We, Kansai Plascon, have achieved one of our best B-BEE ratings to date and are recognised as a Value Adding Supplier. Our B-BBEE procurement recognition level has increased from 110% to 137.5%, which is higher than that of a non-value adding level 1 status supplier. So, when tendering for projects, our combined B-BBEE status and Value Adding Supplier position effectively make Kansai Plascon the preferred procurement choice.

Our B-BBEE status now stands at level 3, as of  September 2014, having increased from level 4 in 2013. With a score of 80.27 points, this rating cements our position as the coatings industry market leader.  

There's great news for our customers too. Companies that  purchase from Plascon will  improve their own procurement scores thereby improving their B-BBEE ratings. By partnering with us, customers benefit through improved B-BBEE procurement scores.  

In contrast, if a customer purchases products from a non-value adding level 5 supplier and not Plascon, then their  procurement recognition will amount to a far lesser 80% only. All this renders Kansai Plascon the obvious choice.  

Kansai Plascon has 125-year long history of leading quality assurance, superb formulation and trusted performance – and now, we have also secured our position as the market leader in benefitting our customers.  

- ENDS

About Kansai Plascon Kansai Plascon is a company within the global Kansai Paint group. Kansai Paint is the world’s sixth largest paint company and Japan’s foremost coatings manufacturer. With the backing of Kansai Paint, Kansai Plascon will continue to drive innovation and excellence in the retail, trade and industrial coatings market in South Africa and will further the company’s interests in Africa.  

For further information, please contact: Alex Coggins Marketing Executive, Kansai Plascon + 27 11 951 4500

The second development phase at Somerset Lakes, a 42-hectare residential estate in Somerset West, will be released to the market in mid September. The first phase sold out rapidly, with 114 sales being recorded within just six weeks of the launch. Construction of the first phase is well under way and occupation is expected to take place in mid 2015.

The new phase, Waterford Green, comprises 48 freestanding double-storey houses, selling from R1,3 million including VAT, no transfer duty. These two and three bedroom homes offer spacious, contemporary, open-plan living areas and private gardens. All homes include at least two bathrooms, one being en suite, and the three-bedroom design offers a garage and an optional guest toilet.

According to Dave Harris, Sales and Marketing Manager of Somerset Lakes, the new product has been specifically designed to help meet the growing demand for affordable, quality housing in the popular Somerset West area.

“We’ve been inundated with requests from buyers looking for houses,” Harris said. “People want freestanding homes with gardens, views and security, in close proximity to the centre of Somerset West, and that’s exactly what our latest product at Somerset Lakes has to offer.”

Designed by Schabort Associates Architects, the new development phase is located alongside the six-hectare lake that gives the estate its name.

“This unique feature is a huge attraction,” Harris commented. “It’s ideal for swimming, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing and fishing, and home to a rich variety of water birds. A magnificent community clubhouse on the shores of the lake, The Summer Club, will enhance the appeal of this fantastic recreational asset, providing residents with play areas, boat sheds, a sandy white beach, and a swimming pool and deck area with stunning views of False Bay and the Hottentots Holland mountains.”

The developers, Omwieco (Pty) Ltd, a consortium of highly experienced development professionals backed by financial giant Investec, have devoted no less than 40% of the estate’s total area to green, open space for the recreation of residents. This includes the lakes and other water features, a mature forest of stone pine trees, landscaped parks and gardens, and kilometres of walking trails and mountain biking tracks.

An indigenous fynbos nursery has been established on the estate, which was recently awarded the prized 2014 SALI Gold Award for landscape design by the South African Landscapers Institute.“No expense has been spared to implement the most technically advanced security system at Somerset Lakes,” said Harris. "These measures include electrified perimeter fencing with 70 high-definition surveillance cameras, which are monitored around the clock from the hi-tech guardhouse, 24-hour guarding and patrols, and an on-site rapid response team. Other advanced features include biometric fingerprint access control."

All homes in the estate will be hardwired with fibre-optic cabling for superfast internet access, DStv and VOIP telephone connectivity, which will allow free telephone calls within the estate.

