The Bigen Picture - Spiraleye Studios · E-mail: [email protected] 1 From the desk of...

December 2010

Providing clean, potable water to the people of Tshwane

Thorough assessment ensures success of Asset Management

Sustainable Development –Why the fuss?

Tender successes for Bigen Africa

The Bigen Picture

Contact: EditorAnnette van ZylBigen AfricaAllan Cormack StreetInnovation HubPretoriaTel: 012 842 8869E-mail: [email protected]

1 From the desk of the CEO

2 Providing clean, potable water to the people of Tshwane

4 Sharp business skills and focused passion

5 Olievenhoutbosch – New approach makes sustainable settlements possible

6 Bigen Africa – Thinking smarter about energy efficiency

8 Thorough assessment ensures success of Asset Management

10 Is urban sprawl in South Africa heading for a bright new future?

12 News in short

• Tlhabologangroadsupgrade• Moshawengroadsupgrade• Gamarawaterreticulation• JohnTaoloGaetseweruralwatersupply

13 MAD about Corporate Social Investment

Contents

TheR530millionRoodeplaatTembaWaterSupplySchemeProjectisnowinitssecondphasewhichentailstheconstructionofawaterpurificationplantattheRoodeplaatDam.Readarticleonpage2.

A new era dawns>> From the desk of the CEO>> Page 1 THE BIGEN PICTURE

Bigen Africa’s track record of more than 30 years in the delivery of infrastructure has left a proud legacy of successful projects and happy clients. The key to our success is a smarter business approach whereby we interlock world-class, best-practice project finance, engineering and management consulting expertise to customise innovative, value-driven solutions for clients in the public and private sector alike.

2010 saw Bigen Africa experiencing many challenges and successes. New contracts awarded include the Eskom Coal Haulage project, which includes the provision of various strategic roads for Eskom, the DWA Levuvhu pipeline rehabilitation/replacement project, the Canal Walk extension project in Cape Town, the Lerato Park housing development project in Kimberley and the Macambibi Rural housing project in KwaZulu Natal. The Luvuvhu pipeline project is an especially challenging contract awarded to Bigen Africa for the design and construction supervision of pipelines to replace and/or lay parallel to the problematic GRP pipes of the Luvuvhu Water Scheme, while the Lerato Park development is a good

example of how the coordination of effort and cooperation between government, municipality and private sector creates a solution to the benefit of all stakeholders.

This is a welcome change from a year ago, when we were

still planning to beat the poor economic

conditions following the global credit crunch. Reflecting

back even further, the

amount of contracts currently on our

books contrasts starkly with the contracts of a small consulting firm which had then just been established. However, we had established the company in a changing world and we worked hard to develop a culture that accepted change as an integral part of the company strategy. The result of three decades of innovation and fresh thinking is a service-orientated company with a diversely talented group of 450 people in 14 offices across Southern Africa.

On 30 April 2011, when I celebrate 30 years of service to Bigen Africa, I shall retire, hopefully to serve the team in a different capacity. I trust that my legacy will be that I was privileged to guide a team that gave our company and our clients a competitive advantage.

The pain of leaving the company has been considerably softened by the appointment of the dynamic, immensely skilled and inspiring Dr Snowy Khoza as CEO Designate on 1 October 2010. Snowy will lead the company into a new era and brings a wealth of management and change skills and experience, which will strengthen Bigen Africa’s commitment to our clients and our projects.

At the base of our success and the innovation of our people lies our value system. Our values are creativity, commitment, empowerment, fun and integrity. These values guided me throughout my career, and Snowy fully endorses these values.

I think we can look forward to a renewed momentum in setting new boundaries in an uncertain and changing world – but true to our core approach.

As we prepare to take a year-end break from 15 December to 4 January, I thank our clients for their loyal support and I wish all of you a relaxing festive period and an energy-packed 2011, filled with rewarding innovation.

Francois SwartChief Executive Officer

South Africa needs infrastructure to achieve its socio-economic growth targets. Capacity, expertise and the right partners are crucial to making this happen. So is delivery – on time, on brief and within budget.

or lay parallel to the problematic GRP pipes of the Luvuvhu Water Scheme, while the Lerato Park development is a good

example of how the coordination of effort and cooperation between government, municipality and private sector creates a solution to the benefit of all stakeholders.

