R5m to repair Rhodes's Cape legacy
Five million rand will be spent on contracts for the repair, restoration and maintenance of Groote Schuur, the Cape mountainside mansion built by Cecil John Rhodes as a legacy for the South African nation, and occupied until 1999 by the country's heads of state.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Five-star hotel plan for Knysna
The Pezula Group, which owns the Private Estate and the Championship Golf Course at Pezula near Knysna, has entered into an agreement with African Pride Hotels and Lodges to develop an international five-star luxury hotel overlooking the Knysna lagoon and Indian Ocean.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Project gets suitor
Pretoria - The Supplier Park Development Company, the developers of the multimillion-rand Automotive Supplier Park in Rosslyn, has appointed Group 4 Falck, one of the leading global security firms, as its partner.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Signs hopeful that office vacancies could be peaking
The recently published SA Property Owners' Association (Sapoa) office vacancy figures for Cape Town show that in most office nodes vacancies continue to increase.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Mykonos empowers contractors
The construction of Club Mykonos's new R8.27 million conference centre, which can accommodate up to 500 delegates, has shown that if the client is really committed to an affirmative action/empowerment programme on a construction project, it is possible to ensure that a truly significant percentage of the work is done by companies or organisations owned by historically disadvantaged people.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Construction of Richards Bay ferrochrome plant by year-end
India’s Tata Steel has earmarked November this year as the tentative starting date for construction of its planned high-carbon ferrochrome plant in Richards Bay, which is scheduled for commissioning by March 2005.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

R700m Durban development is scheduled for completion in 2004
The R700-million development of the uShaka Island project in Durban is under way, reports Mpophoma joint venture commercial manager Pieter Postena.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za

Rates bill may curb municipal powers
Cape Town - There was a growing case for the controversial Property Rates Bill to be more prescriptive about the level of rates that local authorities could impose on various kinds of landowners, Yunus Carrim, the chairman of the portfolio committee on provincial and local government, said yesterday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Poor management leads to water losses
South Africa's major metropolitan areas lose billions of litres of piped drinking water each year, and the reason, says water affairs director-general Mike Muller, is poor management and control by local authorities.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Eskom ready for next phase of pebble bed modular reactor
ESKOM announced at the weekend that it was ready to continue to the next stage of the pebble bed modular reactor project (PBMR) subject to the required statutory approval being obtained.
(©www.bday.co.za)

Plan to set up aerospace coalition to bid for US work
The South African government plans to work with the local aerospace industry to establish a coalition of companies to bid jointly for the manufacture of components to be used in the construction of US-built aircraft and engines.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SA is possible host for space ground-control station
There is strong support for the establishment in South Africa of a ground-control station for the cutting-edge international World Space Observatory (WSO) ultraviolet (UV) space telescope project, Engineering News can report.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Jet fuel from just coal close
Sasol says the process of producing synthetic jet fuel solely from coal is in an advanced stage.
(©www.news24.com)

New chemical disposal system for Swartklip
Defence company, Denel has confirmed that one of its divisions, Swartklip Products, is to conclude whether it has gained government approval for the installation of a chemical waste disposal system on May 30.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

IDC buys 10% stake in Corridor Sands project
THE Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has exercised its option to buy a 10% stake in the Corridor Sands titanium dioxide project in Mozambique for 10m.
(©www.bday.co.za)

KZN equipment manufacturer records double-digit growth
Starting with three employees in 1988, Zululand Engineering Enterprises (ZEE) is now the only specialist electrically-heated equipment manufacturer in Kwazulu-Natal, and has an average yearly turnover growth of 38%, says managing member Gideon Coetzee.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Barloworld positions itself to weather tough-market storm
International industrial brand-management company Barloworld delivered a strong performance at the operating level for the half-year to March 31, 2003, although earnings were affected by the strength of the rand.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Branding South Africa
A study conducted in April this year by Kuper Research shows that more than 93% of South Africans are proud to be South African, and more than 90% of the population are willing to do whatever they can to help South Africa become a better place. In addition, some 75% of the population feels more confident about the future prospects for the country than they did before the first democratic election in 1994.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

BEE critical for economic growth
Director-general in the department of Trade and Industry Lionel October said at the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) conference on Tuesday that BEE in South Africa is a crucial element needed for economic growth in the country. “South Africa will never be stable if we remain at a growth rate of 3%. "We need to move to 4% and 5% and that can only be achieved if we handle and implement this policy properly,” said October.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

SMMEs set to benefit from Nepad
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Lindiwe Hendricks has assured small business that they will benefit from the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), the socio-economic recovery plan of the African Union. The AU and Nepad are trying to change the perceptions about Africa, to create an improved economic and political situation in the continent.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

