Given South Africa’s service delivery challenges, the private sector has a big role to play in assisting government to deliver projects on time and within budget. IMIESA talks to Mava Gwagwa, director: New Accounts and New Business, SBS Tanks, about the company’s offering to the municipal market.

Is the municipal market a key focus for SBS Tanks?

MG:  Definitely. If you look back two or three years, the country went through a period of intense service delivery protests. Government has done a lot to deliver basic services and has endeavoured to bridge the gap, but the gap is too wide. Government can’t win this battle if it works in silos. It needs to partner with the private sector because public-private partnerships will always play a meaningful role in fast-tracking service delivery to poor communities. This is where SBS comes in.

Could you tell us about the products and services you offer?

MG: SBS Tanks introduced prefabricated water storage reservoirs and tanks made from durable Zincalume steel to the market in 1998. Today, these units are available in a variety of sizes from as small as 12 kℓ all the way up to 3.3 Mℓ.

We also offer a project management service to ensure that projects are delivered on time and within budget. And because of our quick method of installation, we always surprise our clients by delivering beyond their expectations.

In addition, we are able to repair leaking concrete reservoirs, which are a common problem in many parts of the country. We seal these structures with the unique, multi-layered PVC internal liners we use in our own tanks.

Please expand on SBS’s manufacturing capabilities.

MG: The company has experienced very good growth in the past four years following a decision by the directors to start manufacturing locally. Although this created challenges around space and the recruitment of skilled labour, I am happy to say that these were all overcome. We now operate in more than 5 000 m² of space with more than 90 permanent staff members, constructing all of our products in-house. Our plant has sufficient capacity to execute orders of any size within a short time frame. Our vast expertise in manufacturing makes us more than capable of tackling even the biggest of projects. We are ISO 9001 accredited.

Does SBS provide a design and build service?

MG: Yes, we offer a turnkey solution with tank construction carried out in-house or by approved contractors. SBS units are either off-the-shelf standard models or custom-designed. This offers our clients the dual benefit of saving on additional design fees as well as achieving a faster turnaround time through the elimination of an additional design process and the delivery of a product much faster than its concrete equivalent. This means that water-starved communities can receive water much quicker.

What are the typical lead times from fabrication to on-site commissioning?

MG: This differs from case to case, but we offer very good lead times. For example, SBS recently received an order from Mhlathuze Water Board, with a very tight time frame. We were able to produce fifteen 2 Mℓ tanks for them within three weeks. This is a particularly important factor for municipalities approaching their financial year end who have targets to meet in terms of spending.

Could you please expand on recent public sector projects.

MG: We are very busy at the moment with quite a number of public sector projects on the go. One of these is the large KwaBhaca regional bulk water scheme, under the Alfred Nzo District Municipality, where we are installing four 2.5 Mℓ tanks, with more to follow. This will go a long way towards alleviating water delivery shortages in the area. We have also received an order for 16 tanks from the Joe Gqabi District Municipality in the Eastern Cape where we have been appointed as the main contractor on a project.

Do these projects lend themselves to labour-intensive construction?

MG: Yes and no. Building tanks goes hand in hand with building pipelines and local communities benefit from the jobs created in digging trenches for the reticulation system. However, the build process of the tanks requires specialised skills. For a 2.5 Mℓ tank, we would send three of our own specialists and employ six or seven local labourers.

How does using an SBS tank save municipalities money?

MG: Due to the fluctuating price of materials and an extended works programme when constructing concrete reservoirs, meeting a budget set during the planning phase is frequently highly challenging, if not nearly impossible. With SBS Tanks, you can get a quote that is valid for a pre-agreed-upon period with a small allowance (10% to 20%) while you complete your planning.

The speed of construction is also a huge factor – we talk of days as opposed to the months it takes with concrete. Smaller tanks can be delivered and installed within three days, and bigger ones within 20 days. For example, a 2 Mℓ SBS unit takes around 12 days to commission. With concrete, the same capacity structure could take up to eight months. This means municipalities can significantly fast-track service delivery.

Another issue is that some unscrupulous contractors charge municipalities excessive amounts for an SBS product. With an SBS unit coming in at a fraction of the cost of building a concrete reservoir, some contractors will try to charge the client more for an SBS unit because he feels he has saved money. If the municipalities deal directly with SBS,
they can cut their costs significantly.

How can SBS help in terms of South Africa’s water security?

MG: SBS can really play a major role in this space. Given the fact that we are currently experiencing water shortages,
most companies should be looking at ways to harvest rainwater to flush toilets and irrigate gardens, or to purify it for potable purposes. Our tanks offer the ideal solution.

Many municipalities are preaching rainwater harvesting, but are not practising it themselves. We will soon be launching a campaign that will challenge our clients to lead by example and harvest rainwater not only for their own use, but for that of poor communities too.

We have taken the lead in this regard and have installed a fully fledged rainwater harvesting system. This means that our water demand for the factory and offices is sourced from rainwater. We want everyone to become a champion for this cause.

How does SBS strive to make a difference for local communities?

MG: Water is life. When you visit a village where there is no potable water system and children are forced to collect water from a stream, you really feel their pain. It fills us with pride to see a community able to open a tap fed by an SBS tank. We believe that the little we put in to those communities with a shining SBS tank goes a long way in making a difference in the lives of the South Africans who need it most.

SBS invested approximately R700 000 during 2016 for two social responsibility projects in the Free State towns of Lindley and Petrus Steyn, and we will continue to work on similar projects in the future.