w hat ’ s the B u z z ?
1914 – 2014: SKF South Africa Celebrates a 100 Year Reputation of Excellence
1914 was a year of many important world
firsts - first airline, first plane flight from Los
Angeles to San Francisco, first colour film
and Babe Ruth’s first professional game.
“We would not be where we are today
without our loyal customers, our dedicated
distributor network and our committed SKF
employees.”
1914, on April 12th, was also the year that
‘SKF South Africa’ first opened as SKEFKO
(South Africa) Ball Bearing Company
Limited in Pritchard Street, Johannesburg.
Swedish holding company, SKF AB,
founded in 1907, upholds the motto,
‘Equipping the world with knowledge’.
Today SKF’s impressive countrywide
distributor network which also includes
Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe,
Mozambique and Malawi, comprises
authorised independent industrial
distributors, lubrication, commercial
vehicle and agricultural distributors.
With further representation in Zambia,
East Africa and North Africa, SKF delivers
engineering, product and service solutions
to customers’ doorsteps across the African
continent. “We can be proud of our rich
100 year heritage and stand tall in the
business community with an unblemished
reputation for excellence in product and
service. We see a lot of potential on this
continent and we are positive as we look
to the next 100 years with confidence,”
concludes Cillié.
Its expansion programme led to the
establishment of the subsidiaries outside
Sweden; SKF South Africa was the first
subsidiary on the African continent.
In 1953 SKF South Africa started an
Engineering Division to cater for the needs
of the mining industry and in 1970 SKF
appointed its first distributor.
And the rest, as the saying goes is ‘SKF’s
successful’ history. Headquartered
in Witfield, Jet Park, Gauteng, SKF is
a specialist supplier of bearing and
engineering solutions to approximately
40 market sectors including mining,
materials handling, automotive (passenger
and commer 6