COLOSSAL CONCRETE PRODUCTS INVOLVEMENT IN RAIL AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE SECTORS

Making a difference

Colossal believes its contribution to developing infrastructure goes beyond the actual physical product: “We help to change people’s lives and make a sustainable difference. For example, there is a whole economy around a rail network: it not only boosts a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) – but promotes ease of movement, facilitating transport of both people and goods. This means less heavy commercial transport vehicles on the road – and therefore less damage to the road infrastructure,” explains Kiewiet.

Making a difference in peoples’ lives started close to home for Colossal: not only were jobs retained, but employment in the De Aar and Brakpan facilities has collectively increased to just under 200.

“For us, our investment in people encompasses the local community around our Brakpan and De Aar facilities, with some 10 people benefitting from each person employed.

As this business is very seasonal and depends on key contracts and orders, we have a base of permanent employees and then we hire limited duration contractors (LDCs). In Brakpan, we are extremely proud to recently have made some of these LDCs permanent – and are hoping to employ even more people. In De Aar, we started with just a handful of people whom we re-employed in their former positions – and we have then scaled it up as we opened more production lines,” explains Kiewiet.

Women ‘steaming ahead’

Mahuma-Madida’s entrepreneurial initiatives have been focused on rail since 2012: “This is an industry about which I am very passionate. Together with fellow investors, I am still looking for other opportunities, products and services which we as Colossal Concrete Products can supply into numerous different infrastructure-related sectors: from renewable energy, to water, roads and the mining and construction sectors – and of course, rail.”

Colossal is also focused on promoting the role of women in the sector: “In administration, we are highly weighted towards women. In the factory, because the work requires heavy lifting, there are more men. However, we do have women who work in our prepping and stacking departments,” Kiewiet adds.

Mahuma-Madida adds that there are significant opportunities in quality and safety. From the procurement of raw materials to dispatch, and from testing to research and development, there are areas where women can excel.

A concrete foundation for the future  

In addition to creating jobs, Colossal has also made strides in improving quality with a product reject rate far below the industry average of 0.5%: “We are proud to say that the average reject rate at our culvert plant is 0%. Furthermore – despite the volumes we produce at our longline plant – our reject rate average there is 0.1%, which is a true testament to our quality and manufacturing processes,” Kiewiet enthuses.

“Over the past three years, we have turned this business around, not only securing the TFR contract but securing our leading position as the largest supplier of railway sleepers in Southern Africa; as well as being a major supplier of other precast concrete products required for infrastructure development not only locally but across the continent.

As such, Colossal has built up a great reputation as a trusted manufacturer of quality, innovative precast concrete products – as well as a company which takes care of its staff, customers and suppliers. We have substantial capacity to produce quality precast concrete infrastructure products across Sub-Saharan Africa, and we are ‘on track’ to do just that,” Mahuma-Madida concludes.