ASLA

It’s the Season to be Merry, and as we at ASLA are preparing our sites and plant for some well deserved rest and family time, we wish you all a happy, safe and blessed festive season. We’ll be back again on 8 January 2025, working hard to provide #DignityThroughInfrastructure. Happy Holidays!

Christmas came a little early this year... We were delighted to capture the moment that Grenwill Jacobs from Boekenhoutskloof received the call from Mervin Green our ASLA Foundation (South Africa) Administrator, who was the bearer of some exciting news (best to turn your sound on :-) Thank you ASLA for including Grenwill into your bursary programme, and thank you Bonnievale 418 for facilitating the relationship. We are excited to see what 2025 brings! #SkillsDevelopment #AssetBasedCommunityLedDevelopment #FixedSocialInfrastucture #ASLAFoundation #ASLAGroup

Junior site agent Bradley Vitealingum took us for a short drive around his site at Boekenhoutskloof in Bonnievale, where ASLA is currently busy with a roads and water infrastructure upgrade project for the Langenberg Municipality. The project includes the upgrade of the access road over the river (including the construction of a culvert bridge), the installation of water and sewerage pipeline connections, road upgrades and resurfacing, and the installation of 568 flushing precast toilets. This project will also realise easy and convenient access to running water for residents who have thus far had to collect water at one of two points, and carry this back to their homes. Tune in next week for more details on the smiling young man from the local community, who is standing with Bradley on site (at the end of this short video). #DignityThroughInfrastructure

#WednesdayWisdom “In addition to having great time management skills and physical stamina, the best quality of a successful surveyor is the ability to adapt, be proactive and able to solve problems. You never know quite what you will find in the field – you could have harsh weather, your GPS equipment may not get signal under trees and tall bushes, and vertical slopes will make measuring with your dumpy level difficult, making it essential to understanding slopes and angles. In construction accurate surveying is essential.” Melvin Du Plessis, Surveyor, ASLA #dignitythroughinfrastructure

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank sponsor MOOV Fuel and Lubricants for their continued support of the Cape Agulhas Safe Haven, an important and necessary fixed social infrastructure initiative that the ASLA Foundation (South Africa) and its partners has supported since 2015. “MOOV continues to support the foundation, and in particular the Cape Agulhas Safe Haven in Bredasdorp, as it is important to us to support those initiatives that drive positive social change, that enhance community impact and strengthen the ASLA Foundation brand. The safe haven is a sustainable community development that aims to improve the social economic conditions in the town where our company started (way back in 1956) and, in addition to the facility being a meaningful initiative to be a part of, it also makes sense for us to give back to the community that has supported our business for almost seventy years. “It is important to us, to give back and to play our part in a collective effort to reduce poverty, create an environment that is secure and where people can recover and develop without concerns about their safety.” Hein Mocke, General Manager Commercial and Industrial at MOOV Fuel and Lubricants

#WednesdayWisdom “I believe that the phrase 'Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching', reflects the essence of ASLA.    “It is not always easy to do the right thing, however, it builds character and a spirit of accomplishment in a company. You will not always see the fruit of your actions immediately (or you may never see the impact of your actions) yet if you do nothing there will be no result.    “In the areas where we work and build infrastructure, we have the privilege to enhance the lives of many people. Every person that is part of the construction team will not always see the fruit of our work. Nonetheless, the impact of how we do the small things, and always doing the right thing the right way, compounds over time and will influence many people long after we have completed the construction works and left the site.”   Pierre Fabricius, Commercial Manager ASLA