This is a welcome change from a year ago, when we were

still planning to beat the poor economic

conditions following the global credit crunch. Reflecting

back even further, the

amount of contracts

>> Page 2 THE BIGEN PICTURE

Bigen Africa (as part of the Temba Roodeplaat Consulting Consortium) was appointed as project manager of the R530 million Roodeplaat Temba Water Supply Scheme Project in 2004. This project entails the recently completed construction of the new 60-megalitre Roodeplaat Water Treatment Works (RWTW) and its current upgrading, which includes the addition of two additional unit processes, ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration to the existing treatment train. The initial stage of the project served as a pilot project through which Bigen Africa added an extra dimension to the conventional role consulting engineers play in the development of projects. Instead of focusing only on the technical feasibility of projects, the company incorporated expert skills in order to structure projects in-house so that they become bankable.

This “smarter” approach of interlocking world-class, best-practice project finance, engineering and management consulting expertise enables financially constrained local authorities to meet their infrastructure development obligations.

Bigen Africa was subsequently appointed to manage the upgrading of the Roodeplaat Water Treatment Works on 6 September 2010, adopting labour-intensive construction methods where possible, for the benefit of the local community. Already, 61 members of the community have been employed and this number will increase as the construction work intensifies. Of these, 23 have been employed in terms of the Extended Public Works Programme.

Twelve people have successfully completed accredited scaffold-erection training.

The civil structures and associated building works will be constructed by Superway Construction (Pty) Ltd, while a joint venture between PCI Africa (Pty) Ltd, Electron (Pty) Ltd and Dip Civils (Pty) Ltd (PDE JV) will be responsible for the supply and installation of all the mechanical and electrical equipment. The Temba Roodeplaat Consulting Consortium (TRCC) comprising Bigen Africa Services (Pty) Ltd and DJJ Conradie and Partners are the Engineers on the project for the Employer.

The RWTW was commissioned in 2005 as part of the larger Roodeplaat Bulk Water Supply Project to augment water supply to the rapidly expanding northern areas of CoT from feasible local sources in lieu of extending its existing supply scheme from

Providing clean, potable water to the people of Tshwane

BIGEN AFRICA’S smarter business approach is used with great success to customise innovative, value-driven solutions for clients in the private and public sector, as is evident from the successful Roodeplaat Temba Water Supply Project.

Fromleft:IanPollard,BigenAfricaProjectManager;RichardMolala,CommunityLiaisonOfficer;MduduziShabangu,CoTDirector:BulkWaterSupply;JanKruger,CoTDeputyDirector:BulkWaterSupply(OperationsandMaintenance);GabrielKujwane,VaalUniversityofTechnologystudentsecondedtoBigenAfricaforpracticaltraining;JurgensPotgieter,BigenAfricaAssistantResidentEngineer;MeiringvanZyl,SuperwayConstructionContractsManager.

Ozone is a strong oxidant and disinfectant with a variety of applications in water treatment. Unfortunately, ozone, as a highly reactive gas, cannot be stored in containers and thus needs to be generated at the point of use by passing high-voltage electrical current through an oxygen-rich environment. The electrical current splits the oxygen (O2) molecule into two O-atoms. A small portion (6% to 12% by weight) of the O-atoms combine with O2 molecules to form O3, ozone. The amount of ozone generated is dependent on various factors, one of which is the concentration of oxygen in the feed gas to the generator. Three types of feed gases are normally used for the large-scale generation of ozone, namely pure oxygen from commercially-supplied liquid oxygen (LOX), pure oxygen produced on-site from air through a process called Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA), or normal air, which is approximately 22% oxygen. For the system installed at Roodeplaat, ozone will be generated from LOX.

of mechanical and electrical equipment. The ozone generation equipment is the single-most expensive component of the mechanical works and will be imported from Switzerland.

The civil works is expected to be completed by October 2011 with the commissioning of the mechanical and electrical works scheduled for February 2012.

Once completed, the RWTW will be one of the most advanced water treatment facilities in South Africa and certainly a flagship plant for the CoT and Bigen Africa.

The project director is Dr Mias van der Walt with Ian Pollard overseeing construction activities. They are assisted on-site by Gerrie van Heerden as Resident Engineer, and Jurgens Potgieter as the Assistant Resident Engineer. DJJ Conradie and Partners is responsible for all electrical services and is represented by JJ van Tonder and Piet Horn, while Jan Kruger for CoT is the Employer’s Representative.


Rand Water. The Roodeplaat Dam, situated approximately 20km north-east of the Tshwane CBD was identified as the preferred local source and a license to abstract raw water from this dam was issued by the (then) Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) to City of Tswane (CoT) thereby approving the implementation of phase one of a 60Ml/d bulk water supply scheme. Implementation was funded off-balance sheet by a number of commercial banks for the Temba Roodeplaat Water Services Trust, a Special Project Vehicle (SPV) created especially for the project with the CoT being the main stakeholder and sole benefactor. The cost of constructing the first phase of the scheme was approximately R250 million.

