is the influx of newer entrants into the
market, including those companies whose
primary business is not milling, but who
decide to add a couple of machines to their
fleet. And oftentimes, these companies are
not fully cognisant of all that is required
to successfully hire out these machines,
which then affects their ability to deliver.
“Our core business is milling and you
get companies that buy one or two milling
machines and add them to their fleet,
sometimes building the cost into the cost
of the contract. Then they offer extremely
low daily rates that are just not viable
long term. And these low rates mean that
the maintenance cost for the machine is
not built into the price, so after a couple
of months the company realises that they
cannot maintain the machine and thus it is
not performing as it should, at which point
they need to swallow the loss or increase
the price, or another company needs to be
brought in to complete the project.”
When it comes to road building, Kafka
says that she believes there could be
increased opportunity across the border.
BUSINESS
Road Milling & Sweeping operates a niche field, hiring out its
fleet of milling machines to contractors.
“I know there has been a big allocation
of funding to infrastructure upgrades
into Zimbabwe and Botswana, and I think
that we are potentially going to start
seeing an increas e in opportunity in
our neighbouring countries in the next
12 to 18 months.” The company already
operates across South Africa as well as
across the border into neighbouring
countries. “We have also worked in
Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland
and Malawi,” she adds. n
Sources
Vadeby, A. & Anund, A. 2017. ‘Effectiveness and acceptability of milled rumble strips on
rural two-lane roads in Sweden’. European Transport Research Review, June, 9:29.
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs12544-017-0244-x.pdf.
QUARRY SA | NOVEMBER 2017 _ 13