE

published my first book so I’m an African, but I also an international.

What inspires a book?

An original idea appeals, something ... for this book it was that I know that part of the world, the northern Indian Ocean very well. I had a house on an island near the Seychelles so the background was there and the daily headlines about the piracy in that part of the world excited my imagination. I imagined what it must be like to lose someone very dear to you and have them taken into captivity into some place where you cannot reach them.It seemed to me to be very appealing as the basis for a thriller type story...

has grown. They like the strong women characters, like in Those In Peril there is not only Hazel Bannock but also the Russian Nastiya Voronova and South African Nella Vosloo, women they can admire.

At signings I often ask women if they are getting the book for their husbands etc and they say:’ No, it’s not for him, it’s for me’

What advice do you give writers?

It’s not easy and you have to apply yourself but if you can do it then do so because it will be the best life in the world. I tell them to write – just do it, don’t talk about it...You can’t allow phrases like writer’s block to enter your head...

Do you get regulars at the signings?

Well, I usually get between 400 to 500 people per signing so it sometimes becomes a blur of faces – but people will remind me that we’ve me before. What people usually say to me is: ‘When are you starting your new book and also do you remember my father/ grandfather who was at school with you...I will have to wrack my brains...’

Sometimes people are there with books that you sign for them and then next thing they are on eBay being sold on. The funniest is when you sign a book to someone with a really personal message – thanking them for their help or inspiration or whatever and then that book ends up on eBay, making you wonder how much that person valued your message!

To be fair, pristine copies of When the Lion Feeds (Wilbur’s first best-seller) signed by me can go for about $6,000 to $7,000 on eBay so you can see that those would be worthwhile to sell on.

Do women read your books? Who comes to your signings?

It’s interesting, the latest survey shows that percentage wise my readership is made up of slightly more women then men. I get about 50/50 at book signings but from the time of The Burning Shore with its very strong woman character, my readership among women

Are you planning your next book as you do the tours and signings?

No, right now I am enjoying this period of talking about the book, and being interviewed and going to signings. Some time later on, there will come a feeling that a new book needs to be written and I will start working on it. END

your sex scenes are famous – and graphic. Did you always write them?

Well, as soon as I was allowed to. My first book got hit on the head by the Publications Control Board (under the apartheid government National Party) ...You can imagine a group of old Calvinist Afrikaners sitting around saying: Dis nie goed!

I will always have a strong attachment to Africa, particularly southern Africa

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Tri-Nations prEVIEw

The 2011 Tri-nations series will start on 23 July, 2011 as Australia host the Springboks at the AnZ Stadium, Sydney.

By pierre de Villiers 18

www.southafricamag.com

Tri-Nations SporT

I

n June 2007 Jake White took what was perhaps the biggest gamble of his career.

Evoking the ire of rugby fans and administrators, the then Springbok coach decided against sending over 20 of his best players to New Zealand and Australia on the away leg of the Tri-Nations.

While on-field results were predictably disappointing – and the backlash severe – White’s decision ensured that the core of his team was fresh enough to bring home the World Cup at the end of that year. It is a bit of rugby history that underlines the dilemma facing the coaches of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia when it comes to the Tri-Nations tournament in a World Cup year.

Not exposing your stars to the white-hot intensity of the Tri-Nations clearly has benefits but it could also lead to players being undercooked when the battle for the Webb Ellis trophy commences.

Then there’s the mental toll of winning the TriNations that has to be taken into account. As Bok captain John Smit recently pointed out, no team has ever won the Tri-Nations and the World Cup in the same year. Such is the sense of achievement and euphoria that surrounds winning the Tri-Nations that a team could find itself peaking

too soon. On the other hand the Springboks and Wallabies could seriously dent the confidence of the All Blacks (and boost their own) ahead of the World Cup were they to beat the tournament favourites in their own back yard.

With so much to consider, this year’s shortened Tri-Nations promises to be more fascinating than ever before as coaches rotate players, tweak game-plans and try to get an inside lane heading into the World Cup. So, will New Zealand win their 11th title, South Africa their fourth or Australia their third? Here’s how the teams are shaping up:

SoUTh AFRICAN RoAR? Why they could win: Experience. Bags of it. Collectively, captain John Smit and vice captain Victor Matfield have played 207 Tests and, between them, can handle any leadership challenges. In Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie the Springboks have a seasoned and

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very intelligent midfield combination that should be able to create opportunities for the fastest man on a rugby field at the moment, Bjorn Basson and the most elusive, Gio Aplon.

For sheer physicality, no-one in the world can match the Boks and the likes of Willem Alberts, Schalk Burger and Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira will be landing hits that will rattle the ancestors of their opponents. South Africa also have a ridiculous amount of depth with the emergence of Patrick Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo, Coenie Oosthuizen and Sarel Pretorius set to further bolster the Bok ranks.

Why they could fall short: A kick-andchase gameplan that’s past its sell-by date.

Last year’s disastrous Tri-Nations campaign showed that the Wallabies and All Blacks have adapted to the new law changes much better than the Boks. Coach Peter de Villiers continues to stubbornly defend an antiquated strategy, even though kicking away possession will seriously hurt his team. De Villiers must also be having sleepless nights over the loss of form of some senior players

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like Pierre Spies and Bryan Habana.

Key player: Fourie du Preez. If one man can get mileage out of South Africa’s dodgy game plan, it’s the Bulls scrum-half with his pinpoint kicks and clever passes.

Prediction: Wooden spoon. A tough schedule (the Boks’ first two matches are in Sydney and Wellington and their home games are at sea level) and muddled thinking by the coaching staff will result in another poor Tri-Nations.

NEW ZEALAND DAWN? Why they could win: Consistency. The All Blacks rarely have a bad game and to beat the number one team in the world you have to force them into making mistakes. That’s easier said than done with Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter keeping the players around them calm and collected. In centre Sonny Bill Williams the All Blacks also have the most dangerous attacking player in the world, a man whose offloads in the tackle are already legendary.

Tri-Nations sport

Why they could fall short: Pressure.

Mentally, this is a tough time for the All Blacks as expectation starts to grow in New Zealand ahead of the World Cup. A loss to the Boks or Wallabies, especially at home, could result in some crippling pressure. The All Blacks are also overly depended on Dan Carter. With no obvious replacement waiting in the wings, an injury to the fly-half will be disastrous for New Zealand. Carter breaking down is not coach Graham Henry’s only injury concern with Super Rugby taking its toll on rising stars like Israel Dagg and Sean Maitland.

Key player: Richie McCaw. The All Blacks captain can single-handedly destroy teams with his skill at the breakdown.

Prediction: Winner. If McCaw, Carter and Williams have a half decent Tri-Nations the All Blacks will storm to an 11th title.

AUSTRALIA RULES? Why they could win: An exciting free-flowing style of play. With Quade Cooper,

Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor on the team sheet, the Wallabies can score from anywhere at any time. Making them even more dangerous is a bit more steel upfront with David Pocock a match for anyone at the breakdown and the Australian scrum far from being the laughing stock it once was. In Robbie Deans Australia also have arguably the world’s shrewdest coach.

Why they could fall short: A lack of depth.

The extended Super Rugby competition has showed how shallow the pool of talent in Australia is, something not helped by a potentially season-ending injury to Drew Mitchell and Matt Giteau’s loss of form.

Key player: Quade Cooper. If the twinkledtoed fly-half can show some consistency he could overshadow even the great Dan Carter.

Prediction: Second. They are the team the All Blacks are most worried about but a tough Tri-Nations in the wake of an equally strenuous Super Rugby tournament might just see the Wallabies run out of world-class players. END

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T

he Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is easily the largest exchange in Africa. In its 124 year history, the exchange has evolved into a modern securities exchange providing fully electronic trading, clearing and settlement in equities, bonds, interest rate products as well as financial, commodity and currency derivatives.

“The JSE’s humble beginnings stretch back over a century to the very founding of Johannesburg during the 1887 gold rush. It really is the stalwart of the city’s landscape,” says Russell Loubser, CEO of JSE Limited.

Officially established on 8 November 1887

by London businessman Benjamin Minors Woollan, the exchange was first located on the corner of Commissioner and Simmonds street in Johannesburg’s CBD. After several relocations, including a stint at 17 Diagonal 22

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Street, it finally established itself in its current premises in Sandton.

“For more than a century, the JSE has evolved from a traditional floor-based equities trading market to a modern securities exchange with a wide range of listed instruments offered. We have extensive surveillance capabilities and are a major provider of financial information to the investment community,” continues Loubser.

1993 saw the JSE become an active member of the African Stock Exchanges Association and after 108 years, the open outcry system of trading was changed to a new era of high-tech computer trading on June 7, 1996. “The past 15 years have been a time of extraordinary development for the JSE. The diversity of revenue streams in the business reflects the fundamental nature of its transformational journey. The JSE’s ability

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange BUSInESS

to remain competitive in our fast changing industry has been maintained through continued growth in product range and trade volumes, as well as tight management of costs while still maintaining world class standards,” says Loubser.

A WoRLD-CLASS EXChANGE The JSE is an attractive market for foreign companies seeking a listing, offering access to a dynamic emerging market backed up by international best practices. The JSE’s Main Board has approximately 350 established listed companies, while AltX, the market for small and medium-sized companies now boasts approximately 80 listed companies. In a globally competitive environment, markets with strong regulation, solid infrastructure and thriving institutions are known to be better positioned to attract sustainable capital flows.

“The recognition by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competiveness Report 2010-2011 that South Africa’s securities exchange regulation is the best in the world reflects our transformation from a single product equity exchange to a world class, well regulated fully horizontally and vertically integrated exchange,” says Loubser.

Acknowledging the credibility of the country as a notable and worthy destination in which to do business, the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has decided to honour South Africa by holding its 2011 AGM in Johannesburg in October. The bourse is looking forward to hosting this prestigious international event, which will be attended by representatives of the world’s leading stock exchanges. The JSE is a long-standing member of the WFE.

Russell Loubser, CEO of JSE Limited

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Access to Africa’s growth story The exchange aims to be recognised as the South African exchange providing the leading fully integrated financial market for African securities as well as an effective gateway to international products and markets for African investors.

“Cross-border activity in the exchange sector continues.

The JSE needs to be linked into the global financial markets so that it can not only continue to attract foreign investment, but also provide local clients with the best possible access to foreign investment opportunities,” Loubser says.

It is currently positioning itself as a gateway to investors worldwide wishing to access opportunities throughout the African continent and has developed the strategic links and technological capacity to do so. Increasingly, investors are looking to Africa to provide an attractive investment return to offset the sluggish returns in the slow-growing developed world. African capital markets must work together to make use of this momentum to attract longerterm and more consistent investment flows, rather than simply providing a temporary alternative.

As a proudly African exchange, the JSE also has strong co-operative 24

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relationships with other African exchanges. The JSE is a member of the African Securities Exchange Association (ASEA) as well as the SADC Committee of Stock Exchanges (COSSE).

The JSE, which is home to companies whose combined value makes up about three quarters of all those listed on exchanges across the African continent, believes that it can play a role in increasing investment to the region while contributing to the development of markets within their own economies. Projects undertaken in order to promote the ease of investor access to the African continent are as follows: The 2009 launch of the Africa Board, which offers a platform for top African issuers to dual list on the JSE; Creating indices reflecting issuers listed in countries throughout Africa to enable investors to track the company performance across the continent; Developing exchange traded funds on African stocks excluding South African stocks.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange BUSInESS

PRoMoTING SUSTAINABILITy Globally, awareness of the climate change challenge has been growing significantly, within the context of broader sustainability and as an issue in its own right. As an element of the exchange’s endeavour to understand and contribute towards a greater focus on sustainability, research into climate change and carbon markets has allowed the JSE to think beyond business as usual. The JSE has taken on board the need to take concrete, forward-thinking steps and contribute to the thinking pool with broader ongoing initiatives with stakeholders, the government and interested bodies in bringing about an awareness of, and a reduction in, negative impacts on the environment.

“The JSE is acutely aware of the context within which it operates, locally, in Africa as well as globally and of the responsibility and opportunities that this presents. We aim to build a model that ensures the JSE’s future sustainability and therefore the opportunity for all stakeholders to build their own sustainable futures,” says Loubser.

individuals invest in their personal capacity on the JSE – a stark comparison to Australia where almost half of all trades are done by the country’s 5.7 million individual investors. We are a nation of non-investors, this coupled with a poor savings rate and a high debt to income ratio, limits our economic development.

For many years now the exchange has run a number of initiatives to foster improved financial literacy and encourage ordinary South Africans to invest on the JSE. The JSE/Liberty Investment Challenge is an annual ghost trading event which has been running for 38 years which aims to educate learners about the workings of the stock market. Teams of learners or university students are given an imaginary sum of R1 000 000.00 to invest in JSE-listed shares. Their performance is then tracked and measured against other teams taking part in the contest.

The JSE’s education department is working alongside government to improve fi nancial and investing knowledge amongst learners in Gauteng and Eastern Cape schools.

Aimed at Grade 9 and 10 pupils, the initiative has an emphasis on practical fi nancial knowledge including budgeting, saving, managing a bank account and investment principles.

Training for teachers and course material including detailed lesson plans are provided by the JSE. The JSE also hosts regular investor showcase events at the exchange that are open to the general public.

The JSE’s website offers a wealth of resources for people looking to learn more about investing. END

we aim to build a model that ensures the JSE’s future sustainability and therefore the opportunity for all stakeholders to build their own sustainable futures

ThE JSE’S EDUCATIoN oUTREACh PRoGRAMMES Despite an elegant façade and financial jargon spoken in its corridors, the JSE is no ivory tower. In fact, being at the heart of national economic activity, many ordinary South Africans already invest on the JSE through their retirement schemes or through purchases of unit trusts or exchange traded funds (ETFs).

Yet, in South Africa, approximately 200,000

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Print CA P TA I N S OF

IMAGES: FERROPRINT.CO.ZA

South Africa Magazine takes a look at flexographic printing company Ferroprint.

By Ian Armitage

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www.southafricamag.com

Ferroprint (Pty) Ltd FEATUrE

F

erroprint is a flexographic printing company, specialising in the manufacture and marketing of self-adhesive labels in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria.

Founded in 1979, it offers specialty tickets, tags, and labels, including base wraps, beauty product and blank die cut labels, computer labels, food and beverage labels, household cleaners and pharmaceutical labels, scale labels, shrink sleeves, and variable data and wine labels.

Customers include dairy, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, detergents, household cleaners, and lubricants industries.

At www.ferroprint.co.za, Ferroprint describes itself as “Captains of Print”. Its corporate website adds: “[Ferroprint is] a major producer of speciality tickets, tags and labels, with a focus on the production of world-class self adhesive labels, shrink sleeve, adhesive label, flexographic printing, foil printing, [and] label printing.”

It continues: “Durbanbased Ferroprint has come a long way since its inception in 1979.

Founded by Denis and Eve Ferrow, the company opened its doors with a staff complement of four in 100m2 premises in Durban’s Umgeni Road. Now, this small enterprise has grown into a multifaceted organisation to become one of Southern Africa’s largest converters of self-adhesive labels. With a nationwide infrastructure of sales offices, we offer personalised service to all our customers. In addition, the company has made strong inroads into other African

now, this small enterprise has grown into a multifaceted organisation to become one of Southern Africa’s largest converters of self-adhesive labels

www.southafricamag.com 27

Ferroprint (Pty) Ltd FEATUrE

countries, with customers in Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. Ferroprint’s Durban plant employs 236 people, occupying 5800m2 in Shepstone Road, New Germany and continues to expand.