Township tourism on the menu
Integration of the formerly disadvantaged communities, and creation of a sense of ownership of the tourism industry in Gauteng by these communities, are on top of the Gauteng Tourism Authority’s (GTA) agenda.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

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Edcon doubles its headline earnings
Johannesburg - Retail group Edcon has beaten analysts' expectations by more than doubling headline earnings to R7.53 a share for the year to March from R3.04 previously.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

New Clicks to pour R100m into pharmacy conversions
Cape Town - Multibrand retailer New Clicks Holdings would direct about R100 million over the next three to four years into converting existing Clicks stores into pharmacy dispensaries, executives said on Friday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Biltong profits cut and dried
Whether it's beef, chicken, ostrich or turkey, biltong is booming. We all know South Africa is mad about it, but is it a profitable business?
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Retailers scramble for space in new project
Cape Town retailers were quick to respond to the news that Irish company Howard Holdings is to develop a new six-star hotel and residential and retail complex in two city blocks bounded by Wale Street.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

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WILL YOUR SAFETY HARNESS KILL YOU?
Workers and emergency response personnel must be trained to recognize the risks of suspension trauma.
(©www.safcec.org.za)

TRAINING REPORT
The Minister of Labour through the National Skills Authority (NSA) has set stringent targets for the various SETA’s to meet in terms of Learnerships.
(©www.safcec.org.za)

SAFCEC CONVENTION
The date and venue for the 2003 SAFCEC Annual Convention has now been finalised. It will take place at the Golden Horse Casino, Scotsville, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, on Monday, 20th October 2003. Golf will be played at the Victoria Golf Club the previous day, Sunday, 19th October 2003. There will be a great line up of speakers which will be advised at a later date, but members are requested to diarise this date now !
(©www.safcec.org.za)

RISK ASSESSMENTS
The new Construction Regulations that are due to be promulgated in May/June of this year, places a heavy emphasis on the development and production of Risk Assessments. Contractors are also experiencing an increasing demand by clients for this.
(©www.safcec.org.za)

THE NEW CONSTRUCTION SAFETY REGULATIONS
The abovementioned regulations are due to be promulgated under the Occupational Health & Safety Act (85 of 1993) in May or June 2003.
(©www.safcec.org.za)

SARF COURSE ON GIS
The SA Road Federation are presenting a two-day course on Geographic Information Systems in Midrand on 28 and 29 July 2003.
(©www.safcec.org.za)

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ZIMBABWE UPDATE
The only way that I could get to my business meeting in Mutare was to fly to Harare and hire a car. I waited for almost 3 hours before Budget delivered the car with a full tank of petrol.

Driving from the airport I saw hundreds of vehicles queued outside filling stations. Private-, commercial-, farming- and transport vehicles each seemed to have specific queues. In the rural areas this was even more evident when I spotted a long line of tractors waiting outside a filling station in Rusape.

Petrol queues in Rusape this morning (25 May 2003)

This is a long weekend in Zimbabwe but very few people were able to get away from Harare.

The receptionist at my hotel in the Bavumba mountains received a group-cancellation on Friday. The visit was called-off because a pensioner in the group had been waiting in a petrol queue for the past 17 days without any luck.

Price controls were revoked last week and the Zim dollar has gone into an even steeper tailspin, trading for as little as Z$300 to the rand on the black market and Z$107 to the rand at Bureau de Change. The US-dollar is the de-facto currency taking it's place and this morning's Sunday Herald announced that from tomorrow Air Zimbabwe will only accept bookings paid for in forex.

Economic extortion is rife. Supermarket prices are updated on a daily basis - someone mentioned seeing the "sell-by" date on products also being changed. People with forex can import fuel at U$0,38 per litre yet I had to pay U$2,00 per litre to top up the tank at the airport this morning. My car rental came to U$334,00 for the 3 days and I was given the choice to pay in Zim dollars - converted from U$ at the "official" rate or to pay in greenbacks ("Sorry Sir, we don't accept travellers' cheques, nor can we bill your credit card in U$ - oh, and we can't give you change in U$ either!)

Zimbabwe is either dead-cheap or murderously expensive! Three nights, dinner, bed and breakfast, at the country's leading Inn cost me less than R200, wine and drinks included. I exchanged a hundred rand note on Thursday and unsuccesfully tried to get rid of the bundle of Zim 500's during my 3 day stay.

How long can the madness still last? Some say it will all be over in the next two months... but the resilience of the Zimbabwean people and their economy has proven most people wrong most of the time.

Looking down at the sad country from my window seat on the 13h10 to Johannesburg I thought that this time round the doomsayers may just be right.

