Safal Steel product and expertise has recently contributed to economic development in KZN and also within the South African motor assembly plant industry.

Safal Steel Colorplus^Ⓡ AZ200 formed the outer skin of a new vehicle body component factory located within the Dube Tradeport Special  Economic Zone (SEZ) near to the King Shaka International Airport, Durban. It is estimated that this new plant will consume 25 000MT of locally procured steel a year. Global automotive giant Toyota via, CFAO South Africa (SA) a subsidiary Toyota Tsusho Africa, and Ogihara Thailand,  committed to the construction of this new R1.2-billion plant (2024), to produce vehicle body parts for Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM). This is a significant vote of confidence in the economy of South Africa.

The new Ogihara facility is located on a 32 000m²  site within the SEZ TradeZone 2.

At the time of inception SA’s  Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau said: “The investment will increase the local content on the Hilux (the next-generation model), Fortuner and Corolla models assembled at the TSAM plant for the local and export markets.”

Struxit Projects was appointed as the lead consultant on the project, responsible for assembling and managing a best-in-class multidisciplinary team to undertake the full scope of design and construction management. Subsequently, the project was successfully completed in record time – just 14 months from receiving the green light from the client to commence design, through to the contractor achieving Practical Completion.

“This integrated approach ensures technical excellence, alignment with industry standards, and efficient project execution” says Stuart Manzie, Executive at Struxit.

At the heart of the facility are 6.5m-deep press pits, designed to accommodate 500t, 800t, and 2300t presses. The surrounding floors, which support smaller presses, press tooling and raw materials, were engineered to withstand loads of up to 10t/m².

“The building’s height was determined by the clearance requirements of the 20t overhead travelling cranes, which span the press bays and reach up to 14.5m above ground level. This resulted in the roof ridge peaking at just under 25m, remaining within the allowable height limits of the Dube TradeZone.

“To accelerate construction and maintain high quality, precast concrete columns were adopted on a 10m bay spacing, reaching up to 14m in height. These columns support both the steel crane girders and the roof structure, which includes 30m-span roof trusses. From the top of the concrete columns to eaves level, steel columns were used to complete the vertical structure.

“Around the perimeter, 4m-high precast concrete tilt-up wall panels were installed which both enabled fast-tracked construction and excellent concrete finish quality. The roof and wall cladding systems are supported by Metsec purlins and girts, spanning 10m between trusses and columns, and also carry insulation and building services” Manzie adds.

Marshnee Moodliar, Architect at architectural firm Blue Projects – an international company also operating in South Africa – says:  “The plant envelope colour palette was designed to suit the architectural guidelines set by the Dube Tradezone Precinct framework. However, due to the visual appearance of this large massed ‘box’, we incorporated some angled contrasting-coloured panels to provide a visual break to the large solid expanse of the base box.

“The main plant building was clad with 0.47mm Widedek AZ200 Colorplus^Ⓡ in Seaspray White and Raincloud Grey colours. The roof sheeting is a concealed fix 0.53mm Saflok^Ⓡ 700 AZ200 Colorplus^Ⓡ in Seaspray White.

“The client also requested a feature treatment to incorporate the Ogihara blue into the facade. This was achieved with the design of an accent strip that runs around the building and following the lines of the angled grey elevation panels accentuating and framing these panels.”

Daniel van Rensburg of roofing and cladding contractor, MJC Industrial Roofing adds: “We installed the 17 300m² of 0.53mm AZ200 in colour Seaspray rolled-formed into Saflok^Ⓡ 700 and clad with 4 800m² 0.47mm AZ200 in mixed colours Seaspray and Rain Cloud in profile Widedek^Ⓡ. We have worked extensively with this AZ200 material before and have found it to be excellent under coastal conditions” – noting the SEZ is located just 4.2km from the sea and seasonal humidity is high.

“Additional horizontal blue visual and functional elements include a blue apron (accent strip) feature fabricated from a 0,47mm AZ200 Zincal^Ⓡ finish, painted in the specified blue colour. This was complemented by a translucent blue polycarbonate Opal 30 panel above the painted blue Zincal^Ⓡ strip and a  translucent Solar Control standing seam panel below, completing these functional, yet visually-pleasing elements” he adds.

“In addition to its aggressive climate-resistant nature, Colorplus^Ⓡ  AZ200 was also used to achieve a plant aesthetic suitable for the client and Dube Tradezone guidelines. The colour painted logo on the roof sheeting was achieved by an investigation and agreement with Safal’s technical team to select an appropriate coating product that would comply with Safal’s product warranties. Consequently,  Carbothane 134, an acrylic polyurethane thin film, high gloss finish coating was approved, subject to very specific surface preparation and cleaning methods” Moodliar concludes.

As the roofing and cladding at this plant, which opened in July 2025, Safal Steel as the country’s only BIEC-licenced manufacturer of the world-renown aluminium-zinc steel coating technology, is proudly associated.

Roll forming took place on site and was successfully turned around by the Safal Steel (Building Projects and Solutions) division previously known as Safintra.

• Roofing: 0,53mm Colorplus^Ⓡ AZ200 Seaspray by Safal Steel.

Roll formed into: Saflok^{Ⓡ 700 – total roofing area: 17 300m2}

• Cladding: 0,47mm AZ200 Colorplus^Ⓡ in colours Seaspray and Rain Cloud

Roll-formed into profile Widedek^Ⓡ – total steel cladding area 4800m2

Client: Ogihara
Principal agent: Struxit
Main contractor:  Abbeydale KZN
Architect: Blue Projects Industries
Structural engineers: Struxit
Quantity surveyors: EST
Project managers: M3 Africa

Safal Steel warrants its Zincal^® and Colorplus^® (colour coated steel) to have a service life (prior to perforation by weathering in the natural elements) from date of installation. Warranty periods are determined by Safal Steel and may vary according to project design and location. A Provisional Warranty may be applied for at project design stage; this warranty serves as a guideline as to the final warranty Safal Steel may issue on project completion. A Final Warranty application form may be submitted to Safal Steel by the roll former on project completion, requesting Safal Steel to issue a warranty for the specific material used on a specific project.

Look for the trademark. All Safal Steel prime material is branded on the backing coat – insist on Safal Steel material.

For any technical queries please contact Safal Steel and ask for the representative in your area.