PPC Cement South Africa has 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 signalled 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 rest 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, would be a significant “game changer” for the local economy.

The President previously stated that a central priority for government this year would be to encourage significant new investment into the economy 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 that, while foreign direct investment (FDI) would not change the country’s environment, it would have an impact on how the funds were 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 instead 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 [by] building secondary cities, such as Polokwane, in Limpopo,” he elaborated.

Other industries, such as mining, also provided growth opportunities for 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 cauld not yet be fully realised until the latest iteration of the Mining Charter had been finalised, Lekula said.

It is believed that the finalisation of the current draft Mining Charter will 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 [and] common goals, as well as what standards the industry should be operating at,” he explained to Engineering News.

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

The Brics summit, Lekula said, provided 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”.