“Despite our phenomenal growth, the Ferrow family name and principles live on namely the delivery of quality, commitment to service and, above all, a passion for printing,” www.ferroprint. co.za adds.

Over the past three decades Ferroprint has become Africa’s largest converter of self-adhesive labels, and also boasts an operation in China. It really is a success story.

From its original 100m² premises in Durban’s Umgeni Road and a staff complement of four, Ferroprint now occupies 5800m² in Shepstone Road, New Germany.

Its production technology has come a long way too.

From the original ticket printing activities --- and two Pautzer ticket machines -- today’s product line-up includes world-class selfadhesive labels, shrink sleeve labels, swing tags, and a growing business in variable data printing.

However, despite the company’s phenomenal growth, the Ferrow family name, as www.ferroprint.

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AVERY DENNISON Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials are committed to support your business, drive innovation and deliver the best in label and packaging solutions.

Our innovative, high-performance materials and solutions help make your product more visible, capture attention at point of purchase, and help influence consumers to buy, use and enjoy.

co.za says, lives “proudly on”, with two of the founders’ sons on today’s board of directors – Jeremy Ferrow (MD) and Dave Ferrow (sales and marketing director).

Ferroprint is BBBEE compliant; it has achieved Level 4.

“We are level 4 BBBEE compliant. Our valued customers can now benefit from a 100 percent procurement recognition level,” Ferroprint’s website says. “While Ferroprint’s strategy of aggressive growth and investment will go a long way in keeping business buoyant, the company has set its sights on even brighter horizons. The political and socioeconomic development of the country has seen South African industries challenged to become more representative, and supportive, of the country’s population.

Many companies have seen this challenge as an opportunity to empower previously disadvantaged individuals – one such company is Ferroprint.

“The Directors, Shareholders, Management and staff sincerely hope that Ferroprint’s empowerment initiative will place the company in a better position

Ferroprint (Pty) Ltd FEATUrE

KEMTEK Kemtek Print Solutions is a wholly owned South African company offering market leading products to our customers. Our independence enables us to select products from a range of top quality equipment and consumables manufacturers.

This enables us to provide tailor-made quality printing solutions for conventional, digital, packaging, labeling or security related applications. We offer full technical services for all products supplied. Our hardware engineers and applications specialists are factory trained to ensure our customers achieve optimum benefit from their purchases.

IMAGE: GETTY

to participate in the state tendering process and will also help in securing more business with potential Multinational companies – a crucial step for a company with growth potential and capacity as substantial as Ferroprint’s.”

MEET JABULA Ferroprint’s mascot is Jabula. Jabula, a Zulu word that means ‘you are happy’, is the “very essence of Ferroprint” and what everybody in the firm strives for – “to ensure that customers, colleagues, suppliers and the environment are completely happy!”

However, Jabula is more than just a mascot, he’s at the heart of the company’s ethos, supported by measuring and monitoring systems, a continual open door policy, and incentive programmes for staff.

“Jabula represents what we all at Ferroprint continually strive for – to ensure that our clients, our Ferroprint colleagues, our suppliers and our environment are completely happy!” says Ferroprint. “However Jabula is more than just a mascot, he is an entire drive supported by new measuring and monitoring systems, a continual “open door” policy and incentive programmes for all 30

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Jabula represents what we all at Ferroprint continually strive for – to ensure that our clients, our Ferroprint colleagues, our suppliers and our environment are completely happy

our staff. We believe that communication is the key to the success of any entity and Jabula encourages all our colleagues to give their feedback and input in the running of our business and thereby making them, our clients, our suppliers, the environment and ourselves all very happy as new ideas and passion are continually being generated!”

A MARKET LEADER As well as its flagship operation in Durban, Ferroprint maintains offices around the country providing sales and services at a local level.

There’s no disputing the fact that the company has played a key role in setting the pace in South Africa.

Ferroprint’s printed labels are seen on packs in the dairy and pharmaceutical industries, on food and beverage products, on personal care products, and on detergents, household cleaners and lubricants, among many others.

Flexographic printing comprises a large

chunk of Ferroprint’s, which bought its very first Nilpeter press some 16 years ago.

As an ISO 9001:2000 accredited company, procedures at Ferroprint are stringently enforced at all levels.

Apart from commercial label production, pharmaceutical labels are of paramount importance to Ferroprint, and this industry requires stringent control measures, including a separate system for pharmaceutical label work.

“From its humble beginnings, Ferroprint has grown into a major producer of speciality tickets, tags and labels. As we supply our large and demanding customer base, we ensure that we consistently apply the fundamental business principles that have enabled us to be where we are today,” says www.ferroprint.co.za. “At Ferroprint we appreciate that the customer is not somebody for whom we do a job, but someone who earns us our living. It is for this reason that our service level has been and will continue to

Ferroprint (Pty) Ltd FEATUrE

be the primary factor in our consistent growth.

“In addition, our suppliers are integral to our process of providing high-quality end-products. We spend a great deal of time and effort in building and maintaining effective relationships with our suppliers.

“We are also fully aware that at the root of a successful organisation is good teamwork. Teamwork is the fuel that enables ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results. “…we are driven by an urge to elevate ourselves to new levels of excellence and… to consistently strive for further 32

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we spend a great deal of time and effort in building and maintaining effective relationships with our suppliers

improvement! As we take great care in managing our controlled growth, we will ensure to keep abreast of changing market trends and to continue investing in the latest equipment technology whilst we service each of our customers with equal dedication. We ensure that every job receives optimum levels of attention and care, and that every customer’s requirements are met.”

Despite its phenomenal growth, the Ferrow family name and principles live on - namely the delivery of quality, commitment to service and, above all, a passion for printing.END

Let us

entertain JoBUrG ThEATrE:

you

Bernard Jay, cEo of the hugely successful Joburg Theatre, tells South Africa Magazine how its reputation was built and what makes it such a special venue.

By Jane Bordenave

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Joburg Theatre FEATUrE

J

oburg Theatre is a world-class performance complex situated on top of Braamfontein hill in Johannesburg.

Originally founded as the Johannesburg Civic Theatre in 1962, the building remains a landmark feature of South Africa’s largest city. There are a total of four auditoria, ranging in size from The Mandela, with 1069 seats, to space.com, with 108. It has also been home to the South African Ballet Theatre since 2003.

In 2000 the decision was taken to corporatize the operating company of the theatre, although the City of Johannesburg remains the only shareholder. It was at this time that theatre veteran Bernard Jay was brought on board as CEO. Yorkshireborn Jay had previously worked in London as General Manager for West End producers Paul Elliott and Duncan C Weldon and then in New York producing off-Broadway shows and managing talent, before moving to South Africa in 1993. His talent and experience in world theatre have enabled Joburg Theatre, as the Civic Theatre became in 2009, to develop into a world-class touring facility.

Joburg Theatre is unique in many ways, not just in South Africa, but in the world, specifically when it comes to its technical capabilities. When the theatre was renovated in the late 1980s, the then City Council spent an enormous amount of money putting in place state-of-the-art stage mechanisms.“What this means,” says Jay, “is that in the main theatre – The Mandela – there are five stage lifts, allowing www.southafricamag.com 35

the entire stage to move up and down independently in five different ways. There are revolving sections that come down over the lift sections and this in particular is a very unusual and exciting feature in world theatre.” There are also side stages and a rear stage that are the same size as the main stage, giving producers great scope for staging their productions.

It is facilities like these that have made Joburg Theatre such a prime destination for touring theatre companies and enabled it to host an original production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton’s critically acclaimed musical ‘The Boys in the Photograph’ during the 2010 World Cup. However, the theatre has been up against a double challenge recently – increased competition from rock concerts and also the effects of the recession.

When the FIFA World Cup came to South Africa, it brought with it refurbishment of some old stadia and the construction of entirely new ones; These venues are now drawing internationally famous rock bands and pop artists for concerts and thus competing for the same kind of audience who might otherwise spend their money attending the theatre. This is compounded by the effects of the recession, which has decreased the amount of disposable income people 36

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Bernard Jay, CEO, Joburg Theatre

Audience members can come and have a meal before the performance and stay for a drink after have to spend, especially on potentially expensive evenings out. “Consequently, the theatre business as a whole in South Africa is having to play it very safe at the moment,” Jay says.

“The audiences still love well known and classic musicals and people in South Africa also particularly like dance shows, so we are trying to stick with these types of shows. As it is already difficult to get audiences to purchase tickets, we can’t really experiment right now, so we need to stick with what is already well loved and accessible for the time being.”

The theatre has a number of ways to keep attracting audiences and managing revenue. “In the theatre business, there’s only really one countermeasure you can take in difficult times and that’s to be sure to give the public what they want to see,” Jay explains. “When you are open 52 weeks of the year like we are you cannot always have a hit show on, although you can have a number of great shows on your stages.

Nevertheless, we do aim to have some hit shows in each year; and this July we have the hugely successful Broadway

Joburg Theatre FEATURE

dance show Burn the Floor coming to Joburg Theatre. We are really positioning that as 2011’s big hit show in South Africa. Having a sell-out run on one show will then encourage people to come and see other shows that follow, knowing that our productions give great entertainment.” Joburg Theatre is also one of very few venues outside of the UK to hold an annual festive season pantomime, which is always well attended.

Joburg Theatre is unusual in that it is not just a performance venue – it is also a dining venue. “Our on-site restaurant is part of the News Café franchise and is incredibly successful in its own right – we can serve 500 meals a day and of 48 News Cafés across the country, Joburg Theatre’s News Café is one of the most popular,” says Jay. The restaurant

is open from 7.00am daily and has created a very busy breakfast and lunch trade. While this is important as a revenue stream, it is also an important marketing tool. “I feel that if you can get people who wouldn’t normally attend the theatre at least into the building, you are already half way to getting them into the audience.” With up to 14 on-site bars too, the catering facilities at the venue enable those going to see a show to make a whole night of it.

“Audience members can come and have a meal before the performance and stay for a drink after, rather than just going out to the theatre for two hours and then leaving the building,” says Jay. “We encourage cast members to come down to the bar afterwards and mingle with the audience. It is things like this that help maintain a good vibe about the place.”

Jay also believes very much in the importance of corporate social responsibility and outreach programmes. “We have quite a lot of initiatives in this area and they’re quite varied. The Nelson Mandela auditorium is our bread and butter and has to produce shows with mass appeal. But we use our smaller venues a lot for community development, bringing in young actors, especially from the townships, which may not have had a chance to perform in a professional theatre yet. We give them an auditorium, a stage and the services of our staff that come with professional theatre – we give them a ‘first time’ opportunity.” Through the City of Johannesburg’s Community Development Sector, the theatre is also able to offer visits to schoolchildren from poorer areas that would not otherwise be able to afford a visit to the theatre.

Next year will be Joburg Theatre’s 50th Anniversary, and it’s going to be a big one.

“We have big plans for August 27th 2012 – our half centenary,” says Jay, “The full details are yet to be announced, but there will be televised coverage. It is a big deal and, after all, this is show business – you have to celebrate!” END www.southafricamag.com 37

oAK VALLEy ESTATE:

Since the first sauvignon blanc was produced in 2003, all Oak Valley’s wines have consistently been rated 4-stars or better in the platter wine guide.

By Ian Armitage

38

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Oak Valley Estate FEATUrE

A

nthony Rawbone-Viljoen’s Oak Valley Estate is a breathtaking, beautiful paradise. The estate -- in South Africa’s Elgin wine production Ward -- measures 1786 hectares and has four operating divisions: fruits, flowers, gourmet meats and wines.

Rawbone-Viljoen has been farming the property his great-grandfather founded in 1898 since 1973. He has helped to create a dynamic business, producing top-class award winning wines, cut flowers, grass-fed beef, free-range corn-feed pork and fruits.

“The estate was founded by my grandfather in 1898,” says Rawbone-Viljoen. “We, of course, remain family owned to this day.”

Sir Antonie Viljoen was somewhat of a pioneer and amongst his many farming achievements was the establishment of the first commercial deciduous fruit orchards in the Elgin Valley. It was also his decision to plant the first substantial area of vineyard for wine grape production in the valley and in 1908 he decided to commission the first wine cellar in the area too.

“Our first wine in the modern era was produced on the estate in 2003, when winemaker Pieter Visser created the maiden Oak Valley sauvignon blanc.”

Fortunately for him, the wine was an instant success.

“We have made great strides in the market since the launch of our first wine and

we have made great strides in the market since the launch of our first wine and we now produce five wines, with plans for further expansion

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Oak Valley Estate FEATUrE

we have over 4000 ancient oak trees on the farm

we now produce five wines, with plans for further expansion,” Rawbone-Viljoen says.

The Oak Valley range of wines includes a sauvignon blanc, a chardonnay, a sauvignon/semillon blend (The OV), a pinot noir and a Bordeaux-styled blend, known as The Oak Valley Blend.

“Peter Visser is our viticulturist and he has been working on the farm since 1993; he makes all our wines,” says Rawbone-Viljoen.

Oak Valley’s pinot noir 2008 won a Gold Medal and the Regional Trophy in the over £10 class at the 2010 Decanter World Wine Awards, while its Chardonnay 2009 won the Trophy for the Best SA White Wine at the 2010 International Wine Challenge in London. It was a remarkable feat. Until recently there were 40

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very few credible pinot noir producers in South Africa.

Even those with an established reputation often delivered imperfect wines to the market.

Oak Valley has changed this.

“The cool climate of the Elgin region, meticulous vineyard management and a very special respect for the indigenous flora and fauna combine to create wines with finesse and elegance,” Rawbone-Viljoen says. “The Elgin Ward is considered to be one of the most distinctively cool areas in South Africa and this is reflected in the styles of wine produced here. The flavours of our wines are characterised by mineral undertones, complimented by fresh acidity, giving an elegance that has its origins in the cool terroir of the valley.”

There is more to Oak Valley than wine. It is also one of the largest deciduous fruit production units in South Africa.

“We have some 350 hectares currently under production, the majority of this [some 70 percent] is planted to apples,” says Rawbone-Viljoen.

Oak Valley has invested large amounts of capital in modernising the orchard capacity with new cultivars being introduced in line with current market demands, he adds.

Two thirds of the total fruit area is planted to high value varieties.

“Our apple varietal mix includes the likes of Pink Lady and Fuji as well as the more traditional Golden Delicious and Granny Smith. We also have a pear mix, which includes Abate Fetel.”

Oak Valley was one of the first three farming units outside of the EU to achieve the prestigious Tesco Natures Choice accreditation now in the Gold Class, and is also Globalgap accredited, giving it priority access to supermarket shelf space.

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It has also achieved preferred supplier status with Waitrose in the UK. “The fruit crop is packed and stored at the Two-a-Day Group Limited, of which we are a shareholder,” says Rawbone-Viljoen. “Two-aDay Group has a wholly owned subsidiary, Elgin Fruit Juices (Pty) Ltd, which was established to deal with the processing quality fruit produced on its shareholders farms. This fruit is converted into apple and pear juice concentrate for sale in markets across the world.”

Marketing of the fruit is conducted through a joint venture company called Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing (Pty) Limited, he explains.

