The Bellville Civic Centre in Africa now has a “digital twin,” a virtual copy that uses 1,200 sensors and a drone to watch everything in real-time. This smart system helps fix problems before they start, like finding leaky pipes or saving energy. It’s built for Cape Town’s exact needs, not just copied from Europe, and even helps with social issues and teaches people about upkeep. Now, this building can “talk” and help the city run better and save money.

What is a digital twin and how does it work?

A digital twin is a virtual model of a physical object or system, updated in real-time with sensor data. For Bellville Civic Centre, 1,200 sensors, a LiDAR drone, and a cloud physics engine created a digital replica, allowing real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. This helps identify inefficiencies and potential issues proactively, optimizing building performance.

1. A Quiet Thursday That Changed Everything

The janitor’s clipboard still showed the same temperature columns, the electricians still argued about fluorescent tubes, and the leak in the basement still had to be fixed before the next council session. Yet, beneath this ordinary choreography, Bellville Civic Centre had quietly grown a second brain. Overnight, 1 200 credit-card-sized sensors, a spinning LiDAR drone, and a cloud physics engine 60× faster than real life stitched themselves into an invisible mesh. The concrete giant could now interrogate itself the way a doctor interrogates a heartbeat – asking, not just answering.

Inside the foyer, a Finnish suitcase snapped open. Out came matchbox fog-computing gateways, a stack of district-heating printouts from Helsinki, and – most convincing of all – signed data-sharing contracts with Nordic utilities that proved the jump from pilot to portfolio was already bankable. A projector threw the building’s new pulse onto the marble wall: cool blues for steady organs, warning reds for arrhythmias. One red vein leaked two-percent inefficiency from a chilled-water pump; another showed a third-floor zone that had spent three nights 0.4 °C warmer than its set-point. A fire-exit sensor whispered that someone was forcing the door with three extra newtons – hinges beginning to seize.

In the old script those micro-clues would have become phone calls, Excel rows, and work orders already yellow with age. Now the digital twin ranks every intervention by life-cycle cost, authors its own weekly “maintenance dance card,” and beams it to handhelds. The deputy director tapped the red stairwell on the screen; instantly the model surfaced a 2024 actuator invoice, cross-checked the manufacturer’s mean-time-to-failure curve, and advised a swap before quarter-end. Predicted disruption: twelve minutes during a planned fire-system test. Likely downtime prevented: eleven hours. The Finns grinned; they had seen an Espoo courthouse cut annual energy use 18 % after only six months of the same ritual.

2. Built for Cape Town, Not Copy-Pasted from Europe

Espoo doesn’t stage blackouts; Cape Town does. Procurement here demands three quotes for anything above R2 000, and one depot may serve 250 scattered sites. So the architects tucked palm-sized, fan-less edge servers into electrical risers. When the fibre dies, these nodes keep a compressed, privacy-scrubbed clone of the twin alive, steering local loops: rooftop PV, battery UPS, smart-lighting relays. During outages, the conference wing stays lit on a 60 kWh buffer while corridors dim to 30 %, trimming 12 kW of peak without a human finger.

Sensor playlists are equally mixed. Some wings are 1970s concrete, others 1990s steel sheds, others brand-new mass-timber chasing net-zero. Thread, LoRaWAN and Wi-Sun radios chat in parallel; legacy breaker panels wear NFC tags that any TVET-college student can reflash in 90 seconds. Instead of marrying one vendor, the City hosts an “M-Bus to MQTT” translator whose YAML recipes live on GitLab under Creative Commons. The only lock-in is curiosity.

Citizen privacy is engineered, not promised. Visitors renewing licences trigger anonymised heat-maps that forget faces after 900 seconds. Maintenance staff sign in with biometric fobs; an HVAC tech may raise a chiller set-point yet cannot unlock court archives. University researchers receive time-boxed API tokens that auto-expire without two-key renewal inside the firewall. The mantra is “share insights, not identities.”

