BUILDING MATERIALS
ADVERTORIAL
People first for Sephaku Cement
With bags and bulk delivery of Sephaku’s
remain committed to making South Africa’s
testing and special mix design support
cement now available in select South African
cement industry about the needs of the
provided by its Technical Laboratory based at
retailers, many may wonder what to expect
people who make the end product a reality,”
its Delmas plant.
from Sephaku Cement. Pieter Fourie, chief
he emphasises.
Recession proofed
executive of the company says they are people
Quality mark
Sephaku’s entry into the market is based on
From its offering of Sephaku 32, Sephaku
belief in the long term sustainable growth of
combination of non-negotiable quality
42 and Sephaku 52 to its technical solution
cement. Our country, says Fourie may have
checkpoints, says Fourie. “High quality
support and customer service, Sephaku
relatively good infrastructure but there is still
product, which in our industry means
Cement is in a position to deliver top quality
a lot to be developed. “Great competitiveness
consistency, strength and durability is
from start to finish. “Building cement
and cost efficiency lies in the state-of-the-
who deliver.
To bring quality to life calls for a
imperative but of equal
art technology backing Sephaku
importance is the need to
Cement’s plants as well as the
prioritise people. Customer
commitment of people who deliver.”
service should never be
The company, a 64% owned
an afterthought. It should
subsidiary of Dangote Cement
be a constant measure of
plc and an associate company
great performance for every
of JSE-listed Sephaku Holdings,
employee.”
was established in 2006. Sephaku
Holdings secured limestone
Personal pursuit
resources and invested the initial
What is the focus for the Sephaku
seed capital required for the
Cement leadership and their
project to get started. By late 2010,
people? “Being people who
the projects were fully funded,
deliver,” says Fourie. “The
having attracted the largest inward
cement industry is personal.
investment in South Africa by
With this comes the need to
an African company – and the
be approachable and to find
continent’s prominent cement
solutions through focus and
manufacturer - Dangote Cement.
energy,” he adds. “We need to demonstrate
operations from the ground up has given
absolute commitment to delivering to people,
us the opportunity to ensure that we use
recession through sheer determination and
whether it is our sales or technical team, our
the most high-tech cement manufacturing
belief in our ability to change the face of
finance or marketing team.”
equipment,” explains Fourie.
the South African cement industry,” recalls
For customers of the company, one of the
The greenfields nature of the Sephaku
“We navigated our way through the global
Fourie. Kudos to them, too as they emerged
differentiating factors will be direct access
Cement project has enabled the company
with increased investment from Dangote
to Fourie and his executive team, together
to dictate product quality rather than be
Cement and heavyweight debt financing from
with quick decision making. “Face to face
dictated to by existing operational constraints.
Nedbank and Standard Bank.
customer service without red tape is timeless,”
Technology in use at its Delmas plant, which
he says. “It remains the most effective way of
has begun producing cement in January and
possibilities enabled by cement. “While we
listening to customers and responding in an
at Aganang in Lichtenburg, which will come
have all been in the industry for many years,
appropriate way to solve their challenges and
onstream later in the year includes latest
this project has been a once in a lifetime
meet their needs.”
generation Loesche vertical roller mills.
experience that has not only made us
Looking back over their six and a half year
This is a team that is passionate about the
“We want to ensure that every customer
better cement experts, but better people.
journey, Pieter and his team have overcome
gets the best from our product,” he adds. “We
We learnt more than we ever thought was
some serious challenges. “But we have never
will assist technically from the start when a
possible. We learnt, first hand, just how
lost belief in why we are coming to market or
customer is deciding which class of cement is
incredible results can be when teamwork
the definitive believe that we will enter this
needed.” In addition, Sephaku Cement’s value-
gets into action in the game,” concludes
market. Success is the only option for us as we
driven service approach is backed by product
Fourie.
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HARDWARE AFRICA 2014