PPC Cement South Africa on Thursday launched its fit-for-purpose ‘Sure’ product range, with each of the six products in the range carefully designed for a specific application.

Dubbing it the company’s “most significant rebranding and refocusing in over 100 years,” PPC Cement South Africa MD Njombo Lekula pointed out that the Sure range signals a greater customer focus, as well as a renewed vote of confidence in the country and its growth potential.

The Sure range was developed in direct response to market demand for a range of products designed for specific applications, and comprises Surewall, Surecem, Sureroad, Surebuild, Surecast and Suretech.

Two of the products, Surewall and Surecast, are new, while the remainder of the range are existing products that have been rebranded and redesigned.

“The brand positioning of ‘strength beyond’ encapsulates the limitless possibilities we see as we strive to fulfil our purpose; we exist to empower people to experience a better quality of life,” the company stated at the launch event in Johannesburg.

PPC reiterated its belief that fresh leadership in government, particularly since the inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa, will be a significant “game changer” for the local economy.

The President has previously stated that a central priority for government this year has been to encourage significant new investment into the economy, which is necessary to realise economic growth, increase employment and reduce inequality.

South Africa is seeking to raise $100-billion in new investment over the next five years to create jobs and grow the economy.

Meanwhile, with substantial investments from Saudi Arabia and China already having been secured, Lekula told Engineering News Online that while foreign direct investment (FDI) will not change the country’s environment, it will have an impact on how the funds are used. “That’s what’s going to change the situation.”

However, despite these investments, he remains of the firm belief that South Africa should not solely rely on FDI, but should rather focus on its rural areas, where there are opportunities to build “secondary cities”.

“To be able to lift your standard of life, you need to urbanise drastically. This can be achieved through diversifying the economy through building secondary cities, such as Polokwane, in Limpopo,” he elaborated.

Other industries, such as mining, also provide growth opportunities to South Africa’s construction sector, he pointed out, noting that “when mining grows, there is an added use of construction materials and products, like cement”.

However, this value cannot yet be fully realised until the the latest iteration of the Mining Charter is finalised, Lekula said.

It is believed that the finalisation of the current draft Mining Charter would provide policy and regulatory stability.

Meanwhile, in terms of potential growth catalysts for the construction industry, Lekula highlighted the potential a ‘construction indaba’ could present.

“By having an indaba solely focused on construction, it will present industry with a platform where it can discuss and formulate industry standards, common goals as well as what standards the industry should be operating at,” he explained to Engineering News Online.

Another potential growth catalyst could be the tenth iteration of the multinational summit between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics), which is currently taking place in Johannesburg.

The Brics summit, Lekula said, provides an opportunity to foster collaboration and trade.

“Economies are the ultimate shape shifters, responding very quickly to changing sentiment and conditions,” he argued, stating that “growth will return and the economy will shift fast”.