ON THE COVER: AfriSam, South Africa’s leading construction materials supplier, says that sub-standard cements are entering the South African market and cautions against their use, which – in a worst-case scenario – could result in structural failure and possible loss of life. According to Mike McDonald, chemical expert and manager of AfriSam’s Centre of Product Excellence (CPE), despite a lack of official statistics on the scale of the problem, it appears to be on the increase.
The swift rise of a landmark
Apex Studios is a 13-storey building that is rapidly rising right next to the busy M1 highway in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. Concor, known for its stellar track record in the construction industry, is building this 13-storey building that will house 899 students upon completion. It is located opposite the University of the Witwatersrand’s South Gate and Concor is working with developer Growthpoint Properties. Construction World visited the site in June and spoke to MacDonald Ngobese, Concor’s Site Agent about the challenges on this landmark project, the importance of sequencing and why this project is the perfect example of how a fast track project should be run.
Green construction in a green way
Sibusiso Hlatshwayo started his journey as MD of CHRYSO Southern Africa on 1 July. He took over the reins from Norman Seymore who retired at the end of June. Construction World spoke to him about how CHRYSO Southern Africa is working towards using admixtures to promote green building and the post-pandemic challenges the admixture industry is facing in its quest to do so.
Hlatshwayo regards the current global supply chain dynamics as the biggest challenge most businesses are faced with. “COVID-19 caused a supply chain squeeze. The industry thought that it had reached the height of that kind of squeeze during the pandemic, but the current supply chain challenges are worse than at the height of COVID,” he says. “The cost of sea freight has ballooned and there is a massive backlog which means that supply and demand are out of kilt.”
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