By Sydney Mabalayo, Strategy and Business Development Director: SPM
The Energy Environment We Serve
As South Africa focuses on solving its energy challenges, much of the attention remains on generation: new IPPs, solar expansions, battery storage, and Eskom’s restructuring. However, a quieter but critical part of the energy system is being overlooked: the substations that distribute power across the national grid.
These substations, thousands of which are located across the country, form the backbone of South Africa’s electricity supply. They are ageing, under strain, and too often ignored in national energy discussions. Maintenance and renewal of substations is no longer a technical support function. It has become a front-line priority that will shape the reliability of the national grid. This is where companies like ours can contribute to national resilience while creating sustainable growth for the business.
How Best Can We Serve Our Environment
Our 2025 strategy was designed to help us respond effectively to this environment. It focuses on five priorities:
- Building a strong balance sheet to ensure long-term sustainability
- Creating a business focused on long-term client relationships and consistent service excellence
- Reducing reliance on a few large clients through diversification and expanding our service offering
- Driving operational excellence as a platform for scalable and sustainable growth
- Developing a workforce that is accountable, agile, and aligned to strategic goals
These priorities are not static objectives. They are shaped by current market needs, regulatory demands, and growth opportunities both in South Africa and across the continent. Our strategy remains a living framework that we refine as conditions evolve.
One of the clearest lessons so far has been the importance of ongoing engagement with stakeholders. While we planned for feedback channels, we underestimated the extent to which this regular dialogue would shape our execution. Structured sessions with employees, the onboarding of new staff, and continuous client conversations have all demonstrated that our stakeholders are not end-users of the strategy. They are contributors to it. Research supports this approach. For example, global companies like Microsoft involve clients in product development decisions through structured collaboration, with clear benefits for outcomes. We are applying similar thinking to our own operations.
Where We Are
- Building a strong balance sheet
We are focusing on financial resilience and flexibility through deliberate management of assets and liabilities. Cash flow remains a key priority, supported by operational efficiency, cost management, and stronger collections. Investments in essential equipment, such as new crane trucks arriving this quarter, are supporting this goal. - Building a customer-focused business
We aim to build long-term client relationships based on consistent delivery. Our integrated management system (IMS) supports structured processes for planning, execution, and improvement. We have clear frameworks in place. The focus now is on disciplined implementation. - Diversifying our customer base
To reduce concentration risk and expand services, we have separated Business Development from Sales, each with dedicated leadership. Sales focuses on immediate revenue growth and managing the pipeline. Business Development is focused on long-term opportunities and partnerships. This separation is intended to support both short-term wins and long-term positioning. - Pursuing operational excellence
Operational excellence is our foundation for growth. Current work includes developing dashboards for project management teams, which will improve oversight and efficiency. Once completed, this approach will be extended to finance, sales, and business development functions.
Where We Are Being Challenged
- Capacity limitations are slowing our ability to respond to the growing demand for substation maintenance. Recruitment and subcontractor partnerships are helping, but challenges remain.
- Municipal budget constraints are making client engagement difficult. Many municipalities are under financial strain, and this impacts project execution and payment cycles.
- Diversifying our customer base is proving complex. Expanding into unfamiliar segments has exposed weaknesses in our sales approach. Selling to new markets requires different methods, and we are adjusting accordingly.
Refinements Going Forward
Based on our experience so far, we are making the following adjustments to the 2025 strategy:
- Develop new sales processes suited to unfamiliar customer segments. This includes improving lead generation and market data management.
- Build partnerships with companies already operating in target markets to accelerate entry and build credibility.
- Conduct regular strategic reviews to identify execution gaps and refine plans as needed.
For SPM, the past six months have reinforced that strategy is not something completed once. It evolves continuously based on feedback and results. Our focus must remain on building the capability to listen, adapt, and respond to changes in both the market and our internal capacity.
The 2025 strategy was a starting point. What we are building now is a strategic capability that should serve the business well beyond this current cycle.