Developments News Magazine

In the true spirit of Christmas, thyssenkrupp heeded the call from Nyeleti’s Children’s Home in Putfontein, Benoni, to bring a little joy to the children currently under their care. The home was badly damaged by a veld fire which severely depleted their already meagre funds. “We approached thyssenkrupp for assistance because every child deserves a gift at Christmas,” says founder and chairperson, Nomsa Sithole. Nyeleti had a very special beginning: At the tender age of 6 years, Nomsa’s daughter, Nyeleti, began sharing her food with desolate farmworkers and Aids orphans who were living on an abandoned 10.5 ha farm in Putfontein in Benoni on Johannesburg’s East Rand. Extremely proud of Nyeleti, Nomsa decided to follow her daughter’s good example and thus started Nyeleti’s Children’s Home in 2004. With the assistance of social workers, the home was officially registered a year later. “Nyeleti means ‘a star’ so naming the home after my daughter who truly is a star was so appropriate...

Power is closely tied to a surge of new infrastructure projects and rapid industrialisation across Africa, with significant opportunities still open to the power sector, delegates heard at a briefing for key power sector stakeholders in Sandton this week. Infrastructure spend across Africa will grow at 10% per annum from 2015 and 2025, exceeding $180 billion by 2025. Much of this is expected in Nigeria and South Africa with Nigerian infrastructure spend topping $77 billion by 2025, while in South Africa infrastructure spend may reach $60 billion by 2025. Strong development is also forecast in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania. This is according to Duncan Bonnett, Director Strategy & Business Development at Africa House, research partner to POWER-GEN & DistribuTECH Africa, who was addressing power sector stakeholders in Sandton in the lead-up to POWER-GEN & DistribuTECH Africa 2018. Outlining the importance of energy for Africa’s development, as well as so...

Following the worldwide acquisition of Demag Cranes by Konecranes earlier this year, South Africa took the lead internationally within the group with integrating their respective head offices as well as all the branches around the country. Konecranes moved from their base of ten years in Germiston to Demag’s premises in Atlas Road in Boksburg. “Moving 65 employees as well as factory equipment and machinery took quite some doing,” said John MacDonald, Service, Sales and Marketing Director of Konecranes. “Months of discussions with our counterparts and our staff were held to ensure the minimal disruption to their working as well as their private lives as for some the distance to travel to work became longer. For others the move to Boksburg was more convenient.” “We definitely surprised our colleagues in the rest of the world with the speed that we, in true South African fashion, ‘just got on with it’, MacDonald said. Konecranes is a major supplier to the mining industry in South Af...

Atlas Copco Industrial Technique is pleased to announce the recent extension of its SANAS accredited Torque Laboratory’s scope and capabilities. “We now have ability to do SANAS accredited hydraulic calibrations on torque wrenches up to 45 000Nm,” confirms Calibration Laboratory Manager, Nicolas Van Zyl, adding that Atlas Copco is currently the only laboratory in South Africa that can perform these types of SANAS accredited calibrations. “We also have the ability to do non-accredited calibrations up to 75 000Nm.” Further improvements to the laboratory’s accredited calibration capabilities include pneumatic torque wrench calibrations up to 2 000Nm as well as electronic displays for torque measuring equipment. “In addition to boosting our calibration and laboratory measurement capabilities, Deputy Laboratory Manager, Johan Kok, now takes up the responsibility as Technical Signatory alongside Van Zyl for the results that are issued on the certificate,” continues Van Zyl. “We have als...

If we were to rewind to 125 years ago, a vastly different picture of labour safety would emerge. What was then largely an agricultural economy, was moving swiftly into the industrial age, and more significantly, South Africa was experiencing the gold mining boom. The machinery aiding a new era of economic growth and productivity was bigger, faster and more dangerous. As a result, employees were getting injured or losing their lives in ever increasing numbers and companies were compelled to take remedial action. Legislation, safety guidelines and policies were implemented that significantly altered the way in which workplace safety was approached. Fast-forward to 2017. While it is true to say the gains in health and safety in the workplace have been vast, it still seems not enough is being done. Many organisations continue to report the same injuries: back and eye injuries as well as fractures due to slips, trips and falls. It is estimated that these injuries result in an averag...

Inferior Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the workplace could have a negative effect on productivity and a company’s bottom line. A number of companies have been found skimping on the PPE they supply to their staff, resulting in growing concern amid vigorous local and international drives to promote the creation of a safe working environment. PPE refers to equipment such as protective gear, gloves, boots, helmets, goggles and much more. Anton Zwanepoel, Business Unit Manager of Innovative PPE Solutions, cautions companies against being frugal when it comes to PPE. “Business owners need to alter their perception of PPE as a grudge purchase, to that of an investment in employee safety. This will protect both the company and its employees, as well as lives and money in the long run.” He says poor-quality PPE can impact output and the bottom line if left unchecked. “For example, an ill-fitting Conti Suit can impede a worker’s ability to do his job properly or even result in acc...