“Exports are targeted at the UK, Europe the Far East, the Middle East and North America, whilst Tru-Cape is also the largest national supplier of apples and pears to the domestic and over border markets in Southern Africa. Africa is a growing part of our export drive.

“We have our own corrugated carton manufacturer and distributer too, APL Cartons (Pty) Ltd.”

Oak Valley Estate FEATURE

As if Oak Valley wasn’t diversified enough, it also has a flowers business, a business that offers guest cottages for short-term rental, within the estate, and it runs the Oak Valley Mountain Biking Experience, and plays host to the ABSA Cape Epic MTB race.

“We also have a gourmet meats business,” Rawbone-Viljoen adds.

During 2007 Oak Valley imported its first pedigreed Wagyu embryos from Australia.

Wagyu is the beef breed that produces the famous Japanese Kobe beef.

“The first calves were born during 2008, and they will form the nucleus of a planned breeding programme, which will ultimately lead to production,” Rawbone-Viljoen says. “The beef is renowned for its marbling and flavours.”

In addition to Wagyu, Oak Valley Gourmet Meats has been experimenting with the production of hams and related products made

from acorn-fed free-range pigs.

“We have over 4000 ancient oak trees on the farm,” says Rawbone-Viljoen. “The acorn diet is the key to both the texture and the rich flavours of the pork.

“Oak Valley has never been a boring place to be,” he concludes. “There is complexity here that has to be managed. That is the challenge.

But we are not rushing into things wildly. We do our homework. We plan. And we like to research and experiment. Of course, we would be nothing without the support of quality people. Oak Valley has more than 220 permanent employees with an additional 650 workers employed in a seasonal capacity, depending on the time of the year. We have a proven track record of caring for our employees, and are an equal opportunity employer. The facilities offered, and working conditions in general, are of the highest standard.” END

AVELLINI BROS PTY LTD

South Africa Magazine visits KwaZulu-natal-based Avellini Bros, a structural steel specialist.

By Ian Armitage

44

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Avellini Bros FEATUrE

S

teel is a versatile and important engineering and construction material. Its use influences every aspect of our lives and the built environment. Its physical properties durability, flexibility and strength - offer significant advantages in the material efficiency of a product application. “Steel is one of the most sustainable building materials with unique

characteristics that favour its use in the construction industry,� says Ricardo Avellini, contract manager, Avellini Bros Pty Ltd. KwaZulu-Natal-based Avellini Bros is a major player where structural steel is concerned. The company is involved with architectural metalwork, structural steelwork for industrial plants, shopping centres, factories and petrochemical plants, mines and warehouses. www.southafricamag.com 45

Avellini Bros FEATUrE

“We have completed several large, medium and small contracts in and around Southern Africa including Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles to name a few,” says Avellini, who took time to speak with South Africa Magazine in May. “We service core customers such as SAPREF, Eskom, Transnet, and Civil and Building contractors.

According to Avellini, the business is “performing well” but there is reason for caution and the firm has done much to improve its 46

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one secret is that we have solid foundations, work hard, produce good quality and a cost efficient product.

The other answer is that our pride comes before our pockets

competitiveness over the last few years.

“We are currently persevering through a quiet market, which is extremely competitive,” he says. “Our business is financially stable with no credits and we are performing well, in my opinion, at this stage.

There is not an abundance of work around however and you find many contractors tendering for the same jobs; it’s often tough.”

Avellini Bros, Avellini went onto explain, was established in 1948 and registered as

MJ CHEATER & CO MJ Cheater & Co Natal was registered in December 1982 as Industrial roofing contractors. In the decades since we have maintained a high quality of workmanship and professionalism. With contracts in the Industrial, Petrochemical and Commercial markets we emphasize quality and safety on all sites and have created a name for ourselves in the industry that we are proud of.

Avellini Bros FEATUrE

a business in 1952. It has been serving architects, consulting engineers, builders and merchants in South Africa ever since.

“We specialise in fabrication and erection of structural steelwork and in terms of capacity we are looking at between 200 to 300 tons of structural and architectural steelwork per month, depending on scope, product mix and specific project specifications,” Avellini says. “We are able to offer the full turnkey package, designing and supplying industrial buildings things like foundations, structural steel and cladding; we offer our clients a complete package, including painting and hot dip galvanising.”

Avellini Bros has generations of experience, he adds, and the firm has completed hundreds of projects, from as small as a few tons up to 1600 tons. “We offer structural steelwork in and around South Africa with export capabilities.”

Avellini Bros exports mainly to Mauritius and

SCOT CLEAN MANAGEMENT SERVICES Scot Clean Management Services c.c. is a leading industrial painting and blasting contractor that was established in 1998. It grew out of the demise of engineering company Cleveland Forge. Since then, it has grown from strength to strength and now operates from KwaZulu-Natal at the Stockville Quarry. Its site locations and equipment, ranging from forklifts to cranes, provide excellent facilities for the loading and offloading of materials.

The area has also been equipped to cater for all weather blasting. The company operates on the principle ofteam effort and equal opportunity. Scotclean having been involved in a number of prestigious projects such as: The expansion project at the Toyota plant in Durban, refurbishment of the jet air fueling tanks at Johannesburg, Cape Town and King Shaka International airports.

SA FASTENERS Established in 1989 by its founder, Roy Naidoo, SA Fasteners have since become a leading force in shipping, automotive, civil, building and furniture industries with quality fasteners and hardware supplies.

Now our product range is available from our online store. Shop from the convenience of your desk or where ever it suits you best.

For large quantity orders please contact our sales team on: tel : (031) 3007300 fax : (031) 3057620 email : sales@safasteners.co.za

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Avellini Bros FEATUrE

BAKER TILLY MORRISON MURRAY Baker Tilly Morrison Murray is a medium sized firm with 7 partners and 52 staff. The firm practices in accounting ,auditing, company and close corporation secretarial services, taxation services and advice including VAT and PAYE audits, administration of trusts and estates and personnel services including payroll. We have a wide range of clients operating in a wide range of industries. the Seychelles. “That’s true but we have done some work for various African countries throughout the years,” Avellini says.

STEEL GoING STRoNG Avellini Bros is situated in Durban’s Queensmead industrial area on a 9000m2 plot, which houses a 360m2 double story office complex and 3600m2 factory.

“All manufacturing is done onsite by a team of dedicated highly skilled artisans,” Avellini explains. Five overhead cranes service the workshop. “We employ in excess of 120 staff and have numerous erection teams working on various projects around the country. We train our staff in various manners on and off site such as, boiler making, welding, safety etc. We also make use of sub contractors for steel erection and painting.”

Avellini Bros is a member of the Durban regional chamber of business, South African institute of steel construction, South African 50

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Foreign Trade Organisation, South African Business Coalition on HIV & AIDS, and South African Institute of Occupational Safety & Health. It is also currently a Level 6 BBBEEE contributor – but aims to be Level 4 by end 2011.

“We have a full time BBBEE consultant working to improve our BBBEE status. We are currently a level 6 contributor and we are trying to get down to a level 4 by yearend. That will mean we can tender on more contracts and more public and governmental contracts,” Avellini says.

“We see more work coming from the government,” he continues. “A better rating will allow us to get into Transnet Richards Bay Terminal and port of Durban, which is maximising and creating more container handling facilities. We have heard there is a few billion rand worth of work that is supposed to be happening in the ports so we have got to get our BBBEE status down to try to get into that market. Another

interesting market is Eskom and the power lines and substations. We are currently working through other contractors to do that work but if we can get our own level down and become a direct Eskom contractor our project margins increase, with the possibility of more work as well.”

With the recent purchase of the fully automated Anglemaster 643Q, Avellini Bros has increased its overall monthly capacity, in particular latticed angle iron structures.

“We have installed new Peddinghaus Anglemaster 643Qs at our premises,” Avellini says. “The Anglemaster 643Q is the latest edition to the Peddinghaus range of angle lines. The machine is the first of its kind in Kwazulu-Natal, and has been fully operational since early August 2010.”

It is also fitted with the Signoscript carbide-scribing tool, which clearly identifies parts, therefore marking steel erection easier.

hUGE SUCCESS IN ThE INDUSTRy So, what is the secret to Avellini Bros success?

“Can I give two answers?” Avellini, whose grandfather founded the business, asks. “One secret is that we have solid foundations, work hard, produce good quality and a cost efficient product. The other answer is that our pride comes before our pockets. So whatever we need to do to satisfy our clients, we do it.”

To learn more about Avellini Bros visit www.avellini.co.za.

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Z E AG S A

S W EEP S A LL BA R R I ER S

TO SUCCESS

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Zeag SA FEATUrE

Leading car park specialists and innovators Zeag SA are smoothing the way for motorists and investors returns, cEo craig cockburn tells South Africa Magazine.

By colin chinery

P

arking is a convenience, sometimes a frustration, and always a key revenue generator. And for commercial car park operators to maximise opportunity they need professional parking revenue systems – fast, reliable, customer friendly and easy to use and maintain. In South Africa Zeag SA delivers this ticket and raises the bar.

Zeag is a world-leading provider and specialist in innovative solutions of parking revenue control systems, headquartered in Switzerland and with more than 5,000 successful installations across five continents.

The South African arm, Johannesburgbased Zeag SA, has been operating since 1993. Facing local and major international competitors, the Zeag brand is now well entrenched says CEO Craig Cockburn. “And this position is wholly based on our service delivery and the fact that we offer a complete turn key solution. When you look at somebody who’s got a risk-averse attitude towards business they will turn to us because we provide a great product and commensurate service levels to suit their requirements.”

From airports to shopping malls, Zeag SA delivers a comprehensive parking solution, an end-to-end integrated system that includes variable message signs, CCTV, LPR, intercoms and bay monitoring.

Among recently-completed major projects is a parking equipment supply contract at Pretoria University, with credit card functionality for student account payment – a first for a South African university car park – a key factor in the design.

In the run up to the 2010 World Cup Zeag SA was contracted for a major construction project at O.R.Tambo International Airport, with a new multi-storey car park of 5,200 parking bays and the installation and

Africa is an exciting market now, a great market

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Zeag SA FEATURE

integration of a sophisticated and highly intelligent car park system delivering elevated and effective performance with high management and control resolutions.

Zeag followed this by rolling out a similar infrastructure for small regional airports such as Bloemfontein and currently Kimberly, George, East London and Port Elizabeth.

“The market kicked off as pay on foot in 1996 and we oversaw the first installations in South Africa in Gauteng,” says Cockburn.

“Over the last few years we have developed with good growth especially building up for the World Cup when we provided equipment for a number of the stadiums and transport networks including train stations and linked-in malls as well as airports.”

“One of the first products we launched in South Africa in 1996 lasted 14 years and was replaced at the end of last year, which proves its reliability in the local market,” says Chief Sales Officer Trevor Fletcher. “And from there we’ve just developed. We are the only company in South Africa that is not an agency and going into 54

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the African market from a proven South African track record gives us a lot of opportunity.”

Currently Zeag internationally is in the finalising phases of a number of major and as yet undisclosed contracts, while working at Minneapolis airport - one of the biggest hubs in the US - and at Guildford in southern England a single solution for all councilowned car parks. Within South Africa it is working on the Cape Town Bus Rapid Transport System and in Durban finalised a central hub controlled metropolitan networked car park project for property owners, Old Mutual. The central hub – a single point of control for a number of sites is becoming a main player in the market, says Cockburn. “With this you can manage, control, and overview, with all the communication forms necessary to support our product all linking in to a central point.

“Overall we’ve reached a fair bit of maturity in the market, but we are finding that smaller sites such as community malls and parking garages are looking for the reliability and

Zeag SA FEATUrE

support we offer, and this is another area into which we will be going.”

Earlier this year the Zeag Group was bought by FAAC, the Italy-based market pioneer of gates, garage doors and barrier automation.

“The infrastructure remains the same, and from a finance perspective it gives us a fantastic platform from which to launch our products, with a spread of some 80 countries and allowing us to enter markets we have not been into before.”

Like HSBC, Zeag sees itself as ‘Globally Local.’ “We base our service on delivery and listening to the customer, and this enables us to maintain our market position. We have to be really close to our customers to determine what their requirements really are.

It’s a very simple situation: we generate revenue for our customers. That’s our sole business and this is what we concentrate on.” And Zeag SA’s customer retention rate?

“100 percent so far”.

“Effectively we provide all the different aspects of that business model to specific customers. For a start we provide the product, then the consumables - a complete

listing of all that is needed for a switch on. In a word it’s a solution. And we carry on from there in terms of contracts, service level agreements in place and on-going consultation to meet the client’s specific requirements. We take it from a concept, through design and then through to the maintenance and support. Our customer is part of the team.”

At the heart of the team is the 37-strong Zeag SA staff. “We have always maintained that if you treat your staff correctly they will stay the distance and go the additional distance for your customers as well. We listen to our staff and provide all the necessary tools to improve themselves and become involved in our company strategies – and this is on all levels. In fact we concentrate on the lower levels because we need to generate the skill set within the South African market.”

And Zeag is looking well beyond the domestic borders. “Within South Africa we are seeing market growth as never before, and now we want to develop our market into Africa. And Africa is an exciting market now, a great market. We are in for exciting times. Within the next few years there’s going to be a lot of growth in technology, and we have a product that meets all the requirements.

“And with the financial and engineering tools of a group like FAAC behind us we will grow our product further.

The Zeag Group will remain the same but we now have thirteen manufacturing plants in Europe, all on cutting edge technology. When you’ve got this kind of input the product can only go one way.” END

we base our service on delivery and listening to the customer

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ZEAG SOUTH AFRICA ZEAG South Africa supply, install and maintain revenue generating parking solutions that are simple to operate.

Experience has taught us that it’s the start and finish of the parker’s experience that should not be complicated.

At ZEAG South Africa we specialise in multi-functional and integrated parking solutions as our core competency.

We make parking simple to operate and simple to install.

We provide help every step of the way. We approach and resolve parking problems through easy to understand steps, guiding you to the right solution to meet your business objectives. Our product range has simplicity built in, ensuring a quick return on your investment.

Boomgate Systems New Re-usable Rubber Islands Boomgate Systems saw the need for a temporary Traffic Island as Shopping Centres with existing Parking Systems, are always upgrading the Centres, and the Entry and Exit points have to be relocated sometimes temporarily or permanently.

Boomgate Systems has come up with the solution in the form of recycled rubber and steel. Boomgate Systems Patented Design offers permanent or a temporary solution. See main Advert.

What makes this new invention unique? The product is made from recycled rubber which makes the product also 100% recyclable. The Rubber Island has been installed at Cape Town’s International Airport for evaluation. As the main objective for the product is multi-story parkade, this Rubber Island can be installed a lot faster than Concrete Islands and are lighter than concrete. Rubber Islands and Rubber Curbs will cause less damage to vehicle rims than concrete ones. Visit our website www. boomgatesystems.co.za for more products made from Recycled Rubber.

If you are interested in advertising with us, please call Andy Ellis on 00 44 (0) 1603 343367 andy.ellis@southafricamag.com www.southafricamag.com

DrIVInG ThE

AU TO INDUSTRY National Association of Automobile Manufactures of SA (naamsa) director nico Vermeulen on the auto industry, an increase in new vehicle sales for 2011, investor confidence, and export potential.

By Ian Armitage

C

onfidence in the South African motor industry continues to grow and 2011 is shaping up to be yet another year of recovery for the industry.

