Housing in Southern Africa June 2016

Cement & Concrete

Growth nodes

T he batching plant in Phoenix has been supplying concrete for the construction of themas- sive Dr Pixley ka Isaka SemeMemorial Hospital, and it will also be the source of material for a large low cost hous- ing project in the area. According to AfriSam’s Marietjie Thompson, the building materials ’ supplier is positioning itself to seize a share of the promisedmassive spend- ing on infrastructure by eThekwini Municipality in the Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu (INK) areas. Local government plans to invest billions of rands in housing projects over the next five years. While the company has bolstered its production and supply capacities in the area, its strong Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment credentials places it in a strategic position when tendering for public sector contracts. This was one of the reasons for AfriSamclinching the deal to supply concrete for Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital. More than providing members of the INK

South Africa’s leading concrete solutions provider, AfriSam, has strengthened its readymix production and supply capacities in the northern areas of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

community with important health care services, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Health plans to ensure that local community members are employed during the construction phase. Black-owned companies will be allocated 30% of the local work. This is over and above its strict requirements to maximise employ- ment opportunities and skills transfer during the build. By the end of the year, it is antici- pated that approximately 2 000 peo- ple from the area will be employed on the site. AfriSam is supplying 40 000 m³ of concrete to Aveng Grinaker-LTA Build- ing and its joint venture partner, Enza Construction. The project is due for com- pletion by October 2018. The Phoenix batching plant is located

1,5 km from the site and has a pro- duction capacity of 40 m³ an hour. Six readymix trucks deliver 600 m³ of concrete to the construction site per day, while three more ferry concrete from AfriSam’s Ottawa operation. This strategy mitigates any risk to customers should there be an unfore- seen interruption at one of the plants. In addition to supplementing production and supply capacities at Phoenix for the hospital project, the Ottawa plant, located 12 km away from the construction site, is supply- ing major developments well under- way in Cornubia and Umhlanga. Both plants receive a steady sup- ply of quality cement from AfriSam’s grinding station in Roodepoort and aggregates from its Verulam quarry. Aveng Grinaker-LTA Building and Enza Construction aim to complete the bulk of the structure this year. ■

Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital. AfriSam readymix has been used for the slabs, suspended slabs and columns.

AfriSam delivers 600 m³ of concrete to site everyday. Approximately 2 000 people will be employed on site.

June 2016