South Africa’s transport infrastructure program continues to gather momentum, but much of this would not be possible without the expertise of civil engineering and infrastructure management businesses. The link between private and public sector is crucial for the ongoing success of the nation’s transport network – and it is thanks to businesses like the Tolcon Group, that South Africa has the most sophisticated system in the whole of Africa.
The Tolcon Group’s story is not just about providing a transport legacy for South Africa; the business is South Africa’s leading transport infrastructure management; operations and maintenance service provider with concession contracts and interests across the country. Its primary focus is on roads and rail.
However, Johannesburg headquartered Tolcon Group has also focused its efforts directly on uplifting the skills, creating job opportunities and promoting equality across South Africa.
The Tolcon Group’s efforts have been acknowledged both at national and international level and are reflected in a business where 27 per cent of shareholders and 50 per cent of directors are women. Spearheading the leadership team is Judy Van Es, CEO for the past 5 years:
“Our black empowerment and women development numbers are really incredible but what we have achieved has only been possible with and because of the men and women in the business, who have supported these initiatives”.
“Our Tolcon Lehumo division, formed after a women-empowered group joined Murray & Roberts, is South Africa’s leading traditional tolling operator. It is also the most gender-empowered company in the country’s transport, infrastructure and logistics sectors according to the judges of the ninth annual Top Women Awards, announced in August 2012,” affirms Van Es.
The company, a subsidiary of leading engineering and contracting group Murray & Roberts, was launched back in 1985, winning the original N3 toll road commercial management contract. By 1988 the business had also won the contract for the Huguenot Tunnel – the largest tunnel in the Southern Hemisphere – a job the company has retained.
“By 1995 we were, in conjunction with Thebe Tourism Group, awarded the contract for the Cape Point Nature Reserve, in the Table Mountain National Park. We run this project for the South African National Park, managing the Flying Dutchman funicular, a restaurant and retail shops.
“This popular tourist attraction includes a historical lighthouse which is accessible via the Flying Dutchman funicular – an electric cable-railway, that transfers visitors from the lower station to the upper station,” Van Es describes.
“2001 saw the commencement of the Bakwena Platinum Highway contract and this was awarded to Pt Operational Services (Pty) Ltd. Two years later saw the commencement of the Chapman’s Peak contract – a toll road contract in a mountainous area, which included the design of catch fences which won national and international accolades.
“In 2006 we entered into a joint venture with an empowerment company called Lehumo Women Investments. In the same year the Bombela Concession contract began on the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link in Gauteng. Bombela Operating Company, which is part of the Tolcon Group Stable, are responsible for the entire operational management of this project.
“Also in 2006 we began the N2 South Coast toll road and a year later we were awarded the operational management at the Mariannhill Toll Plaza,” Van Es continues.
Significantly in 2007, parent company Murray & Roberts acquired Concor – and a raft of projects that fell into the remit of Tolcon.
Today the business is successfully operating a wide range of projects across South Africa for a clientele of Government and Government-owned entities, whilst also working closely with a number of concessionaries.
The business is split into a number of divisions: Tolcon Lehumo manages the N3 Toll Road project from Heidelburg to Cedara, the Mariannhill Toll Plaza, the N2 South, N1 North and N17 from Springs to Oshoek.
The Huguenot Tunnel and Plaza in the Western Cape, are managed by Tuncor Services, while the Bakwena Platinum Highway is still managed by Pt Operational Services (Pty) Ltd. In the past two years, the Tolcon Group increased their shareholding of PT Operational Services (Pty) Ltd from 33 per cent to 100 per cent in two tranches.
The Chapman’s Peak Drive in the Western Cape, is operated by Entilini – and now includes the recently opened new plaza, which took into account a number of important environmental considerations.
Gautrain Rapid Rail Link in Gauteng, is managed by Bombela Operating Company, while the Cape Point Facilities, as already mentioned, is a joint venture between Tolcon Group and Thebe Tourism Group.
In regard to the tolling operations, the Tolcon Group provides comprehensive management and operations services on most major toll routes; its diverse range of activities include operational analysis, optimization of manning levels, general administration and financial services as well as the collection and supervision of tolls at toll plazas and related functions such as the control and management of traffic through toll‐collection points.
The tolling businesses are also responsible for routine maintenance, road safety management, courtesy patrols and other similar services aimed at enhancing the customer experience.
Such a diverse range of tasks requires a diverse range of specialist skills and Van Es says that Tolcon currently employs almost 2,000 members of staff:
“That figure can vary substantially upwards during our peak periods (often December and the holiday seasons – which can significantly add to the volume of vehicles on the toll roads). Every booth has to be managed so it is not uncommon for us to hire another 400 or 500 employees to cope,” she states.
“We have been very successful at building our group of companies and retaining contracts and the main reason for our success has been our people”.
“We have made great efforts to work with Black Economic Empowerment groups wherever these may add value to our existing skills and services and these are often locally based relative to the project in question, meaning we have been able to empower the areas we work within,” she continues.
“Some of the skills required have not been readily available in South Africa and we have had to import experience and provide skills transfer in order to empower and uplift South African workers.”
Van Es is also very proud of the investment Tolcon has made in training its people:
“We believe in the upliftment of all our people and we use a combination of external and our own in-house training. We have developed a series of training and awareness programmes over the past 5 years and statistically every employee spends on average at least one day a month on these courses.
“In addition the Tolcon Group not only uplifts their employees but also makes a meaningful contribution in the communities in which they operate. Acting as a pillar in our overall commitment to social responsibility is community involvement. We strive to understand and respect cultural values wherever we operate as well as support important initiatives in those communities where our employees live and work. This commitment is visible in our contributions of financial, equipment and volunteer support. Where feasible, the Tolcon Group also maintains programs that encourage our employees to support initiatives that are important to them.”
Empowerment also extends to Tolcon’s supply chain, with procurement split between a centralised office and local centres. Van Es says that the group has 3 distinct objectives at this stage: quality (the company operates to ISO standards), BBBEE and environmental impact.
“Our clients expect the best from us in terms of quality assurance and health and safety and we have in the past received 100 per cent external audit HSE scores which was unheard of in this industry,” Van Es confirms.
“Increasingly we are seeing the impact of the green movement in what we do and the tolling plaza we opened on July 1st at Chapman’s Peak placed a high importance on environmental impact. We have a full environmental management plan that is operational.”
Whilst Tolcon Group has made giant strides in delivering opportunities for women, Van Es is able to survey South Africa’s progress as a whole:
“I believe that career progression has improved for women in South Africa and if you look at the Government and provinces there are numerous positions that have been filled by women and the statistics are reasonably good.
“In the private sector the statistics are not as good but lots of companies have women empowerment forums and there has been a general improvement. We are not there yet, but the situation is getting better.”
The Tolcon Group has received various awards in regard to women empowerment, the last of which was the Top Women Gender Empowerment Company in the Transport, Logistics and Infrastructure sector in 2012.
The Tolcon Group itself has had a hugely successful past, but it is to the future that Van Es turns with her parting comments:
“We have 3 focus areas: we want to consolidate our existing business and add new contracts; we will (in the medium term) look at cross-border opportunities – the transport corridors around Southern Africa represent huge opportunities not just for Tolcon, but for local economies; lastly, we want to expand into the transport infrastructure management market,” she concludes.