Roodeplaat Dam can be classified as highly eutrophied (nutrient rich) as a result of the influx of treated effluent from three large wastewater treatment facilities situated in the dam’s catchment, owned and operated by CoT. Apart from excessive algal growth, which is a direct consequence of eutrophication and relatively easy to remove via flotation, removal of associated algal toxins, complex dissolved manganese and iron, organic constituents responsible for taste and odour-causing compounds and chlorine-resistant pathogens are more difficult and require a series of treatment steps, many of which are viewed as advanced processes.

Although all the necessary processes were included during the 2005 process train to treat Roodeplaat water to potable standard, CoT decided to implement the ozonation and GAC processes pro-actively in anticipation of expected future deterioration in raw water quality. The TRCC was subsequently appointed to design the new processes and a pilot plant was installed at the RWTW and operated for a sufficiently long period to determine various site-specific design parameters, which was ultimately used for the detail design and specification of the new processes.

The use of ozone in conjunction with GAC filtration offers a number of benefits. Apart from its strong disinfection power, ozone has the ability to alter the molecular structure of complex organic compounds making these more amicable to biological degradation and removal. In addition to its absorbent properties, GAC is also an excellent medium for the development and proliferation of bacteria that remove organic compounds, many of which are responsible for potentially unacceptable tastes and odours in the final water. At Roodeplaat, ozone will mainly be used for the oxidation of dissolved organic constituents, improved GAC adsorption of organic compounds, disinfection of chlorine resistant pathogens and, to a lesser extent, the removal of complex iron and manganese.

The project is being implemented through two contracts, one for the civil works and another for the supply and installation

Dr Snowy Joyce Khoza joined BIGEN AFRICA on 4 October 2010 as CEO Designate, to succeed Francois Swart on 1 May 2011.

Snowy is a seasoned executive and acknowledged strategist with remarkable business acumen honed from more than 30 years senior management experience and directorship skills in the South African public and private sector landscape. Now continuing to make a significant contribution at Bigen Africa, Snowy brings strategic focus and mature business judgement to driving organisational performance in one of South Africa’s leading multi-disciplinary engineering, management, project finance and infrastructure development consultancies. She joins Bigen Africa from the Development Bank of Southern Africa, where she was Group Executive.

As a businesswoman, her business acumen and interests are in the service, catering, infrastructure, mining and construction sectors. She is widely regarded as a role model, for the example she sets as a student, a business executive and a community catalyst.

Snowy’s career, which spans three decades of exceptional leadership, incisive decision-making and a willingness to take informed risks in senior management and executive positions, saw numerous achievements, ranging from academic excellence, with a host of tertiary diplomas and degrees which include a PhD and an MBA, to social involvement, notably as catalyst to give less privileged children the opportunity to study, and a range of senior appointments outside her place of work. She regards her position as chairperson of the Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) Board as her professional best, being the first woman to chair the multi-billion rand organisation.

Other firsts include being the founding chair of the continental Knowledge

Management Africa (KMA), an African knowledge engine for African development solutions by Africans, being the first woman to chair Boards of the Water Research Commission (WRC), first woman to chair the University of Johannesburg – Centre for Social Development in Africa and being the first woman Editor-in-Chief of the Development Southern Africa journal published and distributed internationally.

Snowy is the mother of six children (three of her own and three adopted) and says her personal best achievement was completing an Executive MBA at the University of Cape Town while raising children and working as a member of executive management.

Snowy’s social commitment is evident from the associations she belongs to – the International Women’s Forum South Africa (IWFSA), the Business Women Association, the South African Social Services Council and the South African

Association for Public Administration and Management.

As a development activist, she is passionate in working with under-privileged communities, facilitating educational funding for bright learners, driving economic activities that create jobs and providing school infrastructure to improve the schooling environment for learners.

“I am passionate about excellence and excited about Bigen Africa’s smarter

business approach to integrated infrastructure development and project financing, which enables us to anticipate trends and sets us apart from the herd and ahead of current thinking in business solutions. I look forward to entrenching and enriching its presence in the African engineering landscape,” says Snowy.


Sharp business skills and focused passion

Inspiringleader,independentthinker,exceptionalbusinessacumen,passionatecommunitycare-giveranddevelopmentactivist,rolemodelandmentor.


