Connected: Nomvula Mabuza is a relative of former board chairperson Jabu Mabuza. In less than a year it [IDS Africa] had secured a R90-million contract at Medupi.
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IDS Africa was established in early 2018 as a prominent player in the power generation and construction sector of South Africa. The boiler maintenance and service market has traditionally been controlled by three major companies.
IDS Africa set out to become the first-ever black-owned, black-women-owned, and black-youth-owned mechanical construction and engineering firm, hoping to fill a market void where the large-scale boiler industry catered primarily to male-dominated, untransformed service providers. This approach aimed to disrupt the industry and usher in a new era in which local role players could contribute to the country’s most crucial energy sector by utilizing their technological and engineering skills.
Under the leadership of Nomvula Mabuza, IDS Africa achieved notable success in completing the Medupi Maintenance Contract, which spanned from 2019 to early 2022. Despite the company’s strong track record in welding, boasting a world-class welding repair rate of less than 1%, it was unable to avoid public and media scrutiny.
The M&G, relentlessly reported false, disparaging, and damaging allegations, which were replicated in other media publications and had a detrimental impact on the company’s overall credibility, leading to the collapse of IDS Africa’s bidding partnership with GE, who were responsible for 30% of the Eskom Boiler Fleet. IDS Africa and GE had partnered to provide maintenance and outage services for pressure parts and high-pressure pipework in Eskom Power Stations, with the goal of introducing technological advancements to enhance boiler maintenance services. However, the allegations ultimately cost IDS Africa participation in the national boiler maintenance contract.
Despite being cleared of any wrongdoing by investigation bodies and passing all bid phases, IDS Africa was ultimately unsuccessful in their bid when strategic partner GE withdrew due to the damaging and prolonged negative media coverage the bidding parties received, despite several clarifications made to reporters. As a result of M&G’s poor investigation and misleading stories, Nomvula and IDS Africa were wrongly stigmatised as untrustworthy service providers in South Africa.
The IDS Africa team was recognised and highly commended for its work on Medupi, which it proudly completed with a 100% local worker complement for three years. The company continues to press ahead by engaging new markets inside South Africa and the rest of the continent, as well as providing leading processes and technologies to contribute to the continent’s energy security.