3. From Valves to Social Infrastructure – Ripple Effects No Spreadsheet Predicted

Borrowing from shipyards, the Finns gave every component a tamper-proof digital passport. Snap a photo of a corroded valve and the hash, signature, and timestamp lock into a private Ethereum fork. Smart contracts release micro-payment to the plumber only when AI vision confirms the fix. Early runs show disputed invoices down 35 % and warranty cycles shrinking from months to days. The building pays for proof, not promises.

Energy planning dives deeper than kilowatt dashboards. The twin ingests Time-of-Use tariffs, Eskom’s wind forecasts, and weather-service gust predictions to build a 72-hour optimiser. In a late-June rehearsal it slid 210 kWh from evening peak to pre-dawn, pre-cooling slabs and charging fleet EVs. Saved: R3 420 – one librarian’s annual salary when extrapolated across 70 facilities. Treasury is now modelling a green-bond tranche: a guaranteed 5 % energy cut could unlock R400 million for further retrofits.

Water joins the choreography. A 30 000-litre basement tank maps stratification layers, predicts Legionella risk, and diverts first-flush to sewer when rainfall tops 6 mm h⁝š. An ML model schedules irrigation only when evapotranspiration exceeds 3 mm and soil moisture drops below 22 %. Result: 46 % less potable water on landscaping, sparing 2.7 million litres – enough for seventeen households for a year.

Scaling is under way. Three libraries, two clinics, and the colossal Cape Town Civic Centre have already been LiDAR-scanned. The once-labyrinthine 51ˇçÁ÷spreadsheet has collapsed into a lightning-fast graph database; planners can ask for “all coastal-zone boilers older than fifteen years that serve community halls with >30 % Saturday occupancy” and receive a ranked replacement schedule linked to tender calendars.

Social infrastructure is next. Early-childhood centres with no in-house tech get a WhatsApp “maintenance buddy” that speaks isiXhosa voice notes. A caregiver photographs a flickering light; vision-recognition IDs the ballast and dispatches the nearest handyman. Where data is scarce, the bot reverts to one-cent USSD menus. Cape Town’s code is already tempting subtropical eThekwini and equatorial Singapore into south-south exchanges that outbid traditional donor loops.

4. A Living Curriculum for the City of Tomorrow

Every Thursday the disused records room becomes a “Twin Lab.” Failed circuit boards hang like hunting trophies, each annotated with failure mode and intern nickname. A live dashboard streams on the wall; if trainees trim another percentage point off weekly energy, the mayor tweets spinning wind-turbine GIFs. Maintenance is no longer an exile for the IT department – it is a badge for cleaners, clerks, councillors.

Occupants gamify stewardship. Guards hunt daylight sensors left in override, librarians chase dust alerts on HVAC grilles. Points buy canteen vouchers; the leaderboard hangs by the lift like a school sports chart. Behaviour bends faster than steel when feedback loops are witty and immediate.

If the roadmap hits 100 buildings by 2029, the City will have digitised 4.5 million square metres – Helsinki’s whole downtown. The next mayor will open one map and query every pump, lift, and luminaire in milliseconds. Finnish mentors now log into Cape Town servers to debug their own Espoo high-rises, admitting the student has become the server room. Between Bellville’s granite walls and Helsinki’s glass lecture halls pulses a new civic circulatory system whose language is open data, whose currency is kilowatts saved in real time, and whose winner is the resident breathing cooler air long before anyone knew the building had learned to speak.

What is a digital twin and how does it work at Bellville Civic Centre?

A digital twin is a virtual model of a physical object or system, updated in real-time with sensor data. For Bellville Civic Centre, 1,200 credit-card-sized sensors, a LiDAR drone, and a cloud physics engine were used to create a digital replica. This system allows for real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance, identifying inefficiencies and potential issues proactively to optimize building performance. It’s like giving the building a ‘second brain’ to interrogate itself and make smart decisions.

How is Bellville Civic Centre’s digital twin uniquely designed for Cape Town’s needs?