OlievenhoutboschNew approach makes sustainable settlements possible

At the same time, it is evident that resolving South Africa’s high levels of unemployment is integral to finding innovative solutions for the housing crisis, as joblessness impacts directly on the demand for and ability of people to invest in housing. According to Human Settlements Minister, Tokyo Sexwale, South Africa has “hardly moved in breaking the (housing) backlog, at a rate of just 10% a year”, even though 2,8 million houses have been built. Twelve million people, of which more than 60% live in urban areas, still need better shelter. “An encouraging and decisive step in the right direction, and one which addresses both the housing backlog and the high levels of unemployment, is government’s new approach to developing integrated human settlements. The paradigm shift from merely providing shelter to creating sustainable, integrated communities by actively involving private sector funders will go a long way towards achieving Sexwale’s challenging target of delivering 220 000 units a year between 2010 and 2014,” says Anton Boshoff, Bigen Africa director.

“The impact of public-private sector funding and joint responsibility for these multi-mode housing developments enables ownership and encourages investment. It also stimulates the direct and indirect economic multiplier effect of housing construction as a vehicle for job creation by promoting labour-intensive methods that include employing local labour and small-time contractors. The Olievenhoutbosch Ministerial Integrated Human Settlement Project in Tshwane, launched by ABSA DevCo in 2004, is resounding proof of the effectiveness of this approach.”

The R450 million project delivered 5 436 housing products in three years in a single, integrated development, as a joint agreement between the three tiers of government and ABSA. ABSA DevCo appointed Bigen Africa to assist in implementing the project, which included a one-stop project management service as well as financial and engineering services.

The combined public/private sector funding was derived from Gauteng’s provincial housing subsidy, the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality’s services level top-up fund and private sector investment through ABSA DevCo, the bank’s property development division. The mixed-mode housing development included the provision of 3 005 subsidised units, 1 263 rental apartments, 1 168 bonded houses, businesses including a shopping mall and social facilities and amenities. The project created more than 2 500 job opportunities totalling about 320 000 labour days. This excludes jobs created through related support industries.

Efficient project management that strategically integrated the institutional, financial and technical aspects of the project and effectively overcame challenges such as bulk services bottlenecks, community involvement and the significant financial commitment to the project, provided the Olievenhoutbosch community with superior estate aesthetics and improved service levels. The latter was made possible by the City of Tshwane’s top-up service policy. It is the only municipality that has such a policy.

“Bigen Africa’s involvement in the implementation of this project has, once again, convinced us of the significant benefits derived from an integrated approach to housing delivery, which is aligned with Bigen’s smarter business approach of bringing together the key success factors that will attract private sector funders to public sector projects.”

Housing the nation is a key national priority. It is also at the forefront of government’s drive to create and sustain a better life for its people.


BIGEN AFRICA – thinking smarter about energy efficiencyEnergy is critical to the entire fabric of economic and social development in South Africa, and elsewhere in the world. The energy industry globally faces a series of challenges that cannot be resolved with a single intervention.

It is crucial for the industry and governments worldwide to collaborate in identifying, addressing and preventing potential risks and deal with problems as they arise. Worldwide, nations are beginning to face up to the challenge of sustainable energy. Put differently, to alter the way that energy is utilised so that social, environmental and economic aims of sustainable development are supported.

It is also necessary to develop infrastructure and policies that will move us towards a future of sustainable, sufficient and affordable energy supply.

The much-debated aspects of traditional methods of producing, transporting and using energy is a well-traversed landscape: the finite supply of coal, environmental degradation, climate change and detrimental impact on communal health. The key challenge – also well-debated and sometimes challenged – is to fast-track the progression to a cleaner, more efficient supply of energy, while continuing to extend affordable access to modern energy services.

Currently, renewable energy for example contributes relatively little to primary energy and even less to the consumption of commercial energy. Thinking ‘smarter’ about energy efficiency, energy management and the use of renewable energy has become a non-negotiable management imperative if we want to mitigate the negative impacts of energy production and consumption on the economy, society and the environment.

While necessary, merely setting “renewable” obligations and targets may not be sufficient. NERSA’s introduction of the renewable energy and cogeneration feed-in tariffs (REFITs and COFITs) last year is a step in the right direction and will certainly help ensure that South Africa meets its renewable energy target of 10 000 GWh energy generated from renewable energy sources by 2013.

Bigen Africa’s smart approach to business solutions has, once again, ‘put it ahead of the rest’ as a strongly capacitated participant in the

energy management and renewable energy arena in South Africa. “Our shareholder agreement with SME International BVBA saw the establishment of SE AFRICA Energy Solutions (Pty) Ltd, a joint venture initiative to plan, design and implement energy efficient projects,” says Thomas Kilian, Bigen Africa associate director. This shareholder agreement, preceded by a memorandum of understanding, provides the platform for the exclusive use of international technology services for the South African energy sector and the continent.

