Looking back at 2024

Major milestones and achievements

Just over a year ago, on 2 December 2023, we celebrated 30 years of operation, with a dinner for Clients, Suppliers, Partners and Staff at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands. With approximately 100 guests, we enjoyed a great evening of food and drink, reflecting on the past three decades of doing projects, and paying homage to all those who have made this possible! This was indeed a magnificent milestone, and one of which we are very proud.

During 2024, we registered 29 new projects, in addition to the contracts that were already in progress at the start of the year. Some of the notable new projects that either commenced or gathered momentum in this calendar year include:

• Development of a Master Plan for Western Cape Fruit Processors in Grabouw, following the merger of Elgin Fruit Juices and Associated Fruit Processors in 2023
• Partnering with JG Afrika in a framework contract in Saudi Arabia, to explore the opportunities for cleaner energy in industry, reducing the current high dependence on liquid fossil fuels
• Various Hazard and Operability Studies for ADP Marine and Modular, for minerals processing projects in Lesotho and KwaZulu Natal
• Various Hazard and Operability Studies for water & wastewater plant contractors,
• Upgrades to Clean Rooms for iThemba Laboratories in Faure, for the expansion of their production of medical radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals
• Ongoing factory improvements for Haleon at their Epping site, many of which are to help achieve Haleon’s international Sustainable Development Goals
• Partnering with JG Afrika with their engineering appointment from City of Cape Town to upgrade various wastewater facilities under the most recent framework agreement – Wesfleur (new blowers for industrial works and reactor refurbishments), Athlone (50 Ml/d extension), Cape Flats (200 Ml/d inlet works replacement and Managed Aquifer Recharge rollout) and Bellville (diffused air plant reconfiguration and upgrade)
• Capex studies for Tiger Brands at four factories, with a view to rationalising their production operations, allowing a focus on the company’s core brand portfolio
• Expansions at Rheinmetall Denel Munition’s Wellington site, to facilitate the company’s increased outputs
• Partnering with JG Afrika as designers for China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) to build a greenfields 26 Ml/d wastewater treatment plant in Molepolole, Botswana, for the country’s Water Utility Corporation (WUC)
• Re-instatement and upgrading of the waste-to-energy plant in Athlone for Cape Town Biogas as the Owner’s Engineer. A front-end engineering and design (FEED) study was completed at the end of 2023 and implementation commenced at the start of 2024
• Upgrade of the purified water system for Fine Chemicals Corporation (FCC) in Epping, Cape Town
• Partnering with JG Afrika as the Engineers for eThekwini’s upgrade to their Hammarsdale wastewater treatment plant

During the year, Project Assignments was also proud to have completed the following major contracts:

• Relocation of the Black Cat Peanut Butter factory for Tiger Brands, from Randfontein to Chamdor. Tiger invested R300m in the new facility that offers more space, increased peanut processing capability and the opportunity for research and development to improve its products. The factory is located on 8610 m² of land and produces on average 1 million jars of peanut butter each month. This project marks the single-largest capital investment Tiger Brands has undertaken in South Africa to date
• Relocation and upgrading of the Kelpak seaweed processing facility from Simonstown to Capricorn Park in Muizenberg. The 6000 m² production facility utilises Kelpak’s state-of-the-art Cellburst Extraction Plant

Company growth and expansion

The company still operates from its Pinelands-based 480 m² premises and currently employs 23 people. In the past year, our staff has been blessed with two babies, and we have had two marriages. There have also been several puppies! Congratulations to our proud parents and happy couples!

Our tight-knit group of multiskilled individuals has handled the increased workload over the past year admirably, and we are extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication to getting the job done. We constantly assess the need for additional skills and resources as new projects are secured, and in the past year we have made several new appointments to service the workload.

Innovations and improvements

Project Assignments operates a Quality Management System that is certified by SABS as meeting the ISO 9001:2015 standard. This system ensures that all our engineering and project management activities are consistent and are subject to a high level of quality control. In January 2024 we underwent our annual audit by SABS and our certification was renewed.

In September 2024 our B-BBEE ranking was re-assessed and due to our increased turnover in the 2023/24 year, we are now being evaluated according to the Generic Scorecard, using the Construction Sector Code (BEP). According to our latest audit, we are a Level 3 contributor.

Community Involvement

Being based in Pinelands, Cape Town, we are conscious of our obligations to the local community, and we renewed our sponsorship of deserving students at Pinelands High School. Each year, Project Assignments pays the fees for a matric student who is taking maths and science, since these are cornerstones of our engineering profession, and we would like to see as many students entering this field as possible.

Employee Highlights

We prefer not to single out individual employees, as everyone at Project Assignments plays an important role and is appreciated. To our engineers, thanks for keeping up with some crazy deadlines and for being able to switch gear between projects in several different industries; to our draughtspersons, thanks for being patient, working with sometimes limited information and for tirelessly producing multiple revisions of designs; to our financial & administration staff, thanks for working behind the scenes to keep all us technical people in line and for keeping the company wheels turning!

Challenges and lessons learned

Operating in the project environment and in several different industry sectors, we never stop being challenged and we are still learning every day. A particularly challenging project that was completed in the last year was the relocation of the Black Cat Peanut Butter factory from Randfontein to Chamdor. Black Cat being a flagship product for Tiger Brands, the margins for error on timelines and technical matters were small, requiring good co-operation between our engineering team, contractors and our Client. Whilst there were indeed some very tough moments, the methodical approach by our design team and the good relationships between all carried things through.

On several projects, although it seems obvious, the importance of a well-defined scope of work and responsibilities came to the fore. Where these requirements are not comprehensively spelled out, this often leads to an anxious design team and/or Client, with resulting time and cost implications. Where scope is not accurately pinned down, it is most times better to pause and put effort into this, rather than press ahead, only causing re-work and delays later. It is encouraging that many Clients now are insisting on pre-engineering studies before proceeding with actual capital projects, which always has a good outcome.

Industry trends

In the 2024 calendar year, we have seen an increased level of capital expenditure by Clients in the private sector. This is encouraging and is hopefully a reflection of a higher level of confidence in the country. In past years, for our business, there was a higher proportion on capex on infrastructure (wastewater), and whilst that is continuing, it appears that private sector projects are becoming more plentiful. Projects in the private sector generally move faster than municipal projects from design to implementation, which is rewarding in that the project team is able to move quickly through the different project phases and see the final plant within a shorter timeframe. It is always nice to turn on a pump and see the pressure gauge rise to your calculated value, knowing that pump was only on paper not that long ago!

Future plans and Goals

One of main current goals at Project Assignments is to ensure that we have a good skills depth and that we continuously mentor those who will take the company forward into the next decade.

Conclusion

2024 has been a busy year for Project Assignments and for this we are very grateful. We thank all Clients, suppliers, working partners and our own staff for the good co-operation and support that we have received during the year. May everyone we deal with have a chance to rest over the holiday period, returning in 2025 with renewed vigour and enthusiasm!