Female-led youth asphalt-manufacturing company launched in Limpopo

L-R: Kgampi Bapela, regional manager at IDC, Kate Machaba and Matshela Maloka

MM Surfacing also does placement, different surface seals and has an onsite logistics offering. It is associated with a fully-fledged South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) approved lab, Mocha Lab, onsite for quality control and assurance.

"After almost eight years of doing our research, we officially started the process of starting up our company in 2016 with our application for funding being approved by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The process to get our required operating licences took another 24 months resulting in us fully commissioning our plant at the end of October in 2018," said Machaba.

"Today is a great day for us as it has been long in the making. We are proud of our achievement and wish to thank the IDC for partnering with us and continuing to support us on this journey," added Maloka on the day of the official launch.

Environmentally friendly

MM Surfacing is one of a few technologically advanced, fully automated plants in the country and is also environmentally friendly as close to 99% of emissions are kept within the plant, limiting air pollution. The plant’s batch system enables it to run different mixes at the same time giving the company the ability to simultaneously service multiple client orders. "We are proud of being the only company in the province that has a fully automated batch plant. As opposed to other companies in our space who operate continuous drum plants, we are able to deliver quicker and faster to our clients," says Machaba.

"MM Surfacing is one of those companies that represent all the elements that the IDC looks for in a potential client. Not only are they female owned, but they also are youth making serious inroads as black industrialists," says the IDC’s Limpopo regional manager Kgampi Bapela.