SE AFRICA Energy Solutions (Pty) Ltd is registered as an energy services company (ESCO) with ESKOM and recognised by the Department of Energy. As a Bigen Africa/SME International joint venture, this gives SE AFRICA the legislative credentials to support its globally benchmarked technological expertise and capacity. This provides clients with customised and meaningful

“We can assist the business and public sectors in helping to alleviate the impact of South Africa’s current energy crisis. Our focus is on energy management, implementation plans and policies to ensure effective execution, as well as identifying and using energy efficiency tools and training employees to capacitate sustainable implementation. Our services are aligned with ISO 14000 and the Kyoto Protocol.”


energy and operating data portfolios that are typically aligned with the Kyoto and subsequent agreements. It also supports and complies with South Africa’s energy efficiency and renewable energy policies and regulations.

Through SE AFRICA, Bigen Africa’s renewable energy and energy efficiency services include consultancy, auditing and an energy efficiency ‘toolkit’ to respectively deal with:• compliance with legislation and regulations; goal setting,

measurement, monitoring and moving towards ISO 14000 verification; financial modelling and funding application and facilitation and continuous improvement

• information gathering; trials and testing using measurement equipment and a full Energy Audit through to an Energy Balance service, and

• the customised supply of a range of tools to ensure energy efficiency.

South Africa’s ore-producing mining operations is one of the first areas where the use of a tool from the SE AFRICA Energy Solutions ‘toolkit’ recently made its mark. Mining operations in remote areas with no access to the electricity grid use generators with heavy fuel oil and diesel fuel to generate electricity. “Our micro-emulsion (ME) technology will significantly reduce the consumption of heavy fuel oil and diesel fuel without reducing performance or the need to modify most engines,” says Kilian.

“Experience shows that more effective energy management can reduce a company’s costs by between five and 15 percent. Bigen Africa’s smart business solutions in energy management and efficiency optimises operational processes and effective energy management and control. We want to partner with businesses, municipalities, residential estates and others, working towards South Africa meeting its 2013 renewable energy target.”

SE AFRICA’s energy efficiency service offering:

• GreenLight and GreenBuilding programmes of the ECC provide an organisation or institutions endorsing this programme access to EU funding mechanisms and assist towards ISO 14000 certification. Commercial, industrial and institutional business through this programme acknowledges that energy is part of their value chain and managing it strengthens the bottom line. SME is an endorser and a partner that could assist others achieving such recognition or ISO certification;

• International funding mechanisms;• E-Box easy light systems, energy efficient controllers for

lighting circuits;• MEC systems, liquid fuels, micro-emulsion technology;• Plant Power, a new generation trace element nutrient

mixed biological fertilizer;• Energy saving cables for electric tracing and to reduce

costs;• Design and robotics for energy efficient connection

techniques;• Hot-cold storage systems to save on primary energy;• Monitoring and verification services;• Liquid Hydrogen (6kW) fuel cell generator, an

electrochemical device which combines hydrogen fuel with oxygen to produce power and heat;

• E-power and e-controller;• Management support;• Switchboards and panels for lighting control and

fragmentation; and• Geyser and motor control.

In 2003, the Renewable Energy White Paper set a ten-year

target: By 2013, renewable energy has to contribute 10 000 GWh (0.8Mtoe) to the final energy consumption of the country,

mainly from wind, solar, landfill gas and small-scale hydro, to meet its long-term goals of developing a

sustainable renewable energy industry.

The Energy Efficiency Strategy of 2005 sets a national target for energy efficiency improvement of 12% by 2015, expressed in relation to the

forecast national energy demand at the time, achievable largely via enabling instruments and interventions to be implemented through

Sectoral Implementation Plans.


Thorough assessment ensures success of Asset Management

IDP Process

Asset Management

IDP Process

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Acquire

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Asset Management is a broad function and includes a structured process of decision-making, planning and control over the acquisition, use, safeguarding and disposal of assets to maximise their service delivery potential and benefits, and to minimise their related risks and costs over their entire life.

In the municipal environment the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (MFMA) on the one hand imposes upon the accounting officer (the municipal manager) the responsibility to establish and maintain a system of internal control over assets, and to take appropriate steps to safeguard the assets under the control of the municipality. The Government Immovable Asset Management Act, 2007 (GIAMA), on the other hand, seeks to introduce measures (by the head of department) to ensure a uniform framework for the management of immovable assets that are used by national or provincial departments in support of service delivery objectives. In both cases the asset register needs to conform to GRAP relative legislation and Auditor General requirements.