In May, South Africa’s total new vehicle sales were up 6.1 percent year-on-year (albeit slightly off the pace of previous months).

The country is seeing an automotive boom with both exports and local demand for vehicles doubling over last year.

The industry is in the right gear, if you’ll excuse the pun. Investor confidence in the South African economy is on the rise.

“The industry has been in a sustained growth phase,” says National Association of Automobile Manufactures of SA (Naamsa) director Nico Vermeulen. “Since January 2010, sales of new vehicles have managed to register year-on-year growth every month.

That confirms that a significant and sustained 58

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recovery from the fairly dramatic decline in both domestic sales and domestic production during 2009 has occurred.”

Vermeulen says improvements in overall vehicle sales figures during 2011 can be attributed in part to “a robust recovery on the consumption side of the South African economy, driven by the decline in interest rates since December 2008, which improved the financial position of consumers and businesses and reduced the debt-servicing costs of companies.”

He says that due to “improved economic activity levels ... sales of vehicles continue to improve further during 2011, compared with the corresponding year. The ongoing gains suggest an improvement in the economy.”

Yes, the growth is coming from a low base, but it is growth nonetheless. “Looking at domestic sales, we are expecting growth of

Naamsa Focus

about 15 percent in volume terms during 2011, which is probably conservative,” Vermeulen says. “We prefer to be a little conservative in our estimates as we anticipate that the yearon-year monthly growth we’ve had is likely to abate in the second half of this year as we start to compare ourselves with a higher base.

Hence, why we are looking at about 15 percent growth. But, it is not inconceivable that new vehicles could grow by as much as 20 percent in 2012 compared to 2011.”

Vermeulen adds exports from South Africa could boom too, especially exports into Africa.

“Exports of South African-manufactured vehicles could easily triple in the next 10 years,” he says. “Exports recovered significantly in 2011; exports of South Africanproduced new motor vehicles to international markets will increase. Total industry aggregate exports went up from 174,947 in 2009 to 239,465 in 2010 and are projected to grow to 301,000 in 2011 and over 366,000 in 2012. Our major export markets are the Eurozone, Japan, and the US, but we export to 130 different countries worldwide.

“We are seeing sustained export growth as the global economy recovers from the financial and economic crisis.”

Growth in Africa and auto markets around the globe could fuel a large expansion of the local motor and related industries, Vermeulen says.

However, in Africa’s case at least, it would depend on a proposed free trade area going ahead and improvement to transport links between the countries party to the deal.

President Zuma was one of several African leaders to recently sign an agreement to enter talks on launching a free trade area, which would encompass 590- million people and a combined economy worth $860 billion.

Vermeulen says the advantages of the free trade area are “numerous” ad that there was “great potential” in the proposal.

“It will increase volumes,” he says. “It’s very exciting. Local manufacturers would benefit from reduced duties and the savings made by proximity to markets,” Various infrastructure challenges remain, such as the state of road and rail services in Africa. END

e a series th f n o o Turn y. … re part is mo is articlesor f Th of o industr autover

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upbeat SUpEr

GroUp

roar AnD rEADy To

IMAGES: GETTY

once embattled Super Group continues to bounce back, helped in no small part by superb performance in its dealership division.

By Ian Armitage

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Super Group FEATURE

L

ogistics and transport company Super Group is a business in recovery, having truly turned around its fortunes. It is a remarkable story; the firm narrowly evaded bankruptcy in 2009 thanks to an R1.2 billion recapitalisation and subsequent reorganisation.

That’s all seemingly in the past. In February, JSE-listed Super Group proudly announced a growth in profit of 19 percent (up to R298 million), in the six months ended December 2010.

“In the last quarter of calendar 2010, we really geared the group up for organic growth.

I think we have achieved the turnaround,” CEO Peter Mountford said.

Super Group reported positive results, with revenue up 10 percent to R3.8 billion, compared with the six-month period in the previous financial year. www.southafricamag.com 61

Super Group FEATUrE

MOTORITE Motorite Insurance Administrators are extremely proud to be exclusive providers and administrators of Motor Vehicle Service and Maintenance Plans to SuperGroup, for the past six years. Through our innovative approach to product design, development and our enhanced service levels in claims processing not only do we offer improved dealer second gross income but greater levels of Customer Satisfaction in the workshop environment.

Profit before tax was up 123 percent, at R216 million and the group generated R534 million in cash.

Its dealerships, fleet solutions and supply chain divisions all reported growth in revenue and operating profit, performing well, despite challenging economic conditions.

Mountford said that Super Group had successfully driven down costs, such as eliminating R90-million in operating overheads.

“Our focus is on the sustainable growth of our business,” he said.

Super Group is scheduled to release its financial results for the year ending 30 June 2011 on or about the 16 August 2011. It said global economic conditions were “gradually” improving, which will “assist the industry sectors in which Super Group operates”.

“The Group expects the modest firming in sales volumes experienced during the first six months ended December 2010 to continue.

This improvement in sales, the impact of the cost cutting measures taken during the previous financial year and savings in net finance costs will result in a satisfactory growth in earnings for the year,” it said.

Thanks, in part, has to go to Super Group’s dealership division, which has been performing incredibly well, increasing revenue by 13 percent, operating profit by 44 percent and profit before taxation by 158 percent in the six months to December 2010.

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Operating margin also increased to 1.9 percent, just shy of the targeted 2.0 percent set for the 2011 financial year-end.

“The growth reported stems from the market growth in new vehicle sales, with Super Group mirroring the industry trend. Strong operating cash generation was shown by this Division and Dealerships successfully acquired the Land Rover dealership in Vereeniging,” Super Group said.

“The Dealerships business consists of 18 franchised motor dealerships, 15 of which are passenger vehicle and three commercial

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our success is based on building long term relationships with clients, staff and suppliers, which is supported by the number of industry awards that we have received

vehicle dealerships, based in Gauteng and the North West Provinces,” Super Group dealership division MD Graeme Watson – who we’ll be talking to in more detail next month – told South Africa Magazine.

Approximately two-thirds of sales in the dealership division are passenger vehicles, with the remainder comprising light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, he added.

“Our success is based on building long term relationships with clients, staff and suppliers, which is supported by the number of industry awards that we have received.”

Super Group FEATURE

It is a good time to be involved in anything automotive.

New car sales in South Africa were up 6.1 percent year-on-year in May at 41,555 units, according to data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa).

Although sales rose at the slowest pace in 17 months, they still grew, and you have to take into account the effects of the recent earthquake in Japan, which has hit supply lines.

“Our members told us there were constraints on availability of components from Japan,” Naamsa Executive Manager Norman Lamprecht said. “We anticipate for everything to get back to normal in the coming months.”

Carmakers have benefited from an increase in consumer spending after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates to the lowest in 30 years.

Vehicle exports should reach a record 300,000

this year (turn to Naasma feature page 54 for more information).

“The higher sales of new cars over the past 17 months reflected continued recovery on the consumption side of the economy, largely driven by the 6.5 percent decline in interest rates since end-2008,” a Naamsa statement said.

Passenger car sales rose 12 percent from a year ago to 28,830 in May, while purchases of light commercial vehicles, such as pick-up trucks and minivans, decreased 7.9 percent to 10,609, it said.

Exports slumped an annual 8.8 percent to 22,063 in May, Naamsa said.

Toyota Motor Corp., the secondbiggest auto seller in South Africa after Volkswagen AG, isn’t currently able to supply factories with car components after a magnitude-9 earthquake reduced production in Japan. END

Q&A

nISSAn with Mike Whitfield and Gilles Normand

By Ian Armitage

S

outh Africa’s auto industry on the rebound. The local automotive industry last year managed to claw back some of the ground lost during the global recession.

New-vehicle sales figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) show that 2010’s new-vehicle sales jumped by almost 100,000 units, compared with sales for 2009.

Nissan is well placed to play a significant role in South Africa’s auto market and is expected to produce around 44,000 vehicles this year. It is certainly upping the ante and targeting

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higher output, increasing its capacity to meet requirements under the new Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP).

Nissan South Africa MD Mike Whitfield and Gilles Normand, corporate vice president, Nissan Motor Co., tell us more…

Nissan SA FEATUrE

South Africa Magazine (SA Mag): First off, how is the business performing?

Mike Whitfield (MW): Despite a challenging 2010 - on account of industry strikes, which affected our production schedule, Nissan SA had a successful year that would have been even better if supply constraints were not present.

SA Mag: I’m glad you mentioned supply constraints; I wanted to ask you about the recent earthquake in Japan, subsequent tsunami and damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. how has it impacted operations in South Africa? how have you weathered the storm, so to speak?

MW: There was an impact on supply, however we do believe that the strong market growth, which we forecast at 12 percent over last year, will enable us to recover lost sale opportunities as a result of the Japan earthquake. This year marks a key milestone in our growth strategy as we enter an area of the market with Micra, where we have not been strong players in recent years. It also set the platform for our drive to increase domestic

production by 2014/5 to 100,000 units primarily off the base of the one-ton pick up and NP200 platform.

Giles Normand (GN): To build on what Mike says, the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami -- a natural disaster that no one could have predicted -- was a major blow. As a Japanese company with its head office and several plants based in Japan, Nissan along with the entire Japanese economy, has been dealing with severe challenges following the events of that day. An immediate concern was for the safety and well being of our employees, as well as our dealer and supplier networks. Several of our plants suspended operations temporarily. However, I am pleased to report that all our plants in Japan are now fully operational.

Our 2011 global outlook is one of optimism.

In South Africa, the objective is to increase our current market share of 8.2 percent to above 12 percent by 2015. Africa is a key market in our expansion strategy. With a population of 900 million (according to the census report there are 45 million in SA; 900 million in Africa), it is one of the last untapped frontiers www.southafricamag.com 67

Nissan SA FEATUrE

and we are keen to exploit the opportunities that exist, both in established markets and new ones. Nissan currently plays in 32 of the 44 Sub Sahara Africa countries where it is a market leader in Mauritius and Mozambique.

South Africa, of course, is our largest African market.

SA Mag: Those are some ambitious production targets, how will you achieve them?

MW: To successfully achieve these targets, we have embarked on what we call the Shift_NSA campaign, key elements of which are top-level quality of build and investment in people at all levels of our business, from shop floor to sales floor.

Improving the capacity and productivity of our people is especially crucial to successfully build volume to the levels we anticipate.

During the recent December shutdown we implemented a totally new production control system, which has enabled us to align our production process to that of our European operations. This has enabled us to increase flexibility and reduce lead-time, a key requirement for future export production. We are now currently exporting the oneton pickup NP300 Hardbody to all markets in Africa, Europe and will from July this year also be exporting to Russia and Turkey.

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Mike Whitfield, Managing Director, Nissan South Africa

Coupled with this is the need of building the necessary skills base for sustained growth in the automotive industry. The automotive sector has a vested interest in ensuring availability and accessibility of critical skills development and training whether at artisan, specialist or leadership level. A lack of skills development and training has been identified as key constraints in the development of the sector in South Africa, especially in manufacturing competencies like science and technology. Significant investment is, therefore, required at all levels - from the workshop floor right up to top management.

I am pleased to say that this is an area that Nissan SA is already addressing under the Shift_NSA people development programme, which is intended to increase the capability of employees through job-specific training in conjunction with Nissan’s UK Sunderland plant - on which our new production system is also based.

SA Mag: What other challenges do you face? Are the low levels of local content in the automotive value chain a challenge?

MW: They are. It is a challenge.

SA Mag: What could be done?

MW: As the largest industry in the manufacturing sector in

South Africa - with linkages to other sectors including steel, metal, plastic and leather products - there must be accelerated growth of the local components industry to ensure sustainability. This means a commitment to increase local content levels to above 70 percent; I am pleased to say that we have already reached this target on the NP 300 Hardbody. The local supply industry, however, will only be boosted if suppliers become globally competitive in terms of cost, quality and delivery. South African suppliers are being challenged by low-cost producing countries like China, India and Mexico, and even Western Europe, so the challenge in the next few years will be to close this gap. Government’s industrialisation strategy - formulated under the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and supported by the APDP and Industrial Development Corporation - will be instrumental in improving the supplier competitiveness in South Africa and increasing the manufacturing depth of the industry in all three tiers: complete and sub components and raw materials.

Nissan SA FEATUrE

Nissan assembly plant, Rosslyn South Africa

As we move to build plant and people capacity, we will be looking at scaling down our current platforms in order to derive economies of scale.

SA Mag: What, then, are you focusing on?

MW: A key focus will be on the one-ton NP 300 Hardbody and its successor to accommodate sales into Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean as well as Sub Sahara Africa.

Another will be the halfton NP 200 pickup. We will continue to grow our LCV sales and aim to double passenger sales.

This, we believe, is achievable through firstly the introduction of the new 70

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we have no doubt that the Micra’s fuel efficiency and innovative technology will have widespread appeal and that it will play a critical role in our passenger line-up

entry-level Micra, Nissan’s answer to a growing trend towards more affordable vehicles - driven largely in South Africa by factors including more stringent credit requirements, rising fuel costs and the introduction of toll fees on our upgraded road network. We have no doubt that the Micra’s fuel efficiency and innovative technology will have widespread appeal and that it will play a critical role in our passenger line-up as the entry point for customers joining our brand as well as providing a platform for future models aimed at providing affordable total cost of ownership vehicles.

SA Mag: Is this an exciting time for the SA operations, then?

GN: It is. This is an exciting time in the history of our South African operations, and Nissan is committed to its investment in the country and to its role in ensuring the success of the South African manufacturing industry.

We are confident in growing our share of the South African market with a number of new passenger entrants into the local market. As Nissan’s first global affordable compact car built on the newly developed V-Platform, the Micra forms part of a key Nissan growth strategy, targeting a very significant part of the market.

In the past, Nissan had a minimal presence in the compact segment because we did not have a specific platform suited for those customers’ needs.

SA Mag: how will the Micra change things?

GN: This new platform changes everything. Now we will be able to compete… and at the highest level. Our investments in the new platform, new powertrain, new manufacturing footprint and a family of products reflect our commitment to meeting growing customer needs for appealing compact cars.

Nissan SA’s growth is spectacular by any measure: new models have boosted output, and it is despite the economic problems, natural disasters and general lower demand for vehicles – increasing output. END

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ThE BIG cAT AnD ThE

KINGS

Jaguar Land rover’s Andy Goy talks to South Africa Magazine.

S

outh Africa’s auto industry is growing.

Not too long ago however the story was very different. 2009 was a lowpoint in the industry’s history, with total new vehicle sales failing to pass 400,000 units, a previous low achieved in 2003. Local manufacturers and importers were forced to become leaner and meaner in order to pull through, and they had to revitalise their model line-ups. Only the strong survived.

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“We certainly revitalised our line-ups, launching new vehicles into the market in 2010,” says British-born Andy Goy, sales and marketing manager for Jaguar and Land Rover South Africa.

Recent years have seen Land Rover, a world-renowned manufacturer of premium 4x4’s, bringing a series of very major updates to the product line.

“We had an all new Discovery 4, a very

Jaguar Land Rover FEATUrE

substantially revised Range Rover Sport, and the same goes for Range Rover and Freelander 2.

“We are seen as the authentic and authoritative 4x4 company, and the Discovery is held to be the ultimate premium luxury ‘go anywhere’ 4x4,” he adds.