A Curro Castle School is being constructed on the estate and is due to open its doors in 2015.

Convenient access to the Somerset West village has been provided by the developers through the R16 million construction of Reunion Drive, which links the main entrance of Somerset Lakes to Sir Lowry’s Pass Village Road under a specially constructed railway bridge. Just a few hundred metres from this entrance, an upmarket new shopping centre is now under construction, where Checkers, Woolworths Foods and Clicks will be the anchor tenants.The Vergelegen Mediclinic and the Somerset West CBD are less than two kilometres away, while popular Somerset Mall shopping centre is just 3,5 kilometres from the estate.

“When you consider the amazing lifestyle advantages Somerset Lakes offers, the security, the convenience of the surrounding amenities, and the incredible natural beauty of the estate, I have no doubt our second phase will sell as fast as the first one,” said Harris.“I strongly advise anyone interested to register online for an invitation to a pre-launch sales opportunity, ahead of our public launch in mid September, to avoid disappointment.”

For further information visit www.somersetlakes.co.za or phone 021 202 2200.

Further recognition of the City Lodge Hotel Group’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility

Johannesburg, June 27, 2014

The City Lodge Hotel brand within the City Lodge Hotel Group has been certified  by the Green Leaf™ Eco  Standard, acknowledging the significant improvements that have been made in the important areas of energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste management, responsible procurement and staff and guest awareness of environmental responsibility issues.

While the certification  initially applies only to the City Lodge Hotel brand, the group has largely implemented the same technology and procedures in its Courtyard Hotel, Town Lodge and Road Lodge brands.  Green Leaf™ Eco Standard is an initiative of the Wilderness Foundation, aimed at enabling and certifying the balance between business and nature.

Over the past three years, the City Lodge Hotel Group has rolled out a group-wide energy efficiency initiative across all four of its brands with the emphasis focused on the installation of LED lighting (around 40,000 bulbs) and heat pumps and the monitoring and reduction of energy consumption. The group is also a member of Eskom’s 49M energy efficiency campaign which commits partners to a 15% reduction in electricity usage.

Concerted efforts also focused on water efficiency and responsible waste management 

More recently, the group has embarked on a water efficiency programme across the City Lodge Hotel brand, focusing on efficient flow technology on shower heads and taps, dual-flush toilets and the re-using of towels.  The intention is to roll this out across the other three brands.

Attention has also gone into improving waste management as part of the certification  for the City Lodge Hotel brand. This has included the separation of different types of waste on site, the transport of waste to recycling centres and the transport of non-recyclable waste to landfill sites

.According to Clifford Ross, the group’s CEO, “We’re proud of achieving this latest certification  as it recognises the serious attention we have paid to reducing our carbon footprint and maximizing our effective use of electricity and water and responsible disposal of recyclable and non-recyclable waste,” said Ross. 

“Standards for responsible tourism have also been incorporated into the certification  we have received, further demonstrating our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility in our operations,” he added.Andrew Phillips, CEO of Green Leaf™ Eco Standard said: “I have had the pleasure of witnessing the leadership group of City Lodge initiate a responsible tourism mind-set change throughout its hotel brands and to now formally sign-off on core certification under the Green Leaf™ Eco Standard certification programme is recognition well deserved.”    

Significantly, City Lodge’s Green Leaf certification  ideally complements the City Lodge Earth Day initiative, which was launched on social media platforms at the beginning of June.The core message of this campaign is that every day is Earth Day. The pay-off line is “no planet no you; no you, no us.”Marketing collateral is being developed to communicate this messaging to guests within hotels enabling them to participate in the campaign in a practical way.

Green is our favourite colour!

City Lodge is big into helping to protect the environment. ‘Sustainability’ is the buzzword around here and accordingly we’ve been busily greening our practices, like installing power-saving LED light bulbs in our hotels as well as providing dual-flushing toilet systems.