Report by Bert van den Heever - Editor WP&CN

Troubled Zimbabwe costs SA R15bn
Zimbabwe has cost South Africa some R15-billion in the period 2000 to 2002.
(©www.engineeringnews.co.za)

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Kebbles make history with R10m court claim
Mining magnates Roger and Brett Kebble and Durban Roodepoort Deep CE Mark WellesleyWood will be slugging it out in yet another court battle.
(©www.bday.co.za)

South African research body supplies two furnaces to Peru
State-owned mineral research organisation Mintek is supplying two Minfurn carbon regeneration furnaces to Cia Minera Aurifera Santa Rosa (Comarsa) gold-mine in Peru, says marketing manager Willy Cilengi.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

New course is to be offered in slope stability at university
The increase in the number of opencast mines in recent years has created a need for more thorough training in this field.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Richtersveld legal challenge won’t delay Alexkor sale – State
The South African government is adamant that the Alexkor restructuring process is still on track, despite a legal battle brewing between the State and the Richtersveld community, which could upset the privatisation.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Phakisa project awaits Harmony’s approval
South Africa’s African Rainbow Minerals Gold (ARMgold), which is to merge with Harmony Gold to become the world’s fifth-largest gold producer, has approved the recommissioning of one of the largest unexploited ore reserves in the two companies’ existing Free Gold joint-venture as part of an ongoing organic growth strategy.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Big safety conference gets under way
The three-day mine health and safety conference on ‘Mines and Quarries: Prevention of Occupational Injury and Disease’, hosted by South Africa’s Chamber of Mines and the International Social Security Association opened yesterday in Sandton, Johannesburg.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Mine sector looks set for ding-dong wage battle
This year’s mining-sector wage negotiations, which are set to begin in earnest next week, look set to be extremely difficult as unions attempt to claw back perceived under-recovery against inflation and the industry moves to limit cost increases in light of the stronger rand, which has put margins under strain.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

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Ramsgate revamps pay off handsomely
Shrewd investors have been buying up holiday cottages along the beachfront in Ramsgate, on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast, renvamping them into sizeable houses and selling them for R1-milion and more.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Trout fishing estate launched near Nottingham Road
Set on 1300ha of open grasslands and natural forest, with 5km of upper Mooi River frontage as well as its own six dams, The Bend Trout and Nature Estate near Nottingham Road in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands offers buyers the 'ultimate' in country living.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Building levies revision may bring relief
Some relief from rocketing costs could be on the way for home builders and buyers, who are currently forced to pay National Home Builders Registration Council enrolment levies equal to 1,3 percent of the value of all new homes costing less than R500 000.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Time for sellers to target younger buyers
Young people are increasingly attracted to home ownership rather than rental, and home sellers as well as developers and agents would do well to take into account the particular needs of this growing market.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Now is good time to buy in Cape
An interesting combination of factors makes this a uniquely good time to buy property, and those buying now are definitely making the right decision, according to the Seeff estate agency group.
(©www.property24.co.za)

How to avoid a bidding war - and why
When the market is 'hot' and the supply of quality homes for sale is dwindling, a competitive offer from another buyer can quickly result in the dream home you've just found becoming nothing more than a mirage. Most buyers prefer a home that is ready to move into, and many are willing to pay a premium for this advantage - which can translate into a full-price offer, and perhaps even one that exceeds the seller's asking price, from a competing buyer.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Kid-friendly strategies for HOAs
Sooner or later, most Homeowners Associations will have to deal with the thorny issue of OPCs (Other People's Children) who have upset one or more members - by rollerblading where they shouldn't, roughhousing in the pool or playing music at ear-shattering volumes.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Why buyers are after pre-owned homes
Home building costs rose 16,3 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, and contributed to a 24,5 percent year on year rise in the average cost of a newly built home, to R555 700.
(©www.property24.co.za)

Housing access bill this year
Cape Town - The government would introduce the Community Reinvestment Bill this year to increase access to shelter, housing minister Brigitte Mabandla said yesterday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

State ready to track low-cost home loans
Cape Town - The arrangements to establish a disclosure office to monitor how banks met targets set for low-cost housing finance should be finalised in the next few weeks, Brigitte Mabandla, the newly appointed housing minister, said yesterday.
(©www.busrep.co.za)

Tip of the week
Home Improvements?
Register a further bond, or utilise your AccessBond to access money that you have already paid off on your bond.
(©www.property24.co.za)

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Using the Critical Resource Path
Research over the past decade has indicated that there may be better methods of optimizing project schedules which take overall project risk in to account. Eliyahu Goldratt developed the Theory of Constraints (TOC) in 1986 (see the suggestions for further reading on this topic at the end of this article). Francis S. (Frank) Patrick, a management consultant and expert on practical applications of Goldratt's theory, explains that "the basic concept of a system constraint and the TOC Thinking Processes (a set of analytical tools based on cause-and-effect logic), applied to the project environment resulted in the development of the Critical Chain approach to project management." The Critical Chain Method (CCM) is another way of scheduling project task sequences (taking into account the common constraint of relatively finite resource availability) to minimize risk in the project delivery schedule.
(©www.allpm.com)

