President Cyril Ramaphosa officially opened Corobrik’s new Kwastina (‘Home of the Brick’) factory in Driefontein, Gauteng, on Tuesday, the 4th of May 2022 – the most technologically advanced and environment-friendly brick manufacturing plant in Africa.
“Corobrik has made a significant contribution to our efforts to extract greater value from our natural resources, by making its bricks from raw materials extracted from South African soil. This is an important part of government’s efforts to support localisation, supplier, and enterprise development, as well as empowerment”, he said.
“As we proceed with the implementation of our infrastructure plan, the demand for building materials will grow substantially. It is our intention that as much of these materials as is possible should be sourced locally”.
The hi-tech facility is fully automated, from mixing the raw materials to the end product. Capable of producing 100 million bricks a year, it will easily be able to meet larger-volume orders. In a first for the South African market, Kwastina will be flexible enough to produce small quantities of bespoke products for the architectural market.
“Kwastina is testament to our commitment to constantly innovate. It is an acknowledgement on our part that we need to progress and make those step changes to keep us relevant for the next 100 years,” commented Corobrik CEO Nick Booth.
Kwastina is not only one of the largest brick manufacturing plants in sub-Saharan Africa, but also one of the most modern and energy-efficient in the world. After a comprehensive analysis of Corobrik’s existing manufacturing process, the Greenfield project resulted in a new shaping plant, a new fully automatic wet side, a setting plant for direct setting, two tunnel dryers and two tunnel kilns, and a new unloading and packaging plant for dispatch packs without pallets.
“What makes this factory so exciting is that it allows us to compete anywhere in Southern Africa, landing product in regions traditionally not in Driefontein’s market as the new factory is more cost-effective,” noted Booth. “It is going to give us an advantage in the market, not just in terms of technology, but also in quality and consistency, which are critical for specifications involving tight tolerances“.
Corobrik is already hard at work extending its product range, with various new products being introduced already. Current trials are being carried out with brick glazing for bespoke projects, as well as the clay raw material to produce different colours to give Kwastina a unique footprint in the country.