Goy says the South African market is incredibly important for Land Rover. “We are a significant player from a global volume point of view in terms of Discovery and Defender sales.

“It’s one of those markets where I think the brand fits perfectly. You’ve got a genuine need in many cases to have a 4x4 both for off road and in some of the on road conditions.

“The nature of the South African people tends to be adventurous and activity based, so the Land Rover and Range Rover range is an ideal fit for the typical lifestyle of the South African consumer,” he says.

Land Rover is a brand that South Africans have resonated with for many years already – their style, their reputation, their products and brand seem to strike a chord.

“We will continue to grow in the future,” Goy says.

Land Rover is a brand is committed to producing products that are innovative and boast engineering excellence.

And it has enjoyed a good 2011, with sales up year-on-year and continuing to grow.

“It has been an extremely strong year,” says Goy. “[Land Rover has had] Massive sales performance so far.

“Sales have been so strong that the biggest issue at present is supply of vehicles, getting enough product out to satisfy the demand.

That is the challenge. Our decision to revitalise the line-up and bring in updates has paid off and we have certainly bounced back from the lows of 2009... Our line-up, in my opinion, is the best we’ve ever had from both the Jaguar and the Land Rover perspective.”

Goy says Land Rover will launch the new Range Rover Evoque in November too, further boosting sales.

The nature of the South African people tends to be adventurous and activity based, so the Land rover and range rover range is an ideal fit

www.southafricamag.com 73

Jaguar Land Rover FEATUrE

Sales have been so strong that the biggest issue at present is supply of vehicles, getting enough product out to satisfy the demand

“When we launch the all new Range Rover Evoque, it will add significant volume to our already superb year-onyear growth. The challenge is around making sure our dealer network and all of our systems and processes here at the NSC (national sales company) are geared towards supporting the increasing volumes that we have. It is a nice problem to have really.”

It’s no exaggeration to say that the Range Rover Evoque was one of the must-see cars at the Paris Motor Show. And it is sure to be a hit in the local market.

“These are exciting times for us,” Goy explains. “Not only will the Range Rover Evoque increase our market share, it helps to define a new segment for premium compact SUVs that are more sporting and stylish.

“2011 is certainly shaping up to be a good year.”

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Indeed it is. Land Rover is the Official Vehicle Sponsor of Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in New Zealand in September, and Land Rover South Africa recently appointed Springbok Rugby Captain John Smit -- together with one of South Africa’s most celebrated rugby icons, Bryan Habana -as brand ambassador for the tournament.

This is big news, according

to Goy. “We believe the fans of the game can be as passionate about our brand as they are about rugby,” he says. “Our strategy is to be able to align with international rugby well beyond this years’ Rugby World Cup and our decision to partner with our South African rugby heroes forms part of a long-term local plan.”

Away from the excitement of the Rugby

World Cup, Land Rover recently achieved something remarkable: It built an all-electric Game Viewer version of its Defender 110 High Capacity Pickup.

“This pioneering project was developed in collaboration with local Land Rover specialist Barker Performance Products and technical support from Land Rover product development specialists,” says Goy. “The near-silent electric motor allows you to get closer to nature and enhances the gameviewing experience,” he adds.

The vehicle’s official debut was at Indaba 2011, one of Africa’s largest tourism events. It combines the Defender’s peerless reputation for off-road ability with a cutting-edge allelectric drive system –making it a truly ‘green’ vehicle with zero exhaust emissions, Land Rover says.

The concept was conceived in response to interest from Londolozi, one of South Africa’s top game parks, Goy adds.

“They needed an ecologically-sensitive

vehicle with dependable off-road abilities.”

Land Rover selected Axeon, Europe’s leading independent developer and manufacturer of battery systems, as the source for the Electric Defender Game Viewer Concept’s innovative lithium-ion battery unit, Goy says.

The system incorporates an air-cooled AC induction motor linked to the 300-volt 27 kWhr air-cooled Axeon lithium ion battery pack and was configured to fit into the Defender’s existing engine bay in order to maintain ground clearance, wading depth and extended seating capacity.

“It has been incredibly well received and hopefully we’ll go on to do some working trials with that later on in the year or at the latest, the beginning of next,” Goy says.

He believes it is conceivable that all game viewing at private reserves would happen in quiet, solar-powered electric 4x4s in years to come - thanks to this local idea. END www.southafricamag.com 75

Lafarge

Gypsum SoUTh AFrIcA

Lafarge Gypsum SA looks to create a “legacy for tomorrow” says MD Jean-paul croze.

By Ian Armitage 76

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Lafarge Gypsum FEATUrE

L

afarge Gypsum, a leading producer of plasterboard and complementary interior solutions, has a dream: create a “legacy for tomorrow”.

The firm, a part of the international Lafarge Group’s Gypsum Division, which has production facilities in 25 countries throughout the world, is committed to that dream.

Lafarge Gypsum was established in South Africa in 2004, following the acquisition of MacSteel Interior System, and operates a gypsum mine at Pofadder in the Northern Cape Province and two international class manufacturing facilities in the south-east of Johannesburg: a plasterboard factory at Roodekop, which began production in 2007 and a factory in Alrode, which manufactures steel ceiling grids, metal studs, aluminium profiles and access flooring.

Its MD, Jean-Paul Croze, has been with Lafarge Gypsum for 15 years – before coming to SA he was vice-president of manufacturing and performance for the Gypsum Division in France and was vice-president of manufacturing in Asia, looking after 15 plants in six countries, before that. Croze has led a revival at the Alrode-based operation.

He has huge international experience and a strong industrial background, with a particular focus on plasterboard, compounds and metals products.

He was appointed MD of Lafarge Gypsum SA in 2008.

“There are exciting opportunities in Africa,” he says.

Just in case the name didn’t give it away, Lafarge Gypsum SA manufactures and markets gypsum-based building solutions for constructing, finishing or decorating interior walls and ceilings in residential, commercial and institutional construction projects. It strives to be the “leading supplier of interior finishing solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, focused on gypsum plasterboard and complementary systems, while creating value for all stakeholders in the business,” Croze says.

“When I came here in 2008, the business was not in good shape; I started by tackling the HR and management challenges and then the crisis started at the beginning of 2009,” he adds. “We then moved to performance, technical and commercial challenges… the context of the business and the market has given me the opportunity to address most of the challenges you can find in a business.”

Lafarge Gypsum SA is not yet performing as Croze would like, however. “We are doing fairly well,” he says. “We have managed a turnaround, moving from losses into a fair profit in a crisis period.

“I was expecting to double profit this year compared to last, but given the very difficult market conditions and increasing competition, I have revised my target down, but we are still aiming internally at achieving our budget,” he adds.

The transformation at Lafarge Gypsum under Croze’s leadership has been nothing short of remarkable. Its two plants are performing well and the scene is set for future success.

“In the downturn we have maintained our

In the downturn we have maintained our quality and customer confidence www.southafricamag.com 77

quality and customer confidence,” he says.

“We have focused on performance and have achieved cost reduction with HR optimisation and performance improvement; we’ve never compromised on quality.

“We have also expanded the product range and developed a full range of Lafarge products - standard, technical and ceiling (6.4 mm) plasterboards, a range of skimming plasters, and developed a range of cove cornices. All these products are now recognised in the market as top and reference quality.”

A move into the residential/retail market has been another milestone, Croze says. “After two full years of crisis in the business, and still a very low activity for big commercial projects residential markets have plummeted - small companies are more and more in trouble and they are desperate to find some jobs. They are looking at the cheapest sourcing at the cost of the quality and the guarantee….”

The market is dry, price sensitive and highly competitive. To make matters worse, South

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Africa is vulnerable to imports. “The crisis is putting more pressure on prices and for some products to fight with some imports is difficult, given the low interest given to quality and guarantee of some players,” Croze says.

How is Lafarge Gypsum responding? It is changing with the times.

“We are more and more working on full systems, offering and guaranteeing high technical properties with global cheaper solutions for end users, the challenges being to get these solutions prescribed and customers progressively changing and valuing it,” Croze says. “We are also working to offer competitive solutions for low-cost housing. We are one of the only two local producers, producing the full system - plasterboards, ceiling tiles, plasters, cove cornices, suspended steel ceiling grids and studs and tracks steel partitioning. We are also – through our parent - getting the international expertise, being able to develop, adapt and test new systems to address customer’s needs.

“Potential for plasterboard ceiling and partitioning systems development is huge in terms of solutions, with the main challenge being the evolution of behaviour and customer expectations,” he continues. “All our products are fully recyclable. We are continuously ensuring that the products are sustainable and that we encourage and promote efficient building, which is the Lafarge way.”

Lafarge Gypsum has been improving operations at Roodekop since Croze took charge and has ramped up production capacity to 20 million square metres a year. The final step of this batch of “modifications” will be finished this year, he says. “We are continuously looking at product range expansion and subsequently offers to the market.

“How do I see the industry developing?

I see plasterboard solutions taking more and more space in partitioning, in the commercial and also in the residential market,” he continues.

“I also see customers being more and

Lafarge Gypsum FEATURE

more sensitive to the environment, energy saving, sustainable development, and a host of other issues. That means giving more and more possibilities for the plasterboard system to be developed and to become more and more competitive.

“With the trends of salary increases in South Africa, the labour cost in construction will become bigger and bigger too, and therefore dry construction solutions like our plasterboard systems will become more and more competitive.

“We see low cost housing as a big opportunity,” Croze says.

South Africa demonstrated strong growth in the years leading up to the financial crisis; and Croze was originally brought in to help expand Lafarge Gypsum’s operations.

He sees that happening soon.

“Plenty of neighbouring countries such as Botswana, Mozambique, and Namibia are

consistently growing,” he says. “The growth potential here is big even if these markets are still small at present.

“We see lot of potential in the use of plasterboard in Africa. In South Africa we are using less than one square metre of plasterboard per inhabitant each year. In most European countries it is more than four or five; in the USA it is much bigger; it can go up to 10sqm.

“What challenges do we face? Helping and supporting the development of plasterboard systems in the context of the SA market is the big one. We have to address all segments of the market – commercial, up-market residential housing and also low cost housing.

“Lafarge is well established and known in cement market in Africa,” Croze adds.

Lafarge wants to create a legacy for tomorrow and all its initiatives are geared in that direction. END

At the

ForEFronT of IT interface and opportunity

Leading IT retailer Matrix warehouse is not selling just a name but an investment in a successful business model, Group MD Jan Boshoff tells South Africa Magazine.

By colin chinery

I

nternet usage in South Africa is increasing at mega speeds. Seven million South Africans - 14 percent of the population - were connected to the internet at the end of last year, up from 5.3 million 12 months earlier. At least six million of us are currently browsing the net from our phones. “The market is growing all the time and people are being introduced to personal computers on a minute by minute basis. Yet the market in South Africa is largely untapped, and the potential in the individual or private market huge,� says Jan Boshoff, Group MD of

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leading IT retailer Matrix Warehouse.

Launched 11 years ago to address the need for a reliable computer shop, its wholesale and retail services range from computer hardware and software to networking, repairs, upgrades, new computers and complete IT solutions for home and business, all at highly competitive prices.

All components used are registered brand name products ensuring a high standard of quality in the finished product, and Matrix Warehouse custom built computers boast a below average failure rate at less than 0.5 percent.

Matrix Warehouse FEATUrE

Today Matrix Warehouse has a national footprint of 84 stores and is the biggest privately owned group in South Africa. Four years after opening its first store, in Alberton, Johannesburg in 2000, Matrix Warehouse moved into franchising, and today 73 of the 84 stores are franchises.

“We were expanding but being asked why we weren’t opening even more shops. But if you haven’t sufficient staff to open them then the next step is to franchise. So there was a demand for it. And if we hadn’t franchised we certainly wouldn’t have achieved the remarkable scale of growth we have had.”

In an intensely competitive market, the biggest factor that sets Matrix Warehouse apart from its rivals says Boshoff, is the personal attention given to its customers.

“In each store we have a technical bench and when a customer comes in with a problem the customer can actually watch his item being

repaired or have any problem dealt with before his or her eyes. Most other companies will not do this.”

Soweto information and communication technology firm Mavoni Technologies has just announced a partnership with international satellite company, O3B to bring high-speed internet to thousands of schools in South Africa’s rural areas. School access however is not always backed up by a home PC, and in response Matrix Warehouse has set up internet cafes in many of its stores. “It’s a service to the community where people come can in and work on PCs. And as well, hopefully, when the young people grow up and earn an income, they will buy from us as we are a trusted supplier through the years.”

During a relatively short lifespan Matrix Warehouse has built a reputation for professionalism, quality and service, growing to become one of the top PC and networking www.southafricamag.com 81

Matrix Warehouse FEATUrE

AxizWorkgroup AxizWorkgroup is a newly merged IT infrastructure and software distributor that unites cutting-edge hardware and software solutions for small, medium and enterprisesized businesses. AxizWorkgroup has long standing relationships with leading global vendors such as Adobe, Acer, Asus, HP, Kingston, Intel, Logitech, Lenovo, Lexmark, LG, McAfee, Microsoft and Symantec.

AxizWorkgroup is proud of its association with Matrix Warehouse.

organisations in the country. “If you supply good quality IT equipment at good prices you will emerge as one of the top companies, and this is what we are doing. Customer experience is great and our biggest growth comes through word of mouth.”

Franchising is an increasingly popular and dynamic element in the South African economy. According to Bendeta Gordon of Franchize Directions, whose franchise research, ‘The Franchise Factor 2010’ has been tracking the growth of franchising since 1994, the best in class entrepreneurs sits in the franchise space. “If these operators sniff growth you can be sure a franchise business opportunity will emerge.”

Franchising says Jan Boshoff, enlarges a company’s buying power. “The bigger you get the more buying power you have, the cheaper your pricing becomes, and the more competitive you are in your market.”

So why should a prospective franchisee look to Matrix Warehouse? “Compared with other franchises our biggest selling point is that you get value for money. Buy another franchise and you might pay R750,000, the same as us, but we give you great value for your money R450, 000 worth of stock and we set up your entire shop ready to trade - full turnkey.

“To get that kind of value from other businesses you are going to pay maybe double that. We are not selling you just a name, but you are investing in a successful business model and that is why people are investing in us – they are getting great value for money.”

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Achievable gross margins are put at 30 percent on an average R750,000 turnover.

Franchisees undergo a 28-day training course at the Alberton head office, with a further two days training on the point-of-sale system. Matrix has opened franchise stores in Soweto and other townships and, says Boshoff, gaining momentum on a monthly basis. “Black empowerment schemes have brought forward entrepreneurs who are doing very well. Around eight percent of our franchisees are Black, not a lot and it’s something we would like to grow.”

But Government empowerment funding schemes are not helping. “Unfortunately the IT industry does not easily attract this kind of funding. They would rather invest in other business that is less competitive.”

Why? “Your guess is as good as mine, but IT is not an easy business, in fact it is cut throat in a way. Pricing out there is very competitive, so unless the applicant has experience it’s not easy to be funded by these bodies.”

As we spoke Jan Boshoff was driving to meet three franchisees who will be opening

shortly. “In an average week I get 15-20 applications and out of these I would probably approve about three maybe four. And out of those perhaps just one would have the necessary funding in place to carry on obviously this is biggest factor here.”

IT knowledge or experience is not an issue.