Due to this continent’s economic reliance on the extraction of natural resources, logistics operators in Africa will often be required to facilitate the movement of large machinery and parts, many times transporting goods from South African ports to remote locations beyond our borders. For Dachser South Africa this is ‘business as usual’. However, when the company was called upon to provide logistics support for a supply chain facilitating the manufacture of mega machinery between South Africa and China, all their skill, knowledge and systems were put to the test. Detlev Duve, Managing Director of Dachser South Africa, says that the project took a full 12 months from start to finish, and necessitated intensive coordination and highly specialist knowledge. “The client required the replacement of two stacker re-claimers and two ship loaders to be fabricated in China using raw materials from South Africa. Dachser South Africa was involved in collection of the raw materials, transport...

Architect’s impression of Phase 1 of Dwarsloop Mall . With an A-grade, 35,000m2 shopping mall being constructed by New Africa Developments in northeastern Mpumalanga, this festive season will see 33,000* households closer to a contemporary shopping destination. Dwarsloop Mall boasts more than 50 stores, anchored by Shoprite & Spar major grocery tenants and includes a selection of national fashion retailers, restaurants and banks. Committed tenants include Pep, Total Sports, Ackermans, Clicks, Sportscene, Markham, Roman’s Pizza, Exact, Cross Trainer and many more. Situated on the arterial R40 between Hazyview and Hoedspruit at the major Thulamahashe intersection, this green fields development is very prominent and has good access for the approximately 150,000* residents of Dwarsloop and Bushbuckridge, in addition to a large percentage of Thulamahashe locals. The R40 ring-road has been budgeted for by the local government in the 2017/2018 financial year, and by effectively b...

In a groundbreaking real estate transaction, Barloworld, Atterbury and African Rainbow Capital have partnered as co-investors in the redevelopment of the prime Barlow Park Campus, situated at 180 Katherine Street, Sandton. The joint venture property investment and development deal was signed this week. The next step is the rezoning of the property, which is expected to take at least a year. The initial property transaction involves each party holding one-third of the landmark site currently housing Barloworld’s corporate offices. The investment value will eventually climb to well over R3billion as the total redevelopment of this sprawling corporate park is rolled out into a 130,000sqm vibrant multi-billion-Rand mixed-use precinct. “The redevelopment of Barlow Park is part of our strategic focus to maximise the use of and unlock value in all our assets. This will not only contribute to the achievement of our bold ambition, but will be a legacy that will deliver value over the lon...

As summer holidays approach and millions of South Africans prepare to embark on long journeys the issue of road safety is once again top of mind. One young scientist who competed at this year’s Eskom Expo for Young Scientists International Science Fair has come up with an ingenious solution to help prevent accidents on South Africa’s roads. Samirah Kaka, a grade 9 learner from Kismet Combined School in Vryburg in the North West is concerned about the number of people who are killed on South Africa’s road every year, so she set about developing an innovative device to prevent accidents. Her device is called ICUC or ‘’I can see what you can see’’ and is fitted to trucks so that motorists following behind them can see exactly what the truck driver sees. Kaka placed a camera inside the vehicle on the dashboard and fitted a screen to the back of the truck. The camera captured the front view that the truck driver had and transmitted this to the screen at the back, so that motorist ...

Atterbury, the leading South African property investor and developer, continues to reshape the Joburg skyline with the development of Joburg City Auto BMW and Joburg City Ford - two state-of-the-art motor showrooms and service facilities. The top branded motor dealerships represent another victory for Atterbury, which has undertaken a number of large projects in Newtown in recent years. They have added further critical mass to growing attractions and businesses already centred in and around the popular mixed-use Newtown Junction. Working together with partners Old Mutual and Stephen Nale, the owner of both dealerships, this latest development is ideally located opposite the Newtown Junction shopping centre, set against the background of Nelson Mandela Bridge and Old Park Station. A major boost for the entire city, Atterbury’s latest development project created over 400 jobs during the construction phase of the project and now that the development is complete it is expected to s...

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Due to this continent’s economic reliance on the extraction of natural resources, logistics operators in Africa will often be required to facilitate the movement of large machinery and parts, many times transporting goods from South African ports to remote locations beyond our borders. For Dachser South Africa this is ‘business as usual’. However, when the company was called upon to provide logistics support for a supply chain facilitating the manufacture of mega machinery between South Africa and China, all their skill, knowledge and systems were put to the test. Detlev Duve, Managing Director of Dachser South Africa, says that the project took a full 12 months from start to finish, and necessitated intensive coordination and highly specialist knowledge. “The client required the replacement of two stacker re-claimers and two ship loaders to be fabricated in China using raw materials from South Africa. Dachser South Africa was involved in collection of the raw materials, transp...

South African banking and finance industry to cover entire life-cycle of non-vehicle assets ROSEBANK – 15 November 2017 – The South African banking and finance industry has welcomed the creation of the Southern African Movable Asset Register (SAMAR) to help reduce fraud. SAMAR allows manufacturers, importers, builders, banks, insurers as well as the general public to control title and ownership of all movable assets. SAMAR’s system – developed at the request of several of the banks and importers of “yellow metal” assets – keeps a record to be kept of various assets and covers the life-cycle of a given asset – importantly including those that are currently not allowed to be loaded on eNaTIS (the Electronic National Traffic Information System). SAMAR creates the most recent reliable record of that asset by updating records in real-time as changes are made by various system participants such as financiers, dealerships and insurers. SAMAR’s use by Financial Institutions: • Regist...