As of today we’re also launching our City Lodge Earth Day campaign, which is about promoting green practices amongst our staff and guests. It’s just one more step in trying to reduce our impact on the environment.The idea behind City Lodge Earth Day is that every day is a good day to focus on the environment.

So you will be seeing many educational and encouraging messages on our social media channels and within our hotels about ‘going green’ and how you can be part of the movement. Because the thing with green practices is that the more people you can get on board, the more beneficial they are. Together, we really can make a difference!

Small changes that together make a big differenceThere are many small changes we can each make in our daily behaviours, especially in the context of our own homes, to reduce the impact of man on the environment. But let’s take a look at just a few that you could embrace when staying at a City Lodge Hotel…

Actions that save energy include:

1. turning off lights whenever not in the room
2. making sure windows are closed when the air-con is on
3. unplugging electrical equipment when it’s not in use
4. dressing warmly in winter so that you don’t need to turn the heat up as high
5. not filling the kettle up to the top when you only need hot water for one or two cups.

Actions that save water include:

1. choosing to shower instead of bathing
2. turning off the tap while soaping your hands
3. only using the little button on the dual-flushing system when appropriate
4. always making sure all taps are properly turned off.

Other actions that help protect the environment include:

1. using environmentally friendly shampoos and soaps, like those supplied by City Lodge Hotels for our guests
2. using towels for longer than a day – this saves both water and power as fewer towels need washing.

LED lights up our world!

LED light bulbs and lamps are far more energy efficient than their incandescent or fluorescent equivalents. They are also vastly more ecologically friendly, as they contain no toxic materials and are 100% recyclable.

Knowing this, we at City Lodge Hotel Group have over the past year installed roughly 40,000 LED globes in our hotels, 26,000 of which were within hotels that are part of the City Lodge Hotel brand. In addition, over 4,000 other lights were also converted to more energy-efficient options.

Speaking about all the green changes that have been taking place in City Lodge Hotels, Chief Executive Clifford Ross says,“We remain committed to the journey which we embarked upon some years back to reduce our impact on the planet. Our journey meant that we critically evaluated all aspects of our business to positively influence our planet.”

So as you can see we’re going to be doing things a little differently around here from now on and we encourage you to do things a little differently with us!

African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa has come of age as a truly pan-African event, by the industry and for the industry, with continent-wide collaboration and celebration to produce the best of Africa, says programme director Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl. She adds: “this year’s gathering at the CTICC in Cape Town had just over 5000 registered attendees from 76 countries, of which 30 African, 1100 delegates, 240 exhibitors, 190 speakers, nine conference tracks, and with a high profile opening session and an industry awards gala dinner it was the biggest event yet in our 14 year history.”

Eskom’s Group Executive Transmission, Mongezi Ntsokolo, lead the high-level panel of experts during the opening session, which included Agnes Dasewicz of the USAID’s Power Africa Initiative and NERSA CEO Phindile Balendi. Other leading delegates and experts who were at the event included Reynolds Dagogo-Jack, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Power in Nigeria, Robert Kisubi, Stakeholder Manager at Umeme in Uganda and the World Bank’s water development expert Diego Rodrigues.

Utility industry is maturing
African Utility Week’s Nicolette Pombo-van Zyl says “the focus for 2014 covered the vision for a sustainable African utility sector including topics around the restructuring and privatisation of the Nigeria power sector, delving into what is required to improve the financial viability of water utilities, and the growing concern around the need for water-energy-food nexus initiatives.”

She continues: “it is evident from the frank presentations delivered by industry leaders and through the open conversations during the networking functions that the utility industry is maturing in Africa. This market is the frontier for development and is not willing to copy current formulas without exploring and thoroughly researching solutions that fit the environment.”

African Utility Week Awards
The sold out, inaugural African Utility Week Awards were the hot ticket of the event where the City of Cape Town was named top municipality. Other Awards included best African Power Utility, won by Genesis Electricity Limited of Nigeria; Zambian ZESCO’s MD Cyprian Chitundu was named African Utility Executive of the Year, Uganda’s NWSC won best African Water Utility and Johannesburg’s City Power won the Energy/Water Efficiency award.

