FACE TO FACE
to wear a collar-and-tie. Before then, I’d
been used to wearing shorts and boots on
site. I also learned from them important
lessons in meeting etiquette and body
language, and how you speak – they sent
me to Toastmasters, because they had all
done so before me. Nowadays they don’t
worry about that much, but grooming,
speech and body language were things
they took quite seriously [in those days],”
says Bhoora.
This mentoring in turn led to his own
passion for mentoring others.
“I love teaching and this translates
into hours spent on mentoring, coaching
and even performance reviews. None
of these are a tick-box exercises for me,
and sometimes I recommend people for
personal counselling.”
He was responsible for mentoring the
first two black quarry managers in South
Africa: Nomkhosi Mtembu and Mbali
Hika. “That and the fact that each one of
our quarry managers in KwaZulu-Natal
is black, is the legacy of my and my team’s
time with AfriSam.”
Coaching is what he plans to do in his
retirement. It is something he already
does in his free time, in his role as
founder of Hindivani radio station which
has empowered as many as 120 youth,
providing careers in entertainment and as
professional MCs.
The business of quarries
“’Construction materials’ is how we
generally refer to this industry, which
includes quarrying for stone and sand and
the production of ready-mixed concrete.
Other materials such as dimension stone
are called opencast mining. Up until the
1990s, quarries were much less regulated
and it was easier to get a mining license.
With the consequent increase in the
barriers to entry, the prices earned on
quarries’ product has been inflated in
recent years. In the early 1990s aggregate
prices were on average R25 per tonne in
Gauteng because there was an abundance
of old rock dumps from mining activities;
whereas the price in Durban (where there
were no such dumps) was between R40
and R50/tonne. Prices were low because it
was easily accessible.
“Today, the average prices of aggregate
are R120/tonne in Gauteng and R140/
tonne in Durban. These prices could be
even higher – but at the moment demand
has fallen. Expenses have also increased,
so the price does not mean quarrying
aggregates is a highly lucrative business
but it is not a marginal one either. Cement
and readymix, in contrast, are more
marginal businesses because of excess
capacity.”
Lessons learned
An important trait he learned in his
early career was the self-confidence
to contribute in meetings. “If I had
something to say, I would hope someone
else would rather mention it and let me
off the hook. I came to realise that people
value my opinion and I should therefore
make it known. From mentoring I learned
the powerful impact that constructive
criticism or positive affirmation can make
on the course of an individual. When
a person gets that feedback, it acts as a
validation to take their next step. Without
it, they may not know if they’re good
enough or not; people can lose 10 years off
their career.”
Bhoora says he hugely appreciates
affirmations he has received throughout
his career via various promotions such
as being appointed managing director of
NPC and an executive of AfriSam, as well
as some of the awards he has won.
The future
In 1995 one of his landmark moves
was piloting the first use of electronic
detonators on a quarry he was responsible
for. “Now, no-one even thinks of anything
else, and increased automation has enabled
the number of staff on a quarry to go from
120 to about 20, through efficiencies and
improvements via technology.
“One of the challenges facing the
quarrying industry is over-regulation
because we are lumped together with the
mining industry. This level of regulation
is really aimed at bigger-scale mining of
higher-valued minerals. There is a massive
diversity in mining, yet there is only one
Mining Charter that applies to everyone.
There should be concessions for smaller
operations and lower value commodities,
because they carry many costs they can’t
really afford.”
He believes this has to change because
there is a groundswell of high expectation
of new infrastructure in South Africa.
“This must force change for the better as
we are already seeing continuous service
delivery protests,” he says.
As founder of radio station Avi Bhoora has helped as many as 120
youth fulfil their aspirations, including careers as DJs, entertainment
and professional MCs.
www.quarryonline.co.za
QUARRY SA | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018_31