The goal of asset management is to achieve the required level of service in the most cost-effective manner, which is achieved through the management of the asset’s life cycle.

Normally municipal asset management assignments have as main focus or work areas the creation of an asset register consisting of a valuation asset register, a financial asset register section and asset management plans on each infrastructure grouping. To create an asset register normally requires various tasks of which asset verification (typically together with the municipal asset custodian), condition assessment (typically with assessment teams), data capturing and quality control require some effort.

Typically, infrastructure assets are found in linear (network) form, for example pipelines, fences and cables, and non-linear form, such as buildings, pump stations or transformers. For the purpose of the survey and assessment the location of assets is either above ground, where it is visible and readily accessible, or underground, which requires different approaches on survey techniques, priorities and sampling.

In general the approach to assessment of each asset group in terms of data collection, capture and cleaning is indicated below. Teams use existing data, if available, with site inspections for condition rating, and municipal departments normally provide support. Sampling is used if appropriate:• Water-supply service infrastructure: Inspections are

made to all site-based facilities, GPS coordinates taken and plotted on a reference map. The various sizes of components are derived from as-built information (particularly of buried assets), where available. Network drawings, where available, provide the nature and extent of pipe-lines, otherwise the town engineer’s office provides information. Age and type information on consumer meters are established from municipal records and checked on a sample basis on-site.

• Sanitation service infrastructure: Inspections are made to all site-based facilities, GPS coordinates taken and plotted on a reference map. The various sizes of components are also derived from as-built information and network drawings or the town engineer’s office provides the nature and extent of pipe-lines.

• Roads service infrastructure (including roadside furniture): The scope of roads under municipal control is normally established from the pavement management system. All municipal roads are inspected on a drive-through basis to confirm extent and record and assess road furniture data (including billboards and road-side stalls). The same team generally inspects the runways of airports.

• Storm-water service infrastructure: The infrastructure for kerb inlets within the street reserves are picked up in the road survey. A separate survey, if necessary, is done to collect data on lateral or isolated storm-water systems.

• Buildings: All municipal buildings are inspected and, in cases where access cannot be gained, they are assessed

Thediagramreflects,forexample,howtheassetmanagementfunctionintegrateswiththemunicipalIDPandperformance

managementprocesses.


from outside. GPS coordinates are taken and plotted on a reference map.

• Solid-waste service infrastructure: Inspections are made of the registered landfill site and transfer stations. GPS coordinates are taken and plotted for reference purposes.

• Open spaces: All identified community facilities, developed parks (including those with play park equipment) and sports/recreation facilities are inspected. GPS coordinates are taken and plotted for reference purposes.

• Electricity network: Inspections are only made of the network in areas where the municipality is the licensed service provider on the basis of transformer service areas, informed by line diagrams, if available. Equipment of similar configuration and age are sampled and street-lights are plotted in parallel, even though it will be captured under the roads asset group. To gain access to critical facilities, such as substations, the municipality’s assistance is required, because of safety regulations. Under-ground cables are only measured from as-built drawings, or failing this, based on inputs from municipal staff familiar with the area.

• Land: Land assets are identified in two ways. Either by establishing the erf numbers or land titles associated with site-specific infrastructure and buildings, based on township layout information provided by the municipality. The extent of the road reserve normally includes for both engineered roads and tracks. Tracks are identified from mapping such as GPS. Sometimes the appointment includes servitudes and a deeds search to identify whether or not the land and servitudes have been registered.

Asset valuation contracts

In a recent project for the Govan Mbeki Municipality (GMM) to establish a municipal immovable asset management plan, the identification and unbundling of the immovable assets formed the first phase of an incremental approach towards the end goal of enabling the municipality to create a sound basis for the management of property, plant and equipment in terms of GRAP 17. This brief was later changed to the establishment of a data set for a municipal immovable asset register and the assets were extended to cover municipal investment property in terms of GRAP 16. The contract covered the geographical area of jurisdiction of GMM. The asset extent reflected in the technical valuation register submitted to the municipality included immovable assets valued at a current replacement

Figure1:Anexampleofatypicalcompositionoftheimmovableassetsportfoliowithinamunicipality(%oftotalcurrentassetreplacementvalue).