“This is like any business - the people who work for you are the important part. If you’ve got good business skills have good business acumen and can manage the people who work for you, then the IT knowledge will come in time.”

After an initial strategy of opening stores in smaller neighbourhood shopping centres the focus has now changed to larger centres with greater foot traffic. “You have to grow and adapt to change, open where there are more feet, and the shop owners are having better success and earning more with a greatly increased turnover. Our objective over the next couple of months is to build to 100 shops.

People who have grown up with us and come through our ranks are now starting out as Matrix Warehouse entrepreneurs.” END www.southafricamag.com 83

nAMpAK InVESTS $160M

Nampak’s $160 million investment in a new canning plant in Angola has ensured that Bevcan’s customers will be more efficiently serviced and signals that nampak’s African expansion is back on track.

By Ian Armitage

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Nampak’s Bevcan FEATUrE

I

n 2009 President Jacob Zuma paid Angola a state visit. He took 150 South African business leaders with him; trade was top of the agenda.

He remains intent on paving the way for South African business to invest in Angola and in a recent trip to the country said: “To us it was important that we pay this visit to strengthen relations.”

Racked by almost 30 years of civil war, public infrastructure in Angola is weak.

But because the country is abundant in natural resources it is seen as an untapped investment opportunity.

Angola is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economies, with a rapidly expanding financial sector and huge potential in areas such as agriculture, telecoms and energy.

There are no shortages of opportunities for South Africans, just ask Nampak.

Its $160 million investment in a new Angolata canning plant – in Viana, a industrial area near the capital Luanda - has ensured that Bevcan’s customers Cuca BGI (part of the Castle Group) and Coca-Cola Bottling Luanda (managed by SABMiller) will be more efficiently serviced.

Angola is an increasingly important market for Bevcan and the first can production line can produce 1,800 cans per minute, which means a capacity of up to 750 million cans per annum.

Erik Smuts, the managing director of Nampak’s Bevcan, says there are huge opportunities in Angola. He cautioned though that it had not been an easy place to work.

“The big problem we’ve found is red tape.

The high levels of bureaucracy are a problem as we discovered first hand. I would say that

doing business in Angola takes more than money; you need to be patient. But there are wonderful opportunities.”

Bevcan’s Angola project was initiated in 2004 and the official opening of the plant will take place on 29th June 2011 – it’s been a long time coming.

“This is Bevcan’s first and Nampak’s single largest greenfield investment outside of South Africa,” says Smuts. “Angola is the fastest-growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

“We want to use the factory to secure Bevcan’s current market of over 600 million cans per year, which we export from South Africa at present, and gain enough market share to justify installing a second line, which we have already laid the foundations for.

“We see this as a springboard for further investments into other types of packaging.”

According to Bevcan, the Angolan market currently consumes around 1 billion cans per year. The investment will reduce customers’ lead times significantly - from three to six months to one to two weeks, says Smuts.

“There will be less importation costs,” he explains. “The benefits of producing the cans in Angola is that we are creating direct jobs for locals and are more effectively servicing our customers. We will be more competitive in terms of price versus the cost of import, but the main benefits are in bringing down our customers’ lead times, decreasing working capital costs in raw material stockholdings, storage and demurrage costs and also removing the logistical headache.”

The steel for the cans will be imported mainly from Europe; other raw materials will

we see this as a springboard for further investments into other types of packaging

www.southafricamag.com 85

Nampak’s Bevcan FEATUrE

Packaging Coatings SA Packaging Coatings SA has been supplying Nampak Bevcan with internal coatings under license from Akzo Nobel for both two piece food and beverage cans for over 2 decades and pride ourselves on outstanding and consistent quality products.

A brand new state of the art production facility was commissioned in Durban in 2010 to cater for both current spray lacquer technologies as well as BPA free material.

Smuts says this was done even before building the Angolata plant.

“We are committed to recycling and I think our Collect-a-Can operations in South Africa are testament to that,” he says.

Reclata is a partnership between Bevcan and its customers, which will recycle scrap from the can making process, as well as collect used beverage cans from the consumer market.

“We will model Reclata on our self-sustaining Collect-a-Can business, a JV between Nampak and ArcelorMittal SA. It has been collecting cans for 17 years,” Smuts adds. “In South Africa, over 70 percent of all beverage cans produced are collected for recycling.

“The set up costs will be high but it is important to begin recycling and raising environmental awareness in the country.”

Environmental awareness and CSR are obviously key to Nampak and its Bevcan division.

Interestingly enough, and very much tying in with this, the firm has embarked on its biggest marketing campaign to date - a nationwide campaign called ‘Every-cancounts‘ (www.everycancounts.co.za) that

we are contributing to education and transformation, doing what we can for the good of the youth

mostly come from South Africa.

Bevcan will also be manufacturing the can ends in South Africa, as this is cheaper than manufacturing them in Angola.

“Another great thing about this is that it alleviates the worry with respect to the Rand,” says Smuts. “We no longer have to worry about the strength of the Rand and whether producing 600 million cans in South Africa and exporting them to Angola will be profitable at the prevailing exchange rate.

“On the flip side, this will take work out of our Durban and Cape Town plants, which will now have spare capacity. We have to look at creating new local and export opportunities,” he adds.

Bevcan has also established Reclata, its Angolan recycling operation as a legal entity in Angola.

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aims to raise R10 million from the sale of cans in aid of education in South Africa.

“We are encouraging South Africans to make a difference by choosing their favourite beverage in a can,” explains Smuts.

For every can sold by Bevcan it will donate 3c towards education in South Africa.

“We are contributing to education and transformation, doing what we can for the good of the youth of our country.”

The promotion runs from 18 April until the 18 July 2011 and its message is being promoted across a wide range of media such as SABC 1,2 and 3 as well as ETV. Radio ads will be aired on Highveld 94.7, Cape Talk, Umhlobo Wene, Ukhozi, Thobela, But, once the R10 million (or more) has been raised, the work won’t stop and Nampak and Bevcan will be supporting further initiatives.

A BRIGhT FUTURE These are exciting times for Nampak, Bevcan and us ordinary South Africans – on all fronts, it seems. Angolans too have reason to cheer. www.southafricamag.com 87

Nampak’s Bevcan FEATUrE

“It is all very promising indeed,” says Smuts. “I am excited; we are excited by the future. We also need to consider all potential threats to the business and we need to also look at our costs and make sure we are competitive.

“We produce about 2.6 billion cans in South Africa.

The local market is actually fairly small and it has been categorised over the last 10 years or so by a massive drop in beer and cider volumes, where a lot of those volumes have gone to returnable glass in a bigger formats like 750ml bottles.

However, we are starting to see this cycle changing and in the last year we have seen significant growth in our beer volumes.

“On the soft drinks side, the big thing we’ve had over the last two years has been a shift from cans to PET bottles. Interestingly, we have done market research here that shows us that from the consumer point of view there is actually a preference for soft drinks out of cans. Our research shows consumers believe that soft drinks taste better out of a can; it is colder, fresher and fizzier.”

He says the company is certainly looking at expanding its footprint in Africa.

“Opportunity is all around,” concludes Smuts. END 88

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mymarket.com Mymarket.com is a wholly owned Bidvest subsidiary forming part of the Bidtravel division, the mymarket.com online travel solution has many blue chip corporate customers, including Barloworld, Woolworths, Vodacom, Edcon, Nampak and IBM to name but a few. Its best of breed technology ensures that mymarket.com users have the ability to search for Air, Car, Accommodation (including online B&B inventory) and transfers in real-time, with all web rates, corporate rates and Bidtravel negotiated rates returned, on a single solution. mymarket.com is driven by two fundamental underlying principles: Process efficiencies and savings. Corporates are saving in excess of 35% on their complete travel bill through direct integration into vendors, shortening the supply chain and through ‘Visual Guilt’, providing approvers with visibility over the user selected options, prior to ticketing. The mymarket.com system is configured to meet each corporate client’s business rules, including policy configuration, workflow approval, financial requirements and Financial systems integration. mymarket.com is an e-procurement solution and virtual travel management company, offering a true source to pay platform which minimises travel administration and human error. The automation of the entire travel programme, from online to traditional travel requirements is dealt with by mymarket. com ensuring that the corporate has a holistic online travel management experience.

The mymarket.com system is locally developed, supported and has been successfully implemented within the African market.

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A Shoo In For

B L AC K EMPOWERMENT Multiserv is a top brand for while-you-wait quality shoe care and key cutting. And as MD wilna Swanepoel tells South Africa Magazine, it is also a striking success for start-up Black businesses.

By colin chinery

S

tarting out in 1969 as a chain of heel bars in Johannesburg, Multiserv has developed into a leading national franchise and retail services chain, and an outstanding success-story for Black business owners.

With nearly 200 stores located mostly at prime locations in retail centres, Multiserv’s core offerings are expert shoe repairs, leather repair services and key duplication.

“It’s a complete business solution, in effect a onestop shop, and we’ve positioned ourselves as the leaders in providing a while-you-wait service,” says MD Wilna Swanepoel. But seven years ago this was a scuffed, down-at-heels operation.

The company had moved through several ownerships and in 2000 was sold to a consortium for over R10 million. “That was a lot of money. Two years later, they’ve sold the company again to a group of investors, but it wasn’t successful either; there was a lack of direction and focus, and they took their eye off the ball.”

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IMAGE: GETTY

Multiserv FEATUrE

Two years on Multiserv went into liquidation.

“It was such a well-known brand, everyone knew Multiserv and they were everywhere. At one time there were 340 outlets. But at this point the number had fallen with a hundred.”

Eyeing the substance and potential of the Multiserv operation, Swanepoel, a former financial director of another large franchise, PostNet SA, and two associates bought the brand and assets in March 2004. With the corporate image under huge threat; with some 40 company stores and 64 very unhappy franchisees, they began rapidly expanding its franchise element, “and within two years we turned the company around and are now trading hugely successfully close on 200 stores.”

The previous owners had begun to develop the franchise by empowering employees, enabling them to buy into the stores at a discounted rate proportionate to years of service. “It actually worked out well. They also wanted to expand the business quickly, penetrating the townships, areas where communities were more willing to support local owner operators rather than company-owned stores.

“They got these two points right. There’s a huge market out there. People want to be in successful business and we are helping them do that, empowering rising Black entrepreneurs. 70 percent of our franchisees are Black entrepreneurs, and 30 percent are females.”

Multiserv prides itself on providing the finest quality services through its highly skilled operators. “By providing quality products and services at reasonable prices for 42 years, Multiserv has established itself as the undisputed leader in the provision of shoe repair and allied services to the

full spectrum of the South African public.”

Related services include remotes, dry cleaning depots, public telephones and carpet cleaning machine rentals.

“Our unique “three month guarantee” policy and “while-u-wait” shoe repair service differentiates us in the shoe repair industry, and our recently launched “second key half price” offering has proven a huge success bolstering our key duplication sales.”

Although the turnovers are not yet on target, profit margins at around 80 percent are high. “Where in the world do you find businesses with that kind of gross profit? The stores are relatively small, start-up costs and overheads are very low, and we have proper systems and controls in place.

“So if you are a hands-on manager owning your own Multiserv outlet provides you with a reputable SME framework without excessive overheads and labour. We have a three-fold success formula: happy stock levels, happy staff and happy customers.”

The capital input to acquire a Multiserv franchise is not more than R450,000, says Swanepoel. “Compared with any other franchise business in South Africa, that’s a very fair and affordable investment. It is a simple process to become one of our franchisees, once you come on board, we train you up -we have a training school on site here at our Franchise Support Centre– and this takes two to three weeks. In a further two to three weeks we manage the store build out for you – in only six weeks you can be up and running and trading, with our support from day one. It’s a turn-key operation, so all you have to do is to put the float in the pool and start trading.”

Market growth in the shoe segment of

Multiserv has established itself as the undisputed leader in the provision of shoe repair

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the operation is shaped by current fashion trends. “The shoe retailing market is slowly moving back to its traditional style of shoes, with proper and repairable leather soles and heels, and moving away from cheaper, disposable shoes.

“We constantly review world-wide industry developments and benchmark ourselves against best practices, keeping in touch with similar companies such as Timpson in the UK. We are very confident that there are plenty of opportunities for our brand- one of our longterm expansion goals are to take the brand up through Africa, ‘Cape to Cairo.’ In the short term, we are taking a sabbatical in respect of opening many new outlets, and focusing on the existing franchise base, nurturing and developing the potential at store level before spreading our wings further afield.

“While we are at the forefront of an emerging market with the emphasis on offering a low cost/ high profit franchise opportunity, we are lacking a high turnover.

This is a problem, and we have identified ‘low hanging fruit’ opportunities for our existing franchises which we will be developing with the network. Our target is to double average store turnover in the next two years.”

Multiserv is a brand that has survived the changing retail landscape for over forty years, an incredible feat in today’s dynamics.

“To run a business successfully you have to be hands on. Our business – and like all franchises – cannot be remotely operated. The best businesses are owned and run by the franchisee on the ground in the store. We also teach our Multiserv wisdom to our franchisees, reminding them that the strength of franchising lies in the symbiotic relationship between franchisee and franchisor – all for the benefit of the customers. To be a success story we need to be a team. If they follow the full-proof system they will not fail. Our challenge is to ensure they trust us and the system.”

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Multiserv FEATUrE

Friendly, courteous, knowledgeable and totally committed to serving you better than anyone else? That is what The Electro Surgeon is all about!

“The main reason behind the growth of The Electro Surgeon is simple... we treat customers better than anyone else!” we are convinced that when it comes to finding the best service, we are your only choice. providing a superior level of customer service is an all-consuming passion for us and an achievement in which we take immense pride. we aspire to provide Quality craftsmanship and professionalism with every job to which we are dispatched. customer Satisfaction on every job preformed is our company’s primary goal.

we are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week your call will always be answered by our helpful staff – never an answer machine you do not pay extra for services outside office hours we will keep you informed throughout the process our electricians will always be professional, highly competent and wear our easy recognizable uniform The Electro Surgeon van’s carry all the equipment to complete most jobs immediately we will leave all work areas clean and tidy when you call us we will endeavour to solve your problem quickly and professionally A challenge on the horizon for Multiserv and other smaller franchises is the new Consumer Protection Act. “Although South African consumers will now be among the best protected in the world, it will not be easy for all businesses to understand as well as comply with all its provisions,” says Swanepoel.

“SME businesses may face a particular challenge. Unlike the large corporates we do not have either the capacity or the resources to have a fully-fledged compliance department to implement the Act, and we are working to see how we can manage the whole process.”

Multiserv has a slogan: ‘As Good as New and Close to You.’ “We want to give a service from our heart, treating our customers with the utmost respect and giving them the service they deserve. And as a leading franchise, Multiserv offers a lucrative business opportunity that is more accessible and affordable to the less advantaged entrepreneur. ” END www.southafricamag.com 93

GOLD MINING’S

DIrTy SEcrET

Harsco Metals & Minerals managing director Koos-Jan van Brouwershaven talks to South Africa Magazine about the problem of acid mine drainage and the solutions his firm has developed to cure it.

By Ian Armitage 94

www.southafricamag.com

Harsco Metals & Minerals FEATUrE

O

n the surface Tudor Shaft is a typical South African shantytown.

However, when it rains, the streets pool with orange water, which smells awful – and you wouldn’t want to drink it or even stand in it.

