What are the unique competitive advantages of South Africa?

From a financial perspective Johannesburg is the capital of Africa. Sandton is the richest square mile in the whole of Africa. A lot of Pan African companies base themselves here in this city and operate on a global level.
Here, there are many opportunities that you can look into. We have the strongest mobile network operators in Africa. South Africa is a pioneer in the mobile payment solutions globally. In terms of technology we are on par with most first world countries – The infrastructure of the ICT space is growing with the introduction of fibre optic and The Internet of Things helps in giving South Africans a competitive edge.
South Africa is a good market to invest in, as your returns on the property market in some cities are between eight to twelve percent a year, whilst in London you would get a return of less than four.

What sectors do you prefer to work in?

Veritas Engineering’s key sector is energy and technology. Within the energy sector, we have the capability to work on projects ranging from electrical infrastructure, oil and gas , renewable energy and smart cities. In the technology sector we focus on the digital economy and data analytics.
Within the energy and technology space, Veritas offers full turnkey solutions from inception, feasibility, detailed design, procurement and construction. We also have the capability to do the management of the project.

Can you elaborate on the idea of smart cities?

A smart city is an urban development vision to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) and Internet of things (IoT) technology in a secure fashion to manage a city’s assets. There are three elements that define a smart city: Energy, ICT and Planning. In terms of Energy we have renewable energy and smart grid infrastructure. On the Planning side we have Bus Rapid Transit, Parking infrastructure and Traffic Congestion management. In ICT we have Smart Metering, Telematics, Navigation and Internet technologies. Veritas Engineering has the capability and experience on all three of these aspects.

“…South Africa is a good market to invest in, as your returns on the property market in some cities are between eight to twelve percent a year, whilst in London you would get a return of less than four…”

How do you turn this data into something useful?

This is where data analytics comes into play. Data analytics is the process of examining data sets in order to draw conclusions about the information they contain, increasingly with the aid of specialized systems and software. Data analytics technologies and techniques are widely used in commercial industries to enable companies to make more-informed business decisions. Having the right information at the right time is key to making the right decision.

How do you differentiate yourself from the big players in the industry?

Veritas Engineering was founded to address the shortage of engineering consultants in the South African Market. Our core business is in the Engineering and Project Management Sector. Industry knowledge,
expertise and experience on projects enable us to identify and resolve the problems without bias or prejudice. We offer our clients uncompromising integrity, independent views and operating in the safest manner possible.

Skills is a problem in South Africa, is developing human capital a priority for you?

To grow a country, you need people to be educated, you can’t come in with and idea and install complex devices if no one knows how to maintain them. As much as we upskill people, there is also this attrition rate of people leaving, and I don’t mind that. You cannot foresee these things. There is a gap, however, in terms of getting the best guys as the biggest companies in the country will all get the cream of the crop of the graduates and everyone out of university wants to work for a blue chip company.

How many African nations would you eventually like to be in?

I would say the big players: Mozambique, Namibia, Kenya, Angola and Nigeria. There is a lot of development in those countries. We are growing and are looking into penetrating Africa as soon as we have established our brand within South Africa.

Would you like to leave a message of confidence for our readers overseas with regards to South Africa as an investment space?

There is massive potential here. In terms of technology and energy security, there are major opportunities in South Africa for key-market players when it comes to gas-to-power stations and being part of BRICS gives South Africa a lot potential in key industries.