CEO Forum
The invitation-only Utility CEO Forum was attended by CEOs and high-level utility executives from countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Namibia, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and particularly focused on short-term, technical wins that utilities can implement. In addition, the discussions examined how utilities manage human capital, the on-going challenges of financing power projects and where utilities can take action to mitigate against finance risk.  The two day meeting was accompanied by time for interaction and networking between the various utility CEOs, and continues to build on the relationships founded at last year’s inaugural meeting.

Expo and free workshops
Some 240 exhibitors displayed the latest technology and services in the industry disciplines of metering, clean power, water, large power users, investment and finance, transmission & distribution, smart grids and generation. Leading local and global names that were there included Accenture, Edison Power Group, Marelli Motori and Yingli Solar.

To assist utilities and large power users become more energy efficient and explore renewable energy options, African Utility Week also teamed up with professional industry bodies for a varied series of free CPD-accredited technical workshops in electrical engineering, energy efficiency and renewable energy that took place on the expo floor. Dozens of delegates also attended site visits to see applications of new technologies and services in action at utility energy and water facilities, industrial premises and companies around Cape Town.

Some feedback from satisfied exhibitors and attendees at African Utility Week:

-    “I congratulate the team on a successful 14th African Utility Week and know the quality and standard will be maintained in years to come.”- Joshua Mgeyekwa, Managing Director, Tanga UWSSA, Tanzania

-    “Having had an opportunity to serve on the Advisory Board for African Utility Week and attend the conference and exhibition enabled me to interact with colleagues, exchange cutting edge technology and appreciate how others deal with both challenges and opportunities in energy.” - David Otwoma, Chief Science Secretary, National Commission for Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and Chairman, Eastern Africa Association for Radiation Protection, Kenya

-    “I was very impressed with the level of service and staff calibre representing the conference organisers. There was always someone available to help and no problem was too difficult to solve. I look forward to working with you again.” - Chris Haw, Managing Director, Solar Future Energy, South Africa

-    “It was a pleasure and I enjoyed the interactions and opportunities for discussion with colleagues from other areas. Compliments to you all on an extremely well-run conference.” -Peter Flower, Director: Water & Sanitation, Utility Services Directorate, City of Cape Town, South Africa

-    “African Utility Week continues to improve and was the best yet. This has turned into a world class event where one gets to network with important role players and key decision makers. We will definitely be back next year.“ - Dean Pratt, General Manager Africa, MarelliMotori, South Africa – platinum sponsors

-    “Many thanks for giving me a wonderful opportunity to be a part of the AUW. It was indeed a most noteworthy experience for me and I look forward to collaborating very closely with AUW in the near future... You guys are an amazing team. And it was really a great experience...” - Ifeoma Malo, Special Assistant on Energy Policy, Office of the Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Power, Nigeria

-    “It was a pleasure seeing you again and participating in African Utility Week. You guys did a great job in organizing this massive event. We look forward to the next one.” - Andrea Orzan, Business Development Director Africa, SunEdison

-    “The event is very informative and interesting and I recommend it to anyone in the profession to attend”. - Abiud Kaura, Senior Manager, Nampower, Namibia

-    “Thank you for hosting such a great conference. We enjoyed the focus days, the main conference tracks and the CEO forum. Thank you also for looking after us so well. We achieved what we set out to and would like to build on this going forward. We would like to discuss some future collaboration, especially along the clean energy side.” - Michelle T Davies, Head Partner for Clean Energy Projects, Eversheds – gold sponsors and award winners.

Dates for next year’s African Utility Week:
Conference and expo: 12-13 May 2015
Focus days: 11 May 2015
Site visits: 14 May 2015
Location: CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa

Websites: www.african-utility-week.com and www.clean-power-africa.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfricaUtilities
Linkedin: African Power Forum

Contact:
Communications manager:  Annemarie Roodbol
Telephone :  +27 21 700 3558
Mobile:  +27 82 562 7844
Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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