THE 5 MINUTE SCHEDULE ANALYSIS
Want to determine whether you have a project schedule that is relevant, accurate and will provide you with reliable data. This short paper will show how to use the 5 key indicators in order to determine whether a schedule will be providing you with useful project data that can be used to make assessments and forecasts or if the schedule is merely "lines on paper." These idicators also function as a check list when preparing a schedule. This is a quick and accurate method that can be used for schedules in all industries.
(©www.cms-inc.ca)

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Platinum to trade $590-$690/oz range
The spot platinum price is likely to remain strong for the rest of 2003 while sister metal palladium is set to remain weak despite a recovery in demand.
(©www.bday.co.za)

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Sanlam to cut head office staff by 230
Sanlam plans to downsize its head office staff to only about 70 from its current level of 300
(©www.bday.co.za)

JSE falters in quiet trade
The JSE was stuck in the red at midday on Wednesday, with volumes subdued as players were hesitant to enter the market amid fears of volatility in the rand
(©www.bday.co.za)

Gold surges above $360/oz
New York gold soared to its highest price in 3-1/2 months yesterday, as the dollar slid against the euro and investors sought sanctuary after Middle East peace hopes were rocked by another bombing in Israel.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Platinum seen firm in 2003, palladium weak – report
Platinum demand and prices will remain strong in 2003, in contrast to ever weaker prices for its sister metal palladium, precious metals refiner Johnson Matthey (JM) said yesterday.
(©www.miningweekly.co.za)

Meet Egon Wortmann, the new Executive Director of ASAQS
Mr. Egon Wortmann, a well known quantity surveyor from Durban, was recently appointed to the dual post of Executive Director of the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors and Registrar of the South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession.

Egon takes over the management of the offices in Midrand at a crucial juncture in our profession's history. His dynamic leadership will be required to steer the ASAQS towards the exciting future mapped out by Exco during the past two years and as expressed in the New View presentation by past-president Mr. Mark Grant.

PROGRAMME / FLOAT TIME
Must a subcontractor progress his work to suit a main contractor’s programme and who owns float time, were two questions upon which the TCC was recently asked to decide in the case of Ascon Contracting Ltd –v- Alfred McAlpine Construction Isle of Man Ltd. McAlpine was the main contractor for the construction of a five storey building known as Villiers Development in Douglas, Isle of Man near to the sea front. Ascon was appointed as subcontractor for constructing the reinforced concrete floor slabs, basement perimeter walls and upright columns between floors. The subcontract period was 29 weeks commencing on 28 August 1996, with completion by 5 March 1997.

Practical completion of the subcontract work was not achieved until 9 May 1997, nine weeks late. No extension of time was granted. Ascon submitted a claim for an extension of time and payment of £337,918. McAlpine counterclaimed £175,000 liquidated damages paid to the Employer, plus its own loss and expense. Two interesting legal points arose out of this case. Firstly, whether the subcontractor was under any obligation to carry out the subcontract work to suit the main contractor’s programme. The judge allowed Ascon a 14 day extension of time up to 24 March 1997 which left them 7 weeks and 4 days late in completing. Part of McAlpine’s claim against Ascon related to an alleged failure to follow McAlpine’s programme which affected following trades. Click here to read the verdict.
(©www.jrknowles.com)

Not everyone was amused
Although I received a number of e-mails and calls congratulating me on the cleverness of the April Fools prank, ASAQS also received a letter of complaint. I sincerely apologise if the prank, or the program people downloaded as a result thereof, caused embarrassment to anyone.
Bert van den Heever - Webmaster ASAQS and Editor of WP&CN.

Seminars, etc.

Event: Concepts of Cost Engineering
Dates: 26-29 May 2003
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Information: Basic skills and knowledge to start your Cost Engineering career
Contact: Marié Voogt secretary@ceasa.org.za

Seen on Classifieds

QS FOR ANGOLA
Urgently needed, PORTUGUESE speaking Senior Quantity Surveyor for Angola. Diploma/Degree, min 5 yrs exp.

Registered QS required
Firm in Centurion looking for a registered QS with 1-3 years experience after registration.

Browse to Classifieds for full details

Remember: Visit the ASAQS website for new updates!

We currently have more than 970 access accounts to the CUG!
New members to the CUG

Günther Hanne
Frik Botha
Nick Taylor
James Christie from Abu Dhabi

Please note : Only paid-up members of the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors are allowed entrance to the CUG. We still receive a number of applications every month from non-members. If you have any questions regarding membership contact Mrs Barbara Morgan on 011-3154140

Also note that your registration to the CUG will remain in force as long as you remain a member of ASAQS and there is no need to register every year. If you have not received an e-mail confirming your registration contact ASAQS.

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