Experts say the water contains radioactive minerals and that it has killed all aquatic life in a nearby river.

What’s happening at Tudor Shaft, which takes its name, and its troubles, from an abandoned gold mine, is just a fraction of the toxic legacy of South Africa’s mining industry.

Mining accounts for 17 percent of everything South Africa produces, and the country is the world’s fourth biggest exporter; it’s not all good. There is a dark side – Acid mine drainage (amd).

Amd is not new. But campaigners are seemingly fighting harder than ever before to stop it.

The effects of mining are now the focus of parliamentary debate and media stories.

Harsco Metals & Minerals has a readymade solution - Mineral CSA, a finely ground calcium silicate feedstock, which provides a solution for correcting acidic conditions and managing toxic metals associated with amd.

Mineral CSA has been used on operating and abandoned mine sites since the early 90s and is a highly refined, repurposed calcium silicate aggregate, says Harsco Metals & Minerals South Africa (Pty) Limited managing director Koos-Jan van Brouwershaven.

“Acid mine drainage is the flow, or seepage, of polluted water from old mining areas,” he explains. “Depending on the area, the water may contain toxic heavy metals and radioactive particles. These are dangerous for people’s health, as well as plants and animals.

“Acid mine drainage is toxic water, and if it flows into rivers, it obviously contaminates rivers and underground waters, which become not a healthy source of drinking for humans, animals, plants - all living organisms. Because the necessary steps

were not taken from day one, South Africans are now reaping what you would call the misfortune of the benefit that we had from the legacy of mining in this country.”

Acid mine drainage in several areas has reached a crisis point. This is because some mining companies allow acid mine water to flow into streams, dams and sources of groundwater.

On the West Rand, toxic water has destroyed life in the WonderfonteinSpruit, Tweelopiespruit, and the Robinson Lake near Randfontein. Even some borehole water is polluted.

The water has even polluted soil, so people cannot grow vegetables.

“There is no quick fix,” says van Brouwershaven. “And amd is not a new issue.”

Indeed it is not. It is an issue, which cynics say is one that has been conveniently silenced by the mining houses and South African government for decades.

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Fixing the problem is also costly.

“In recent years, environmental organisations have brought amd to the fore and brought it into the public eye – it is now receiving international attention,” says van Brouwershaven.

In a report presented to the Cabinet in February, a group of experts found that millions of litres of rapidly rising acid mine water under Johannesburg would start flooding the lower levels of the Gold Reef City tourist mine early next year.

Shortly thereafter, the acid mine drainage would pass through an “environmentally critical” level -- with potentially devastating consequences -before starting to flow out on the surface.

The report was titled “Mine Water Management in the Witwatersrand Gold Fields with Special Emphasis on Acid Mine Drainage”.

It warned that if the water were allowed to continue to rise, it would start “decanting in low-lying areas in the vicinity of the ERPM Mine in Boksburg and possibly elsewhere across the Witwatersrand”.

“Remediation of amd includes treatment systems designed to neutralise acidity and precipitate metal ions to improve water quality,” says van Brouwershaven. “The treatment is dependent on the types and amounts of metals in the water. Lime materials are often used, particularly in passive treatment systems.

“Mineral CSA is an alternative to limestone,” he adds. “It provides a very effective and efficient means to correct the acidity. Unlike limestone, it is less vulnerable to armouring from metal hydroxide precipitates. This results in a product whose reagent characteristics are very suitable for use in a number of sustainable passive amd treatment systems.”

Mineral CSA can be used in amd remediation and prevention, van Brouwershaven says.

Harsco Metals & Minerals is the world’s largest provider of contract services to the metallurgical industry.

It operates in 30 countries and hundreds of steel processing sites worldwide.

“Traditionally we’ve taken care of the non-core work in the Metallurgical Industry, which can be seen as cleanup services – ladle wrecking, slag pot carrying, dig and haul,

we try to find alternatives to dumping. we use slag as a concrete aggregate, asphalt aggregate

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Harsco Metals & Minerals FEATUrE

metal recovery and producing aggregates -- all services being part of our zero waste management,” van Brouwershaven explains.

Recycling is an important part of the Harsco business model, he adds. “We try to find alternatives to dumping. We use slag as a concrete aggregate, asphalt aggregate. It’s also used back in the steel plant to reduce internal process costs. Harsco Metals & Minerals is interested working outside of the field of metals too and would be offering more to mines, such as non-core activities for them like crushing, screening, jigging, washing and amd remediation.

“The work done in mining is very similar to our industries,” van Brouwershaven concludes. “There are different techniques but there’s a lot of overlap. Harsco Metals & Minerals is currently engaging with Wits University to do research with our Slag materials for usage as AMD solution.” END

HEALTH WARNING: DIABETES ACCELERATING

AFRICA AS SOU TH AN LIFESTYLES EMBRACES URB

overall diabetic prevalence in South Africa is running at six per cent – and rising. Among some groups it is far higher. And rapid lifestyle and cultural changes are having major implications, Shelley harris of leading diabetes healthcare company Novo Nordisk tells colin chinery.

O

ver 300 million people worldwide have diabetes. In sub-Saharan Africa the figure is estimated to be 12.1 million adults, with only 15 percent having been diagnosed. Developing countries like South Africa are amongst the countries that fall into these sub-Saharan figures. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) the estimated number of people living with diabetes in South Africa is around 1.3 million and the IDF and World Health Organization predict that numbers will double by 2030.

All groups are affected, but those most at risk are the black communities with rapid lifestyle and cultural changes, and those of Indian descent who appear to have a gene pool that make them unusually susceptible to diabetes.

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“In South Africa the overall diabetic prevalence is around six percent and is widely predicted, growing. Among the Indian population it rises to 13 percent,” says Shelley Harris, Public Relations Manager of the Sandton-based Southern Africa division of leading global diabetes healthcare company, Novo Nordisk.

“It is predicted that 45 percent of the population will live in urban areas in 2025, which has a significant impact on the prevalence of diabetes as urban residents have a 1.5 to four times higher prevalence of diabetes than rural residents. Type 2 diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa primarily affects the poorest people living in urban areas.

Relocation to town living leads to lifestyle changes: reduced physical activity, reliance on motorised transport, changes in dietary habits

Novo Nordisk FEATUrE

and increases in obesity.”

Danish-based Novo Nordisk has the broadest diabetes product portfolio in the sector, as well as taking a leading position in health areas such as women’s health, growth hormone therapy, haemophilia and bleeding disorders.

“Diabetes can be controlled, but uncontrolled diabetes can lead to dreaded health complications such as blindness, amputations, kidney failure, heart attacks and strokes, which are devastating to the individual and very expensive to the health services,” said World Diabetes Federation Managing Director Dr Anil Kapur, launching a major fund-raising event supported by Novo Nordisk employees.

Shelley Harris agrees.

“In South Africa and other sub-Saharan countries healthcare systems are severely overstretched and those people involved with public health are calling for a more integrated approach where services to screen and treat people for infectious diseases like TB and HIV are expanded to include screening for diabetes and other chronic diseases.” This sort of integrated approach is being adopted by the current Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, in order to make the best use of healthcare resources and better understand the links between communicable and noncommunicable diseases. Screening for signs and symptoms of diabetes and early prognosis reduces the burden of treating long-term complications.

Diabetes falls into one of two main categories – Type 1 and Type 2. Diabetes is caused by a failure of the pancreas to produce insulin (Type 1) or to produce enough adequately functioning insulin (Type 2) to enable the glucose from food to enter the body cells and be used as a source of energy. Type 2 diabetes is much more common and accounts

for 90-95 percent of people with diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes can be controlled through a balanced diet and exercise plus (usually at a later stage) oral antidiabetic drugs. Insulin is also increasingly used to treat Type 2 diabetes, and evidence is increasing that early insulin treatment has a significant effect on delaying or preventing complications. Worldwide, many millions of people have Type 2 diabetes without knowing it.

The age of onset of Type 2 diabetes is also decreasing in sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa. Peak occurrence of type 2 diabetes is between the ages of 20 and 44 and this is predicted to fall further. However, it is becoming more common in children and young adults in certain countries where obesity and inactivity are on the rise.

“In the US, for example, more and more teenagers are being diagnosed with Type 2 due to their lifestyle changes.”

Diabetes treatment has advanced considerably over the past 50 years. Back in the 1950s a strip placed in the urine gave a rough estimate of the blood glucose level of a person living with diabetes and how much insulin was needed to manage their diabetes.

It was neither convenient nor very accurate.

Today people living with diabetes are able to use advanced equipment and treatments such as electronic monitors giving accurate readings of their glucose levels, and insulin pumps the size of a beeper, strapped to a belt and giving insulin injections under the skin.

Diabetes represents a large financial cost to society and individuals, which is predicted to increase over the next 20 years due to rapid urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa. Not all South Africans are able to afford the latest technology and advancements in treatment of diabetes. Collaboration and partnerships between Government, private sectors, NGOs

hbA1c testing should be available to everyone living in South Africa

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Novo Nordisk FEATUrE

UTi Pharma and Novo Nordisk – Providing Lifeblood Novo Nordisk produces NovoSeven, a coagulant which is administered as one vial hourly. It is a costly treatment and therefore hospitals are reluctant to keep large amounts of stock on hand. But when it is needed by a patient it is required in significant quantities – and immediately. This is where the UTi Pharma Emergency Service shines with delivery of the product within hours, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. A situation in November 2010 helps illustrate the point: over a period of two weeks nearly 450 units of NovoSeven was supplied on the Emergency Service for a single patient in Johannesburg.

The patient survived – and that’s what matters most to UTi Pharma.

and communities is key to promoting better care and health in South Africa.

“HbA1c testing should be available to everyone living in South Africa.”

What would she say to someone who has just been told they are diabetic? “Firstly, after consultation with their physician, I would advise them to talk to a diabetes educator or counsellor and to keep in constant contact with them. If for example you’ve got a little one who is diagnosed with diabetes it can be terribly traumatic for the family. But remember there are so many people, young and old, who are living with diabetes and are healthy, well, and leading as normal a life as you and I.” Last year Novo Nordisk, with 88 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care, won US approval to market a new drug, Victoza, that offers further benefits towards the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Victoza improves control of blood glucose and is taken once a day, making it easier than ever before for the patient to control diabetes and live a more active lifestyle. “Here in South Africa the drug has been submitted to the regulators for approval.” says Harris.

As a major and influential global player Novo Nordisk endeavours to discover and develop innovative biological medicines and 100 www.southafricamag.com

make them accessible to patients throughout the world. “But we pride ourselves on being more than just a provider of medication. We undertake many initiatives such as children’s programmes, collaboration with the IDF and other similar organisations worldwide. Novo Nordisk is constantly striving to find a cure for diabetes and in the interim endeavours to play a key role in the management, education and treatment of those people living with diabetes.

“One example of our social investment is the mobile clinic that travels throughout the country offering free services such as blood glucose testing, retinal screening, screening of the feet, education and awareness. All these services are offered free of charge – it is an investment in peoples’ lives in South Africa, which is of utmost importance.

“We never compromise on quality and business ethics and we create value by having a patient centred business approach. I think our triple bottom line commitment sums it up in that we are accountable for our financial, environmental and social performance.

Growing our business and delivering competitive financial results is what allows us to help patients live better lives, offer an attractive return to our shareholders and contribute to our communities.” END

BooM INFO

IMAGES: GETTY

The social media boom and what it means for business.

By Ian Amirtage

102 www.southafricamag.com

IBM FEATUrE

I

nformation Technology is no longer a back-office function, but a driver of growth and a way for businesses to add value.

And businesses are pursuing analytics solutions to improve decision-making and operational efficiency.

It is fast becoming an integral part of how business is done in Africa.

“Firms that understand the deeper potential of technology [to enable change] will gain competitive advantage,” says Shane Radford, Business Analytics and Optimisation Lead, IBM Global Business Services. “Technology can help you adapt to today’s competitive economic landscape, and all its change and complexity.”

Large companies have their hands full with terabytes and terabytes of data flowing in, Radford says.

Smaller, midsize companies are bracing for the data tsunami as well.

A recent IBM Institute for Business Value 2011 study -The Essential CIO -- based on conversations with more than 3,000 chief information officers (CIOs) worldwide revealed that business analytics (the ability to extract actionable insights from “Big data”) tops priorities at midsize companies.

83 percent of midmarket CIOs, in fact, say mastering analytics is a priority, the study says.

“Businesses are looking to invest in technologies such as analytics and data mining that not only help them better utilise structured data, but also unstructured data in the form of videos, blogs and tweets that can be obtained through the social web,” Radford says.

This is about turning data into usable intelligence and using it to add new sources of revenue.

Technology can help you adapt to today’s competitive economic landscape, and all its change and complexity

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other social networking sites); you simply can’t get away from it. And as social media becomes increasingly prevalent in everyday life, it is also having a large effect on the world of business.

Amazingly, the social network is an untapped information asset in most organisations.

“You have to be able to capture that data,” Radford says. “This unstructured data is being created constantly, especially on social media.

Social network analysis serves up business intelligence on the ties, information flows and value exchanges that can be extremely valuable to businesses. Of course, you still have the structured data, which computer systems of the past were explicitly designed to monitor, and that tends to consist of numbers and other information that can be easily categorised and searched.

“Unstructured data is difficult to search and categorise.”

The key is making sense of seemingly unconnected pieces of data, making connections between possibly unrelated pieces of information and coming to solutions that could benefit your business.

And this is a key part of IBM’s approach to analytics: instead of simply looking at basic sets of data, analytical systems are built to incorporate information from a variety of sources.

“The future is not one where computer systems will only work with data that is formatted for them; systems will have to be interconnected, instrumented and intelligent,” Radford says. “A key element is the intelligence of the system.”

The future is not one where computer systems will only work with data that is formatted for them; systems will have to be interconnected, instrumented and intelligent

“Business Analytics and Optimisation (BAO) can help generate and give access to customer preference data, supply chain patterns, emerging trends - both within organisations and from competitor, Internet behaviour and response patterns, and so much more,” Radford says.

The amount of information in the world is increasing at an almost exponential rate – and knowledge is power, especially in business.

Most of this information, however, is what the tech-savvy call unstructured data.

Unstructured data is things like emails, YouTube videos, word documents, web pages, audio recordings or PowerPoint presentations, even Tweets.

Ah yes, tweets. The social media scene is booming (it is increasingly difficult to escape from Facebook, Twitter and any number of 104 www.southafricamag.com

IBM FEATUrE

Why do we need computers and systems to do this for us?

Well, could you imagine doing it yourself? No. Logging all your emails, for example, would take a lifetime. There is simply too much information and it is impossible for single people to process everything.

“This data enables BAO and by applying business analytics to a particular problem it will be easier to identify areas within a company -- be it private or public -- that could benefit from a closer investigation,” Radford explains. “The emergence of new smarter systems which are interconnected and streaming real time information are presenting business and governments with a unique opportunity to transform decision making.

“Opportunities to use this data in Africa to predict business outcomes, optimise old systems and spot trends before they happen are a reality.”

According to recent IT industry analyst reports, enterprise data growth over the next five years is estimated to increase by more than 650 percent. Some 80 percent of this data is expected to be unstructured.

“IBM is designing systems that incorporate “Big data” for better decision making, and optimised systems tuned to the task and managed in a cloud,” Radford concludes. “We help customers prepare for tomorrow.”