Nicole Morkel is another learner studying and working towards a Community House Building, Brick Laying and Carpentry certificate at the Industries Education and Training Institute (IETI). She is completing a learnership at City of Cape Town's Bontehewel housing development where ASLA is constructing new houses, over three sites. Nicole had been unemployed and seeking work for a while when she saw Councillor Angus McKenzie's announcement about a local learnership opportunity. “I didn’t know if we were going to receive a stipend when I saw the ad, but I said to myself that I should go for it as one never knows what lays ahead. If I was successful with the learnership, I could look at an apprenticeship next, and this could become something long-term for me.” Now, five months in, Nicole has taken to her role of group team leader, which entails both on and off-site activities and responsibilities. On site she and the rest of the group fulfil the activities required for the completion of their logbooks. She created a WhatsApp group where pictures and posts about activities completed each day are shared, and keeps the group updated on matters and news from the college. “The WhatsApp group is for in case anyone forgets what we did today, or last week, then it’s in the chat, and I will also share the opportunities the college lays down with the group directly, as well as on the chat.” When asked what it is like being part of a project like this Nicole responds with: “It’s amazing – like when we walk in the road and people ask us if you’re one of the people building the houses, then I’m proud to say that yes, I am. Even if I am a student, I can still tell them what is happening here, and that whoever is getting the houses will be able to live there soon. I feel proud to be part of everything here – I didn’t know how big the project was when the opportunity arose, but it’s out there, and everyone knows about it. “Everything on site was new for me, and I never saw myself as someone who would enjoy getting their hands dirty. Now friends ask, ‘so now you know how to build a house, you can build ours’ and I can have a full-on conversation with my father-in-law who used to work in building…My family makes me feel super proud now.” It is of course our hope and dream at the ASLA Foundation (South Africa), that Nicole, Jamie, and all of the other participants will go on to carve out careers, build their friends’ houses and contribute to the construction sector and economy as a whole. Partnering with colleges like #IETI, and the Western Cape Government Department of Infrastructure and ASLA gives us the platform to facilitate skills development that ignite enthusiasm and opportunity. We cannot expect functional healthy communities if we are not prepared to contribute, and we are grateful for this opportunity! #AssetBasedCommunityLedDevelopment #FixedSocialInfrastucture #ASLAFoundation #ASLAGroup #SkillsDevelopment

Jamie Isaacs is one of the learners who responded to a call by City of Cape Town Councillor Angus McKenzie, encouraging the Bonteheuwel youth job seekers to consider careers in construction. She is one of a group of 18 that have begun their industry journey by studying and working towards a Community House Building, Brick Laying and Carpentry certificate through the Industries Education and Training Institute (IETI), and whom are now gaining their practical experience at an ASLA construction site, facilitated by the ASLA Foundation (South Africa). Jamie has discovered that she has a passion for this type if work, and is taking in as much as she can, across all of the construction disciplines at the Bontehewel housing development being constructed by ASLA. “I never knew that construction work would be so enjoyable. I’ve learned a lot. We first worked with the civils, and it was interesting for me to see how the pipes are laid from scratch, and how they connect the joins. We didn’t learn this at college, but it’s nice to see and do it practically.” “It’s amazing seeing a house being built from nothing, and these are going to look very nice. I’m proud that I was able to help subcontractors build these houses, and when they are done, I can say that I was part of this. It also means a lot to the community – people that don’t have, will be getting a house and they will have a roof over their heads.” #SkillsDevelopment #AssetBasedCommunityLedDevelopment #FixedSocialInfrastucture #ASLAFoundation #ASLAGroup

What better place to gain practical experience for a Community House Building, Brick Laying and Carpentrycertificate than at one of the Western Cape’s most experienced community home builders? And what better feeling could there be than participating in one of ASLA Construction’s buzzing housing developments for the City of Cape Town, that is directly benefiting your own community and the people you have grown up knowing? Currently 18 youths, from the Bonteheuwel community, who are enrolled at the Industries Education and Training Institute (IETI), are doing just that. They are participating in a one-year learnership and, following three months of theory, are now gaining hands-on experience of what it looks like, in practice, to construct a house from the foundations up. It is a privilege for us at the ASLA Foundation (South Africa) to be able to facilitate skills development initiatives like these, and we look forward to introducing you to some of the participants! #SkillsDevelopment #AssetBasedCommunityLedDevelopment #FixedSocialInfrastucture #ASLAFoundation #ASLAGroup

Did you know that ASLA built the Lourie Fourie Weg in Mosselbaai and a bus lane in Ceres? That we built those stylish traffic circles that slow down the traffic passing through Sir Lowry’s Pass Village? That we built an access road for a windfarm in the harsh Karoo landscape, and are nearing completion of the widening of a four-kilometre portion of Charel Uys Drive in Atlantis? Our road construction capabilities span from earthworks (and blasting if required), to aggregate and various types of road surfacing, to road markings, stormwater drains and kerbing… We build residential, municipal, provincial and access roads, traffic circles, as well as constructing bridges and culverts. And we hope that next time you’re driving down one of “our” roads, it’s a smooth, even and pleasing experience… #DignityThroughInfrastructure #ASLAgroup #ConstructionWesternCape #RoadConstruction #InfrastructureConstruction #CivilConstruction #WesternCapeConstruction #Housing #BulkServices #BulkInfrastructure #WesternCapeInfrastructureConstruction #WaterInfrastructure #TownshipServices #BulkInfrastructure #TurnkeyDesignandConstruct #IntegratedProjects #PrivateCommercialDevelopment