Bolt and Engineering Distributors (B.E.D.) has once again demonstrated its long-standing commitment to the South African and pan-African steel industry, through two prestigious sponsorships at the 2025 Southern African Institute of Steel Construction (SAISC) Steel Awards.

Yaskawa Southern Africa has partnered with Industrial Manufacturing Systems South Africa (IMS-SA) to introduce the Megmeet laser welding cell. This groundbreaking solution combines precision robotics with cutting-edge laser technology.

African Fusion talks to Petrus Pretorius, General Manager of the Cosmo Group, and Johan Griesel, General Manager of Pretoria-based steel construction specialist, Jubilee Suppliers, about the state-of-the-art 6.0 kW Jinan Acme/Max Photonics fibre-laser cutting system recently installed in Jubilee’s Pretoria workshop.

In industrial welding, Unique Welding has emerged as one of South Africa’s most influential players. From its early beginnings to its current position as the country’s largest independent distributor of gas and welding products, the company has been defined by bold thinking, technical mastery and a deeply held belief in the power of partnerships.

African Fusion talks to Afrox’s Dewald Bodenstein, Head of Hardgoods, and Johann Pieterse, MI Technical Manager, about Afrox’s Hardgoods product offering and the comprehensive welding solutions Afrox can provide to fabricators.

African Fusion meets Abicor Binzel South Africa MD, Christo Gelderblom, Application Development Manager, Thembinkosi Matyeka, and Technical Sales Specialists, Wessel Papenfus and Johannes Holtzhausen, to discuss the integration of the THERMACUT® product line and Abicor Binzel’s EWR2 gas management products.

Ntombifuthi Taiwe and Thapelo Mogapi from Air Products have been instrumental in obtaining ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation for the Kempton Park Laboratory, ensuring that Air Products’ gases meet specifications and that the laboratory is competently run.

At Mondi’s Richards Bay paper mill, Steinmüller Africa is leading an 18-month boiler construction project, Vuselela, that showcases a power­ful blend of engineering excellence and cutting-edge technologies, marking a major milestone for the paper and pulp sector and Africa’s broader industrial progress.

A collaboration that began over twenty years ago between Bolt and Engineering Distributors (B.E.D.) Klerksdorp and BPI Manufacturing continues to drive agricultural equipment reliability and innovation across South Africa’s agricultural sector.

Fronius has launched its next-generation Fortis series MIG/MAG and Multiprocess system, a versatile range of solutions for high-quality manual MIG/MAG, TIG and MMA welding with an all-new modern design that meets the diverse requirements of small and medium-sized businesses.

African Fusion talks to ESAB South Africa’s product manager for filler metals, Kevin Xaba, about the premium gas-shielded, low-silica metal-cored wire, Coreweld 46 LS, a high-deposition, low-heat-input welding consumable designed to deposit exceptionally low amounts of silica on the weld surface.

Aurex Constructors is a proudly South African construction, maintenance and turnaround service provider for the oil, gas, chemicals and mining sectors, as well as the thermal and renewable power sectors. African Fusion meets with Sector Director Clive Garner and Quality Manager Wentzel Houston.

SAIW Training and Technical Manager, Confidence Lekoane, highlights the progress being made towards the full implementation of the SAIW 2.0 Renewal Project.

AF talks to Keith Saunders, Equipment Business Development Manager for the MEA region of voestalpine Böhler Welding, about the company’s expanded welding equipment range which, as well as the premium Uranos and heavy-duty Terra ranges, now includes the CORE MMA range of modern single-phase MMA and lift-TIG welding power sources, built for the most demanding environments.

This year has been a year of transformation for the SAIW. We ended last year in disarray, needing to make some urgent interventions to secure the sustainability and credibility of the Institute. I am pleased to say that this process has been largely successful.

Female executives at Steinmüller Africa are reshaping leadership dynamics in the industrial sector, replacing traditional command-and-control approaches with people-first strategies that prioritise psychological well-being and employee empowerment.

Sean Blake of welding innovations and consultancy, ArcStrike, outlines the benefits of electrochemical cleaning of stainless-steel weld seams and weldments, and the advantages of relying on the leading global specialist in the technology, Nitty Gritty, for applications’ support and to ensure safe, reliable and environmentally friendly results.

In the demanding world of fabrication, manufacturing, mining, and construction, having the right welding partner isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity. And for thousands of companies across Southern Africa, that partner is Unique Welding.

Swiss Steel is making its premium Ugitech range of stainless steel and high-nickel welding wires available for direct distribution to South Africa’s fabricators. The company’s MD, Mohamed Imran Kajee, introduces the range.

AF visits the Midrand facility of Nitralife and talks to MD Tom Sowry about his company’s new Nitraweld range of nitrogen generators – the first to be developed for laser welding for delivering continuous, on-demand, high-purity nitrogen gas for modern laser welding machines.