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Over its 128-year lifespan, PPC has been through several monumental changes in the history of the South African economy: everything from the Witwatersrand gold rush, a Great Depression and a couple of economic crises of almost equal proportion. Over the past ten years, a period shaped by a flood of cheap imports from the East, a rise in competition from an Aliko Dangote-owned rival and a domestic economy in its longest slump since the end of WW2, it probably thought it had seen it most difficult test. That was until it was faced with the Covid-19 pandemic and a rising debt problem.
Its most recent glory days seem but a distant memory for the cement maker, which, along with other one-time construction giants such as Murray & Roberts, benefited from South Africa's preparations for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. The years after have been desperate, evident in a share slump of over 98% over the past ten years alone. exclusive journalism and features