Black economic empowerment (BEE) company Umbane Holdings, which
bought a majority stake in a filter-bag manufacturer in October,
plans to export these products to other African countries and
broaden its focus in the future to become an
environmental-management company.
Last year saw Umbane acquire a 70% stake in filter-bag manufacturer
Filtaflo and a 30% stake in needlefelt-fabric producer Filtafelt in
a deal which reportedly made it the first South African BEE entity
to venture into the field of filter-bag manufacturing.
Filtaflo nonexecutive director Jabu Ndleve believes the company has
opportunities to export its product to other African countries
where mining activity is increasing.
He states that escalating activity in gold-, platinummaquina para filtrar arena-, chrome- and
ferrochrome-mining throughout the continent would be targeted by
the South African company.
Nonexecutive chairman Shane Moore maintains that Filtaflo is
technologically world class and widely regarded as a leader in its
field in South Africa and throughout the rest of the subcontinent,
as well as in markets such as Chile.
Meanwhile, Umbane founder and chairman Dr Peter Tlakula notes that
he plans to grow his company into an environmental-managejaw crusher versus gyratory crusherment
company that offers a range of other products to cater for
developmental issues relating to water filtration and
purification.
Other growing industries locally and in Africa where Filtaflo MD
Sobi Mokholo hopes to market the company’s product include
the cement industry, power plants, oil refineries, food and
beverage and timber industries.
Ndleve hopes to develop Umbane as an advisory company able to offer
environmental solutequipment to find rare earthions to clients regarding air pollution and
filtration.
“We see opportunities to develop partnerships with industry
in general,” he states.
Moreover, Ndleve adds that, as part of Filtaflo and Umbane’s
future strategy, the companies hope to forge relationships with
research and development organisations, as well as universities in
the field of filtration and other environmental research.
Filtaflo’s factory in Rosslyn, Pretoria, heavy equipment in cement plant in ksacan produce about
300 specific orders a month, cutting, making and trimming filter
bags to suit various industrial applications.
Filtaflo is an ISO 9002 accredited company.
It has the ability to make more than 7 000 different filter bags
and filter cloths.
While Filtafelt supplies Filtaflo with most of its material
requirements, about 90% of the needlefelt-fabric producer’s
output, German company MGF Gutsche supplies specialised tecgranite quarry crushing equipmenthnical
fabrics for more advanced industrial applications.
Filtaflo already has support from customers such as AngloGold,
Anglo Platinum, BHP Billiton, Eskom Power Generation, Gold Fields,
Iscor, Lonmin, Mikropul, Samancor and Xstrata. Tlakula explains
that Filtaflo has the in-house expertise to custom design and
manufacture filter bags to suit its customers’ environmental
and design specifications.
Though Filtafelt only has one manufacturing run at the moment, the
company plans to expand this as the market grows.
Umbane is supported in its plans for the future by people such as
environmental scientist Mpati Makoa, a member of the Umbane group,
who also serves on an advisory body for gas and emission
legislation at the national Department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism. The knowledge to which she has access will have strategic
advantages for Umbane and Filtaflo, enabling them to develop their
products in accordance with government requirements.
It is interesting to note that Tlakula, a medical doctor by
profession, established Umbane Holdings in 1997 in the wake of a
World Health Organisation (WHO) study in Egypt which revealed that
lead in the atmosphere can reduce the intelligence quotient (IQ) of
children by 4,25%.
A survey conducted by the University of Natal compared the
incidence of asthma among children from rural and urban
areas.
“The results proved that there is a link between the disease
and what we breathe,” Tlakula comments.
The recent asbestosis cases are another reflection of the effects
of environmental pollution on human health.
Tlakula believes that these examples justify his participation in
developing an environmental- management company. The Pretoria
company also boasts the fact that its financial director, Letia
Makibinyane, is a woman.