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A road in Africa taken from a lower angle with a yellow line painted through it and a Cats Eye reflector in the tar

Published: 21 Jun 24

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) announced in March that it expected to inject close to R2-billion into the Dr AB Xuma local municipality, in the Eastern Cape, when it implements its road maintenance projects over the next three years. The roads agency said it will implement two road infrastructure development projects in the municipality, which include the road improvements of the R61 National Road between All Saints and Bayiza, as well as road improvements of the R61 National Road between Qumanco and eNgcobo.

A man’s arm holding a hard hat wearing other PPE in the foreground of a construction site

Fatalities draw attention to health and safety standards

Published: 21 Jun 24

Recent tragic events, resulting in the loss of over 40 construction workers' lives across three sites last month, have brought heightened attention to both the wellbeing of construction personnel and the effectiveness of regulatory oversight. The fatal construction-related incidents were recorded at a new apartment building in George, in the Western Cape; a residential construction site in Ballito, in KwaZulu-Natal; and a previously constructed retaining wall at a shop in Ngcobo, in the Eastern Cape.

Institutes promote sustainable development

Published: 21 Jun 24

Members of welding professional body the Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW) stress the importance of high-quality welder education and training strategies to help catalyse the “reindustrialisation” of developing countries – including many of the countries on the African continent – and empowering impoverished and underprivileged communities by creating employment in the welding sector. The education and training initiatives established by the SAIW to improve the overall value of the welding industry by enhancing the national welding capability also aligns with the United Nations’ (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notes a report on the 17 SDGs written by SAIW executive director John Tarboton and veteran SAIW and International Institute of Welding (IIW) member Chris Smallbone.

New-vehicle sales down 14.2% as consumers suffer from election jitters

Published: 21 Jun 24

April’s 2.2% bump in new-vehicle sales proved to be an anomaly as new-vehicle sales again returned to negative territory in May, with the market down 14.2%, to 37 105 units, compared with the same month last year. April’s positive blip followed eight months of market decline.

Airbus has identified unserved air routes to, from and within Africa

Published: 20 Jun 24

On Thursday, at the AviaDev Conference in Windhoek, Namibia, Airbus released its latest report on commercial aviation in Africa. The 53-page report is titled Exploring the horizons: A study of unserved air routes to, from and within Africa. “Despite significant traffic between certain city-pairs, some identified routes still lack regularly scheduled non-stop flights,” pointed out Airbus Market Intelligence and Consulting Director Geert Lemaire. “Factors such as restrictive bilateral air service agreements, economic variables, and challenges and capacity, frequency and operating cost efficiency contribute to these routes remaining unserved.”

A Skydio drone and Boston Dynamics robot dog

Dwyka highlights new drone technology at showcase

Published: 20 Jun 24

Mining technology company Dwyka Mining Services has announced the launch of several new drone technology services through its partnerships with drone technology companies Wingtra, Emesent and now Skydio. At a showcase event hosted at the FNB Stadium, in Gauteng, on June 20, Dwyka announced its newly signed strategic partnership and reseller agreement with Skydio, one of the largest artificial intelligence- (AI-) powered drone technology companies in the US.

This Prieska mine chamber was blasted in the 1970s.

Green copper, vapour refining envisaged at Orion’s Northern Cape base metals mines

Published: 20 Jun 24

Green copper and clean smelting and refining are envisaged at Orion Minerals’ quickly advancing base metals mines in South Africa’s well-endowed Northern Cape province, which has historically produced 2.5-millon tons of copper until base metal mining ceased there several decades ago. The fully permitted and already reviving Prieska mine will begin producing its first saleable copper and zinc 12 to 18 months after finalising its total funding requirement, which is estimated at from R3-billion to R4-billion.

WIOCC Group secures digital infrastructure expansion funds

Published: 20 Jun 24

Digital infrastructure provider WIOCC Group is furthering its expansion strategy in three African countries, enhancing the continent’s digital infrastructure and connectivity and supporting economic growth after securing funding through a financing package from IFC and Proparco. The financing includes loans of $10-million and R200-million from IFC, as well as $20-million from Proparco, a development finance institution and subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group.

Assembly has started of the world’s biggest land-based crane

Published: 20 Jun 24

Netherlands-based global major engineered heavy lift and transport company Mammoet has announced that it has started assembly of its latest, and the world’s biggest and strongest land-based, crane, the SK6000. This is a ring crane design, and its assembly is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of this year. “This is a thrilling new chapter for Mammoet and modular construction in heavy industry, as we see the SK6000 taking shape,” affirmed SK6000 Project Manager Koen Brouwers. “It will offer a hook height, outreach, and lifting capacity far in excess of any crane on the market. We are excited to bring this groundbreaking technology to our customers, helping them achieve their project goals with greater efficiency and more sustainability.”

Eskom wins South African appeal to keep five polluting power plants open

Published: 20 Jun 24

South Africa’s State power utility and biggest source of air pollution won an appeal to keep five of its oldest plants open even though they are set to flout incoming emission caps. The plants - which account for almost a quarter of Eskom Holdings’ almost 45 GW of coal-fired generation capacity - will be allowed to operate under current emission limits until the end of March 2030, Barbara Creecy, South Africa’s environment minister, ruled. That will exempt them from more stringent restrictions on pollutants, ranging from particulate emissions to sulfur dioxide, that come into effect in 2025.