Unlike solutions simply copied from Europe, Bellville’s digital twin is specifically built for Cape Town’s environment, which includes factors like blackouts and specific procurement processes. It features palm-sized, fan-less edge servers that maintain a compressed, privacy-scrubbed clone of the twin during fiber outages, ensuring local operations like rooftop PV and smart-lighting relays continue. The system uses a diverse mix of sensor technologies (Thread, LoRaWAN, Wi-Sun) to accommodate various building types and avoids vendor lock-in by using an ‘M-Bus to MQTT’ translator with open-source YAML recipes.

How does the digital twin enhance maintenance and operational efficiency?

The digital twin significantly enhances maintenance by prioritizing interventions based on life-cycle cost, generating weekly ‘maintenance dance cards,’ and beaming them to handheld devices. For example, it can predict component failures, like a stairwell actuator, by cross-referencing invoices and manufacturer data, suggesting swaps to prevent downtime. This proactive approach has been shown to cut annual energy use significantly, as seen in similar implementations like an Espoo courthouse which reduced energy consumption by 18% in six months.

What are the ripple effects of the digital twin beyond building management?

The digital twin’s impact extends beyond basic building management to social infrastructure and financial benefits. It uses blockchain technology for tamper-proof digital passports for components, ensuring plumbers are paid only when AI vision confirms a fix, reducing disputed invoices. It also optimizes energy planning by integrating Time-of-Use tariffs, weather forecasts, and Eskom’s wind predictions to shift energy consumption and save costs. Furthermore, it optimizes water usage, reducing potable water for landscaping by scheduling irrigation based on precise environmental data. The system also supports social initiatives, such as a WhatsApp ‘maintenance buddy’ for early-childhood centers.

How does the digital twin project foster learning and community engagement?

The project includes a ‘Twin Lab’ where failed circuit boards are studied, and trainees are incentivized to reduce energy consumption, making maintenance a valued skill. Occupants are encouraged to ‘gamify stewardship’ by hunting for inefficiencies like overridden daylight sensors or dust alerts, with points leading to rewards like canteen vouchers. This approach fosters a culture of awareness and responsibility among building users and staff, effectively turning the building into a ‘living curriculum’ for the city’s future.

What is the future outlook and scalability of Bellville Civic Centre’s digital twin initiative?

The initiative is already scaling, with three libraries, two clinics, and the colossal Cape Town Civic Centre having been LiDAR-scanned. The goal is to digitize 100 buildings by 2029, covering 4.5 million square meters, equivalent to Helsinki’s entire downtown. This will allow city planners to query every pump, lift, and luminaire in milliseconds. The project has also garnered international interest, leading to ‘south-south exchanges’ with other cities like eThekwini and Singapore, demonstrating its potential as a global model for smart city development.

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Leading organisations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa are revealing how business AI has shifted from experimentation to realised business value at this year’s 51ˇçÁ÷SAPPHIRE, held in Madrid between 19 and 21 May.

The event included demonstrations of two different but connected approaches to AI adoption by and . Ericsson is building the governed data foundation needed to scale AI across the enterprise, while Martur Fompak International is embedding AI directly into physical manufacturing operations to transform execution on the shop floor.

Nazia Pillay, Managing Director for Southern Africa at SAP, says: “The next phase of AI adoption is about execution. Organisations are looking for trusted data foundations, strong governance and practical business use cases that can deliver measurable value. By embedding AI into the systems and workflows companies already use, 51ˇçÁ÷is helping customers scale AI responsibly and turn ambition into real-world impact.”

Nazia Pillay

Ericsson builds the foundation for trusted AI at scale

Ericsson is moving from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide execution by building a unified business data fabric with . The approach enables the company to scale AI use cases across the business, accelerate decision-making and deliver measurable operational impact.

Ericsson, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, provides mobile network infrastructure across 180 countries, with more than 40% of the world’s mobile traffic passing through its networks. As AI becomes central to both its technology roadmap and how it runs the business, Ericsson has prioritised building a strong, governed data foundation to support scalable and trusted AI.