For more information visit www.ibm.com/za/en/ END

change Be the

see

you want to

In the face of recession and cheap imports, Glencarol, which manufactures a wide variety of men and ladies fashion socks, continues to go from strength to strength.

By Ian Armitage 106 www.southafricamag.com

Glencarol FEATUrE

I

t has long been a

struggle for the South African clothing industry to produce goods and get those goods into stores at a price that is remotely competitive to the price of imports from China, India, or any other low-cost country.

Trade restrictions with China were first relaxed at the beginning of 2005, resulting in product landing on our shores at a cheaper price than local clothing manufacturers paid for textiles.

It had a huge effect on South African manufacturers; many have since folded, unable to compete with factories that make millions of items at once.

Raj Shunmugam, CEO of South African sock maker Glencarol, explains: “The effects were huge; we had to make a bold choice.

“We were faced with a simple question, can we compete with China? We had to accept the challenge to become more competitive or fold – it was that simple. China flooded the market with inexpensive goods and engaged in unfair trade practices. Life was very difficult.

“But today, we probably have the largest sock knitting capacity in the country – and many of the top retailers in South Africa buy from us.”

2008 was a major year in the company’s development, with over two million euros of investment going into acquiring modern,

automated, computer-controlled equipment.

“That was a major expansion,” Shunmugam says. “All of the equipment was sourced out of Europe because of a conscious decision we made to only go after the best.”

Two shareholders own Glencarol: Shunmugam, who works as CEO, overseeing day-to-day operations, is one; and his business partner based in Ireland is the other.

“I’ve been with the business many years; I worked in various positions until, in 2005/06, I was appointed GM of Martilon, soon after which we went through an MBO. My partners and I got together and we brought out Martilon and Glencarol from Ninian & Lester Holdings Ltd,” says Shunmugam.

“In 2008 I took over as CEO of Glenmar, which was the name of the group – If you take the ‘Glen’ from ‘Glencarol’ and the ‘Mar’ from ‘Martilon’, you get the name Glenmar. Martilon was predominantly manufacturing yarn, producing synthetic yarns in polyester and nylon. In 2010, we took a further decision, at board level, to merge the Martilon and Glencarol businesses together, under the Glencarol banner. It now operates as one company and I am the CEO. “Why did we do that? It didn’t make sense for us to continue running our business as two entities, especially as almost all product Martilon was making was being consumed

by Glencarol.”

Glencarol is a vertically integrated manufacturing company. It converts yarn into fabric in modern knitting and dying plants, which is transferred to print and sewing plants where it is made into socks. Its ability to manufacture from its own fabrics allows it to specially design garments to meet the needs of the market.

“Our aim is to produce high quality,”

our aim is to produce high quality

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Glencarol FEATUrE

Shunmugam says.

The decision to merge the two businesses has been a good one.

“I must say the business has grown phenomenally and that is largely due to our partner, O’Neill’s, an Irish international sports company,” says Shunmugam. “We, as shareholders, have invested smartly in areas that had been uncompetitive due to old technology. We upgraded machinery; technology and skills, allowing us to improve productivity and better compete. We are achieving the goals we set ourselves two or three years ago. Of course, the first goal was to still be in business, which we achieved, and we then set the goal of consolidating the market.

Thirdly, we wanted to grow. We are on that growth path.”

Glencarol is one of the foremost sock knitters in South Africa, with a range of brands including Jockey, Bioguard, FootFresh and Pierre Cardin – which the company owns and manages.

In terms of its manufacturing, Glencarol focuses on technically demanding products.

“As a company, we invest heavily in the technology that enables us to design and develop socks for specific end uses,” Shunmugam says. “For example, over the years, we have worked quite hard to design and develop bamboo socks, as a natural antibacterial application for people that suffer with foot ailments.

“We design a lot of technical socks for people with things like diabetes; as well as socks that have specific support requirements for runners.”

Sock design is an important part of Glencarol’s business. “In terms of sock design, we have a fully-functional design and development centre. We get requests from retailers for specific product and develop or own innovations.

“We design and produce most of O’Neill’s sport socks, where we have to work around 108 www.southafricamag.com

we design a lot of technical socks for people with things like diabetes; as well as socks that have specific support requirements for runners. In terms of sock design, we have a fully-functional design and development centre

the technical requirements of specific sports, with regard to strength, stretch, tenacity, breathability and so forth – we translate that into a sock is up to the challenge.”

Shunmugam is not content with what the company has already achieved; he wants further expansion. “There are plans to expand the business. We have got great opportunities,” he says. “We believe in short runs, niche markets and areas where we can add real value.”

Value comes from a high technical capability, vertical integration, the ability to perform quick turnarounds, and, the number of different ranges – Glencarol has it all.

“I think we have done fantastically and are competing with China, to the point where some of our socks are selling to retailers cheaper than they can buy from China at the moment.

“A major focus for us going forward

will be skills training. As our industry has diminished, the incentive within the industry to sustainably grow skills that will longterm benefit everybody has gone. For us as a business, we have taken the initiative, training our own people. We continue to invest in this. To me, the key to our business is our people and if we can train them to the right levels, we can achieve the right final results.”

Remarkably, Glencarol grew its labour content by almost 22 percent last year.

“At a time when people are closing down; we were hiring more people!”

Shunmugam says.

“We resized, restructured, invested and four years later we have seen growth, positive growth, in recessionary times, which is remarkable and we see more positive growth in 2011 and 2012,” he concludes. END www.southafricamag.com 109

perfect SoUTh AFrIcA’S

pEn

pALS

yer in the la p d e s a an-b is outh Afric ry sector Penflex S g in iv f v r su tatione osophy o s il h d p The only n a s it t n h n strume line wit ns we ca a writing in d and innovate in e m d e wn d expan privately-o stment, policy, an g in e poised to B “ . quality on inve t. affordable ly quick decisions ector Sven poner e ir iv t D make rela ,” says Managing hinery s t By colin c projec

110 www.southafricamag.com

Penflex FEATUrE

I

s the pen going the way of the quill, binned by cell phone, text messaging, emails and Facebook?

Letter writing may be in decline, but Penflex’s grip on its market is strong, sure and ready for whatever opportunity the next page brings.

Penflex is the Cape Town based writing instrument manufacturer acknowledged for its technical expertise and a production team widely respected for its capabilities and professionalism.

Proudly South African – it is the sole surviving South African company with a fullrange offering in the writing instrument and stationery sector – Penflex’s products are produced to the latest German and Japanese pen technology specifications resulting in quality products and top value for money.

“Over the past 20 years our brand has developed consumer trust,” says marketing director Sven Ponert. “This is one important differentiation compared with imports; we don’t fight on price.

We have a strong focus on quality which results in the consumer buying from us.

“The public perception of Penflex is of a good value quality product.

And in tough economic times when many households are struggling, this gives us a very big advantage.”

Penflex wholesales into three main trade markets; retail, educational and home use, and business to business, including promotional. A privately-owned company Penflex has supplied major retailers Woolworths, Shoprite, Checkers

and Massmart since its formation in 1987.

“Being privately-owned means we can make relatively quick decisions on investment, policy, and projects,” says Ponert.

Writing instruments is one of the Group’s divisions. Another is the Alplas Plastics brand of house ware, a range that includes plastic acrylic glasses, lunch boxes, salad bowls, basins and containers, trays, picnic and party accessories, toys, hangers and waste bins. It is a brand growing in line with public taste and preference.

“South Africa is an outdoor nation and people are hesitant for example, to take picnic glass ware to the beach. As a result our plastic glasses are becoming increasingly popular. That is just one instance, and while the trend to plastic ware is unlikely to change much, there will be demand shifts related to colour and style.”

Educated at the universities of Hamburg and Cape Town, Sven Ponert first joined Penflex 20 years ago, opening up its British operation two years later.

Following senior posts overseas at packaging manufacturers Smurfit and leading UK stationers John Dickinson, and more recently a senior operations post in France, he was recruited back to Penflex last year to oversee its South African market.

If the contraction of the letter and card writing habit poses an obvious challenge, it also presents opportunities. While there are few technological developments in view, an exception is the digital pen, an input device that captures the handwriting or brush strokes of a user

we have here a South African company that supplies good quality, good value for money products, and my vision is that we will have moved up closer to the premium brand

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and digitizes them for downloading on to a computer and displayed on its monitor. The data can then be interpreted by handwriting software (OCR) and used in different applications or as graphics.

“Digital pens are already popular in Britain for instance, but in South Africa they are still ahead of their time. They are next generation - probably moving up in three or four years – and we must be ready. We are constantly looking into new areas such as digital pens, or to new markets. We have an excellent customer base among the top retailers and outlets and must maximise opportunities to sell more to these and other existing clients.”

Are cheap imports a serious challenge to South Africa’s sole surviving writing instrument manufacturer? “Yes but it’s a slower process here than in Britain, for eaxmple, where the quality of imports are fairly good and the brands trusted. But that’s not the case in South Africa. Here they do not have a perceived good quality image.”

The national economy grew at over four percent in the first quarter, and Ponert is encouraged that this will produce a sales momentum. Last month in what is seen as a test case for major foreign investment in South Africa, competition authorities gave the go-ahead to US store giant Wal-Mart’s $2.4bn bid for Massmart.

It has imposed conditions on the bid, such as a ban on firing workers in the first two years, and says Wal-Mart must have a programme for developing local suppliers. ”Compared with Europe this country is on a good up swing and doing better than some European companies. That’s why companies like Wal-Mart now have an eye on South Africa.”

With Group retailing expanding, further sustained growth requires a new strategy to bring the company to next level.

This will be delivered over two stages says Ponert. “Firstly we need to focus on our existing clients. We supply all the major players and it is up to us to sell more products into our existing customer base.

“The second stage will be to move into new markets with new products. For example some 50 percent of South Africans are aged under 18, one of the largest percentages in the world, of whom 80 percent we are told are in education. This is a vast market and one we have scarcely touched on.”

we are constantly looking into new areas such as digital pens, or to new markets

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Penflex FEATURE

Head office, Cape Town

But market exploitation hinges upon a skilled workforce, a universal problem for South African business. “Skills are not a problem on the production side, and because of our record and position in the market we are well placed to develop skills and knowledge. We are strong on training, and some of our staff have been here 20 years, a tremendous reservoir of expertise and experience.

“The main challenge is on the sales side, to get the good marketing and sales people who can bring the company to the next level. But this is an issue right across South Africa.”

Where would he position Penflex in two years time? “We have here a South African company that supplies good quality, good value for money products, and my vision is that we will have moved up closer to the premium brand, and creating unique selling points in the market to further differentiate ourselves.” END

METIcULoUS QUALITy

DR I V I NG SUCCESS

Structural steelwork solutions provider Louwill Engineering is a name synonymous with quality says director Deon Kotze.

By Ian Armitage

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Louwill Engineering FEATUrE

S

tructural steelwork solutions provider Louwill Engineering is a name synonymous in the steel construction industry with unrivalled expertise, painstaking attention to detail at all stages of fabrication and installation and superb customer service.

It has a proud record of achievement in the mining industry, successfully combining hands-on experience with modern technology to fabricate, supply and erect shaft headgears, bins and chutes (mild steel and all grades stainless steel), mine shaft infrastructures, including compressor houses, workshops and processor plants, as well as smelters and associated steelwork, conveyors and related equipment, underground material handling steelwork and station and shaft steelwork.

It is an enviable offering.

“We are amongst the top few engineering companies capable of offering a complete

fabrication, delivery and erection service to the mining and smelting industries,” says Louwill director Deon Kotze. ”In addition to the fabrication capabilities offered, we also offer a full and comprehensive erection and commissioning service.”

Louwill recently engaged in the erection of the pre-assembled headgears of both the main and services shafts at the Royal Bafokeng Platinum Styldrift shaft complex.

“That was the erection of two headgears on the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum mine, a 50:50 joint venture between Anglo Platinum and Royal Bafokeng Holdings,” Kotze says.

The main shaft and services shaft headgears were designed by Anglo Technical Division and METS, and were manufactured and pre-assembled on pads: the main shaft headgear in three sections, and the services shaft headgear in four sections.

“We did the erection of the headgear,” says

Louwill Engineering FEATUrE

Kotze. “It was completed in record time; it was quite an achievement.

“The contract was awarded in early 2010; total weight of the two headgears amounts to an estimated 1,200 t.”

The headgear centre tower and A-frame sections were assembled on concrete pre-erection pads and frames, and placed into position using a 1,000 t lattice boom crawler rig type crane from Sarens, one of the biggest cranes in South Africa.

“We stand apart from the crowd because we insist on all-round, meticulous quality,” Kotze says. “This philosophy embraces not 116 www.southafricamag.com

we are amongst the top few engineering companies capable of offering a complete fabrication, delivery and erection service to the mining and smelting industries

only what we manufacture, but how we manufacture it.

“We aren’t what I would consider a big, big company but we can compete with them because of the expertise we have. Also, being smaller we can generally do things at a lower budget than the big companies who carry major corporate overheads. And we have got good workmen in the company and on site as well. All of our men onsite are direct employees, we don’t subcontract any labour.

If we do a tender and know we are not going to be able to do the work with our own people then we don’t do it,” Kotze adds.

The main reason Louwill

doesn’t use subcontractors or contractors, he says, is that “if you use a contractor that then uses a subcontractor, you have no direct control over the quality of subcontractors’ work.”

Similarly, contractors or subcontractors may not appreciate your business culture and may lack the motivation and commitment of permanent staff.

“The calibre of people you’ll find at Louwill define our approach to any project: ontime delivery, within budget, without any sacrifice in our quality,” says Kotze. “We are committed to quality.”

With this commitment to quality in mind, as well as a need to increase product turn around time and processing time, and optimally utilise material, Louwill made the decision to purchase SigmaNEST Nesting Software late last year.

SigmaNEST PowerPack maximises material efficiency, minimises scrap, increases machine productivity, and streamlines overall production.

“We have looked to become as competitive as possible, as well as cost efficient,” says Kotze.

So what is the current state of the industry? Are things picking up? It’s mixed, says he.

“We are very dependent on projects going up in South Africa. We don’t do a lot of

product range

Louwill Engineering FEATURE

work outside our borders so we depend on the local mining infrastructure. I would say 90 percent of our work is for the mining sector.

So we need high platinum prices and high gold prices for us to have work in the workshop.

That is the market we target and you can only hope for the best.”

Kotze has been with Louwill for 11 years, so had been in the game a long time. He certainly knows a thing or two.

“I would like to see an optimistic future, but there is a lot of conflicting talk. I don’t know. It is difficult to answer. We’ll take it month by month.”

Louwill is owned by CEO Ben Swanepoel; his son M Swanepoel works as MD. Its subsidiary companies are Steel-Mech Engineering (fabrication) and Powersteel 118 www.southafricamag.com

Construction (site erection and commissioning).

“We are a small company run by a few directors and that is it,” Kotze says. “There is nothing fancy to it; everybody jumps in, from the CEO down; if there is work to be done in the workshop, we will get in and help where we can and do what we do best. And that is it.

“It is a very close company with an open door policy. If you have a problem you can go and speak to whomever you need to speak to.”

What is the secret to Louwill’s success?

Simple: “We deliver good service,” Kotze says. “Our name is synonymous in the steel construction industry with unrivalled expertise, painstaking attention to detail at all stages of fabrication and installation and superb customer service.” END