Roads and storm water

43,54%

Electrical network 14,01%

Sewerage 10,69%

Community and other

assets 9,43%

Water Network 8,96%

Investment property 6,57% Infrastructure

land 3,84%

Operational buildings 1,57%

Solid waste 0,96%

Servitudes 0,37%

Airports 0,05%

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Figure2:Anexampleofthetypicaloutcomefromaconditiongradingoftheroadsportfoliowithinamunicipality.

MUNICIPALITY (CONDITION

GRADING: PER ASSET GROUP)

cost of R6, 541 billion, including more than 37 000 line items captured.

In Mogale City, the asset extent submitted to the municipality included immovable assets valued at a current replacement cost of R8,02 billion, covering more than 108 000 line items captured. Recent appointments include the Westonaria Local Municipality, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and the Modimolle Local Municipality, with subsequent appointments at Mogale City and the Govan Mbeki Municipality.

As the urban slums of 19th century industrialised Europe struggled to cope with the influx of impoverished rural people, innovative thinking started to counter the spread of the informal housing sprawl with initiatives that provided better housing, better living conditions and ultimately new towns, designed to create a new urban future.

Centuries later, the rapid influx of the rural indigent into urban areas, and inter-urban migration patterns, are placing similar pressures on cities in the developing world, specifically in Africa. The result has been a sprawl of poorly serviced slums on the outskirts of cities in countries across the region.

South Africa’s initial response to rapid urbanisation – arguably the most significant social trend of our generation – resulted in

the now infamous, poorly located and sterile RDP townships. Similar to the 19th century European experience, and not unexpectedly, initiatives to counter urban sprawl and significantly improve the urbanisation outcome in South Africa are gaining momentum.

Currently at the forefront of conceptualising integrated suburbs of the future, Bigen Africa’s smart business approach is creating a significant footprint on improving the quality and infrastructure of new urban developments.

Is urban sprawl in South Africa heading for a bright new future?Smart engineering may be changing the way in which our cities are built.


Bigen Africa’s smarter business approach converges engineering, management consulting and project finance expertise to customise innovative business solutions. Industry recognition and accolades attest to the value of this approach.

Bigen Africa’s current involvement in integrated urban development projects in the Northern Cape includes the Ga-Segonyana Integrated Housing and bulk infrastructure project in Kuruman and the Lerato Park suburb in Kimberly.

Bigen Africa’s facilitated cooperation between project role players - the Northern Cape Provincial Government, local municipalities and financial institutions – in the planning and implementation of these projects is creating a new reality for urban development in the province.

“Our approach is a conscious and deliberate move away from the RDP township mindset,” says André Olivier, a technical director in the business unit for infrastructure development services.

“We are passionate about finding new and creative ways of overcoming previous constraints and generally improving living conditions. Our focus is on quality rather than quantity.”

Creating this new urban landscape may sound utopian, yet Bigen Africa’s innovative approach makes it possible, practical and executable. Creative cooperation between public and private sector resources, with flexible financial arrangements and opportunities for all parties to benefit takes the solution well beyond the mere design of functional suburbs. ‘We converge design, finance and infrastructure solutions to optimise benefits for our development partners and all other role players,” says Olivier.

“The Lerato Park development in Kimberley, for which the Sol Plaatje Municipality recently approved the construction of 4 654 units, is an example of how coordination of effort and cooperation between government, municipalities and the private sector can create a solution from which all parties benefit.”

The Lerato Park suburb is a mixed-income, multi-modal housing development with all amenities supported by high service levels. The first 1 800 top structures are scheduled for completion in 2011.


In addition to its innovative project preparation methodologies, Bigen Africa is also spearheading other approaches to change the way in which our cities are built. These include using local skills pools to provide labour for projects, designing tenders to involve and create opportunities for the local construction and supplier industries, using alternative building technologies with community involvement, introducing green products in top structure packages and finding innovative project finance

solutions to resolve land and infrastructure bottlenecks and assist municipalities to overcome bulk infrastructure constraints and release land for inclusive development projects.

“Our efforts to add real-time value to our development partners and driving integrated urban development in South Africa towards a bright new future are ongoing. We are constantly in a ‘think smart’ mode to deliver increasingly innovative solutions to achieve ever-improving urban development outcomes.”

>> news in shortTender successes for BIGEN AFRICA

>> John Taolo Gaetsewe rural water supplyBigen Africa is managing a rural water supply project for the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality. The project comprises geohydrological and civil engineering services and operational and maintenance management – as well as social development and capacity- building.

The project will be coordinated through four teams:

• Bigen Africa, lead consultant, responsible for programme management, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering and operations and maintenance management;

• Golder Associates, to perform the geohydrological work; • The Kgatelo-Pele Institute, to implement social development,

capacity-building and water awareness education and technical training in the area; and

• A local sub-consultant, which will be nominated by the municipality to perform between 30% and 50% of the programme management and civil engineering work.