“Once you scale AI, it stops being an AI problem—and becomes a data problem,” says , Vice President, Customer Experience, Enterprise IT at Ericsson. “That’s why we invested early in a business data fabric. With 51ˇçÁ÷Business Data Cloud, we can define what data means once—from revenue to market structures and access rules—and apply it consistently across the enterprise. That’s what allows us to scale AI in a way that is trusted, repeatable and delivers real business value.”

At the core of Ericsson’s approach is a federated data architecture that allows data to remain in place while centrally managing business semantics, governance and lifecycle policies. By focusing on high-impact use cases and organising around end-to-end business processes rather than isolated solutions, Ericsson has moved beyond pilots to scaled deployment. Today, more than 85 000 users are live on unified Joule, supported by strong executive sponsorship and governance.

51ˇçÁ÷and Ericsson are also collaborating on AI co-innovation initiatives, including an intelligent goal recommendation capability developed within 51ˇçÁ÷SuccessFactors. The solution generates contextual, business-aligned goals for employees, improving execution and reducing administrative effort.

Martur Fompak brings AI into physical manufacturing operations

Martur Fompak International, a global leader in automotive seating and interior systems, has deployed an autonomous intralogistics model enabled by and embodied AI capabilities from SAP, marking a significant milestone in its journey toward intelligent, AI-driven manufacturing operations.

In an industry rapidly shifting toward AI-powered operations, Martur Fompak International saw an opportunity to reimagine its material flow. Building on efficient, people-driven processes already in place, the company partnered with 51ˇçÁ÷and , a UK-based robotics and AI company, to explore how embodied AI-powered robotics could redefine material flow across its automotive manufacturing environment.

Using Joule and embodied AI capabilities from SAP, Martur Fompak International now connects production signals and business context directly to autonomous execution, creating a context-aware automation system that prioritises, picks and delivers materials while adapting in real time to changing business conditions.

Built on and enabled by , the solution enriches humanoid robots with real-time knowledge of tasks, attributes and exception handling. Guided by material data, storage locations, sequencing and production priorities, humanoid robots execute material flows across a live automotive manufacturing environment, identifying, transporting and delivering materials to the line while continuously confirming back into 51ˇçÁ÷solutions.

Together with autonomous mobile robots, the company has created a fully automated, scalable material flow that boosts throughput, improves accuracy and reduces reliance on manual coordination. By assigning repetitive, non-value-adding and physically demanding tasks to robots, Martur Fompak International is enabling its people to focus on safer, more meaningful and higher-value work.

“Our humanoid robot collaborates with digital production systems to ensure seamless coordination across order management, logistics and production, enabling scalable AI adoption and improving efficiency, consistency and operational resilience,” says , Group Intelligent Technologies Director at Martur Fompak International.

Early results show increased throughput, fewer errors and a scalable, AI-driven intralogistics model. With 400 daily production line feeds and 100% 51ˇçÁ÷software-driven decision-making already in place, Martur Fompak International is advancing beyond traditional automation and pioneering a scalable, intelligent factory model.

Pillay adds: “Ericsson and Martur Fompak International show that AI delivers the greatest value when it is grounded in business context and embedded into core processes. From enterprise data foundations to intelligent robotics on the factory floor, these examples demonstrate how organisations can scale AI responsibly, improve productivity and create measurable business impact.”

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The solution is focused on Absa’s group reporting and financial consolidation landscape. The renewed five-year agreement enhances Absa’s ambition to modernise financial systems and applications and embeds group-wide standards that enhance agility, flexibility and robust financial control.

“We’re proud to continue supporting Absa’s finance modernisation with trusted 51ˇçÁ÷application management services,” said , Managing Director of Application Services at NTT DATA in Middle East and Africa. “Our focus is on reliable operations, continuous improvement and measurable business outcomes that will help Absa strengthen controls and unlock real-time insights from a resilient S/4HANA foundation.”

