Royal HaskoningDHV Empowers Batswana

Zolani Kraai | Monday August 28, 2017 16:36

The deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Isaac Moepeng expressed this sentiment at the rebranding of SSI Botswana (Pty) Ltd to become part of the global brand of RHDHV recently.

Moepeng said the rapid development of Botswana could not have been sustained without the outstanding civil engineering expertise from RHDHV. He further appreciated the company’s commitment to Botswana, by empowering citizens through employment and developing young engineers.

RHDHV, which started operations in 1979, currently employs 100 Batswana.

”We are a multidisciplinary consulting engineering company with four business lines, namely transport and planning, including transportation planning and roads, railways, bridges, maritime and aviation. Other units include water and technology and waste management treatment, buildings and industry including mining,” RHDHV director in Botswana, Monthusi Kgano said. 

When asked on whether Botswana can benefit from his company’s architectural and civil engineering expertise, especially in the line of bridge designs and landscape, Kgano said the initial planning, post infant colonial era, particularly in Gaborone, could not offer positive future outlook orientation of the growth of the city. But, he however said his company can help maintain the Botswana identity while also designing state of the art bridges, fly-overs, overpasses that can give character and identity to Gaborone and of course other towns across the country. Kgano further said with the growing trend of modernising technology in infrastructure technology, RHDHV in public, private, partnership with Dutch Foundation for Applied Water Research, the Dutch Water Boards have developed a technology that has revolutionised wastewater treatment.

“If we were to talk about the waste water treatment in Broadhurst for example, it would be ideal to have NEREDA wastewater model, as well as in other places in Botswana. It has cost effective, sustainable and single way to treat wastewater while meeting the most stringent purification requirement.

Kgano says the success of NEREDA is its high water treatment capability in combination with significantly lower investment and operational costs.

SSI Botswana commenced its operations as a partnership called Stewart Scott International. In 2006, the partnership was converted into a private limited company, now wholly owned by Royal HaskoningDHV.

The original company was founded in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1922, and was named after its founding father George Stewart, a specialist in water cycle and municipal services projects. Stewart partnered with Frederick Scott whose forte was transport and structural services.