>> Gamagara water reticulationIn a project which will be managed so as to also benefit the Gamagara Local Municipality, Bigen Africa has

>> Tlhabologang roads upgradeBigen Africa is part of a joint venture that has been appointed to upgrade roads in Tlhabologang, a township at Coligny, some 25km from Lichtenburg in the Ditsobotla Local Municipality (DLM). The contract was awarded to CBDC Africa JV, a joint venture between Cross Border Development Consultants and Bigen Africa.

Tlhabologang is home to some 2 500 households. Water and sewerage is provided, but most of the streets in newer extensions are not surfaced. As a result, residents experience severe problems in getting to their homes during the rainy season. The project budget, including professional fees, construction and VAT is R8 million. The upgrading work has been prioritised, and a preliminary engineering design report is being drafted, detailing the various levels of service considered for the upgrading of the roads. The combined length of the prioritised streets is 4 814m, in road reserve widths varying from 6m tot 16m.

been appointed to manage the installation of water reticulation to 186 plots that currently rely on private boreholes. The project involves a feasibility assessment and the design and supervision of the installation.

The municipality will benefit from the project, as Bigen Africa will invest in enhancing technical expertise at the municipality by training a staff member to manage the project through its life-cycle and by supplying and installing an auto-cad engineering- drawing software package.

>> Moshaweng roads upgradeBigen Africa has been appointed to design and supervise a project to upgrade two roads in Bendel and Maphinicki in the Moshaweng Local Municipality (MLM). Kumba Iron Ore has budgeted R5 462 410 for the project as part of its Social and Labour Plan and the MLM has identified the roads to be upgraded. As is the case with most of Bigen Africa’s contracts, labour-intensive methods are considered, to share the benefit of the project with unemployed residents.

Bigen Africa has been contracted to do the necessary investigations and designs, provide final drawings and specifications, issue the enquiries and tenders and undertake the supervision of the construction phase.



Chief Mogale Integrated Development (CMID) is a Gauteng flagship housing development project and also the scene of a massive community building initiative which took place in October 2010.

The first week-long MAD (Making A Difference) project, initiated by turnkey developer ABSA DevCo, allowed ABSA and its suppliers to take part in a hands-on corporate social investment event. This event not only impacted the local community, but also enriched the lives of the thousand participating volunteers – some of them from as far as England.

Chief Mogale is situated in Mogale City (Krugersdorp), adjacent to Azaadville, Kagiso and Rietvlei. This development is a joint initiative between the Gauteng Department of Housing and Mogale City. Once complete, CMID will comprise 9 000 residential units and a variety of community facilities. This year’s MAD project entailed helping to cut costs on the construction of Phase 1 (750 houses) of the development, by saving on the labour component. All the monies saved by this initiative – replacing the top structure contractor’s labour force with a volunteer

MAD about Corporate Social Investment!

team for one week – could be ploughed back into the project. Further to this, the initiative raised a significant amount of capital which will be used to build a community centre within the CMID.

For the MAD project, the maddening crowd of 1 000 volunteers were tasked with bricklaying. Over the course of the week, 150 houses were built up from floor-slab level to wall-plate level. Quality control and safety were of the utmost importance and this is where Bigen Africa made a significant contribution. Several of our skilled professionals (well experienced in construction supervision) made sure that the bricklaying work met all technical standards. Prior to the commencement of MAD, Bigen Africa attended numerous meetings to assist with coordinating the week’s on-site activities.

Once complete, CMID will comprise 9 000 residential units and a variety of community facilities. This year’s MAD project entailed helping to cut costs on the construction of Phase 1 (750 houses) of the development, by saving on the labour component. All the monies saved by this initiative – replacing the top structure contractor’s labour force with a volunteer

supervision) made sure that the bricklaying work met all technical standards. Prior to the commencement of MAD, Bigen Africa attended numerous meetings to assist with coordinating the week’s on-site activities.

The community centre in CMID is still under construction. This centre will contain a community hall, an amphitheatre, a block of lecture venues, a social workers’ block and a kitchen. Its construction has been made possible by many businesses’ generousity. Bigen Africa

contributed by discounting the cost of various consulting services. The fees for structural engineering,

quantity surveying and project management were reduced by a collective sum

of R452 064! This donation by means of discount is part of the

company’s corporate social investment (CSI) strategy.

The Bigen Picture - Spiraleye Studios · E-mail: [email protected] 1 From the desk of...

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