Renico Construction
Construction During COVID
Endurance within the construction industry
As a private company, strategic decisions can be taken and implemented almost immediately. With the volatility in the current market this definitely counts as one favour.”
Over the past year COVID-19 has dominated the lives of individuals, families and companies alike. The necessity to adapt to this unique challenge has caused discord and a resulting decline in many industries across the world.
The South African construction sector has been under substantial pressure even prior to the pandemic, and 2020 brought with it further issues. Despite this, there remain opportunities in the market. The South African government has allocated R93.1 billion in its budget to spend on national infrastructure; a potential catalyst for the stimulation of South African construction. For
Renico Construction this opportunity is promising.
Over the past 20 years, Renico has become a multi-tiered business which not only develops commercial, industrial and residential properties, but also includes a plant hire division with more than 400 pieces of ‘yellow metal’ on offer. Renico’s Earthworks and Civils Department specialises in bulk earthmoving and infrastructure placement.
Renico Property Holdings has a large property portfolio which it manages, and Renico Real Estate sees to the rent and sales of properties. Two smaller affiliates of the Renico Group are Millenium Roller Doors SA, that specialises in the manufacture and installation of industrial roller shutter doors, and Janho Bricks that manufactures cement stock bricks and pavers. Spanning the entire firm, Renico
Group currently has more than 700 employees.
Johan Louw, Head of Sales and Marketing at the firm and iterator of the opening statement, has always worked within the property, housing and construction encompassing sphere.
“I worked as a property broker for a large real estate agency in 2002,” he tells us. “During this time Renico Construction used the services of external agencies to sell their products off-plan. I was asked to establish an internal sales department for Renico as it made more sense to oversee the sales internally. It was definitely a winwin situation for Renico.
“Since inception the department grew from strength to strength. By removing contracted middlemen from the process, clients also had direct contact with the property developer. This helped establish better working relationships between developer and client. By default, one becomes part of the construction process as a lot of time is spent on construction sites. Over more than 18 years, I have accumulated a lot of construction experience which can successfully be utilised with current and future product formulation.”
Renico Construction is a ‘one-stopshop’ when it comes to property development with an internal acquisitions and planning department, as well as employing a number of in-house and highly qualified quantity surveyors.
The firm’s highly skilled project managers have access to a large base of professionals to assist with the construction process, and a large selection of plant equipment
to help speed up construction.
This professionalism is exemplified through Renico’s many projects.
“We are about to break ground at our first residential site in Albertsdal which is a five-minute drive from the Alberton CBD on the East Rand, Johannesburg,” Louw elaborates. “The 67-home development project will comprise of two-bedroom duplex townhouses and will be named
Leano, which translates to ‘idea’ or ‘plan’ in Setswana. This will also be the first of four planned residential developments on the site. In total, 722 homes will be developed on the site over the next two to three years.”
These company developments will generate work for Renico and its affiliates for the duration of the period. As these homes are targeted towards the first-time buyer market, it will also empower a large number of customers to own their own homes.
“We also recently completed our 32,000 metre-squared Vyfhoek