Under the leadership of , Absa Managing Executive responsible for Financial Control Functions and Finance CIO, Absa has progressively consolidated ledgers, streamlined close processes and moved finance operations to a modern 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA foundation, integrated with best-of-breed spend management.

“Our efforts to build a single source of financial truth for Absa across Africa are ongoing,” said John. “Renewing and extending our partnership with NTT DATA ensures we have the specialist 51ˇçÁ÷capability and dependable operations to match the scale of our ambition, supporting stronger controls, faster close cycles and the data quality our business stakeholders expect. This is a South Africa-led transformation with Africa-wide impact and our unified platform positions Absa to grow with resilience and transparency.”

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, a global leader in fiber-based specialty materials, together with its digital business partner , set and achieved an ambitious goal: to implement a fully operational ERP system, , at one of their factories within a month. With over 6,000 customers Ahlstrom runs 36 factories in 13 countries. Each factory’s operations are supported by an ERP system ensuring production runs smoothly without interruptions.

A New Era for ERP Implementations: From Months to Weeks

Ahlstrom was seeking a cost-effective, fast, and scalable way to implement Cloud ERP in one of its smaller production units, while also creating a replicable operating model that could be used for similar projects at other company factories.

The extremely tight schedule made the rollout historic. Traditionally, ERP renewals take months or even years, but Ahlstrom wanted to find out how quickly and cost-effectively a modern 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA Public Cloud implementation could be done. Vincit’s team accepted the challenge, and together with Ahlstrom, they succeeded in completing the entire rollout in less than a month.

“We didn’t just implement a new system but proved that a project that used to take months and massive resources can be done in four weeks. Vincit succeeded with a truly ambitious schedule and gave us a scalable, modern foundation that will define our future 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA Public Cloud rollouts. This would not have been possible without their exceptional expertise in both S/4HANA implementations and manufacturing industry processes,” says , Head of Shared IT Platforms, Ahlstrom.

Success Factors for a Rapid Rollout

At the core of the 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA Public Cloud system is the clean core philosophy: the ERP system is kept standardized, and necessary customizations are done through integrations and application extentions on the 51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform. Compared to traditional ERP projects, a four-week cloud rollout requires each 51ˇçÁ÷consultant to have very broad and versatile expertise, rather than deep specialization. Consultants must manage the entire supply chain and be able to lead change so that end users commit to the new solution. When the team is built on multi-skilled experts, the team size remains small, time use is efficient, and overall productivity increases.

Vincit had previously productized the Public Cloud implementation, which significantly accelerated the project. Ahlstrom’s strong commitment, and Vincit’s 51ˇçÁ÷expertise and knowledge of manufacturing industry processes from procurement to distribution were also significant success factors for the rapid rollout.

“This is possibly the most significant change in ERP implementations since 51ˇçÁ÷was founded in 1972,” says , Vincit’s Business Area Lead. “ERP projects have traditionally been seen as slow and expensive, but cloud-based ERP systems have permanently changed the game. Fast rollouts also motivate 51ˇçÁ÷consultants: value can be delivered to the customer faster and with smaller teams than ever before.”

Significant Business Impact

A scalable system delivers added value immediately. The Ahlstrom factory in question now has a modern ERP system that improves operational efficiency right from the start. The clean core approach enables new extensions and functionalities to be added more quickly and cost-effectively in the future.

Ahlstrom can reuse the 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud project model in its other factories. The cloud transition gives the company access to SAP’s latest innovations, including 51ˇçÁ÷Joule’s AI capabilities. At the same time, long-term maintenance costs are significantly reduced.

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The Ocean Cleanup focuses on reducing plastic pollution in rivers and oceans, operates internationally, and is growing rapidly. To date, they have already removed more than 40 million kilograms of waste. However, their ambitions go further: by 2040, The Ocean Cleanup aims to have removed 90% of floating ocean plastic and cleaned up plastic pollution in 90 river cities. This represents a major scale-up of their work, with more activities and installations in rivers and oceans worldwide.

Flexible Growth

To properly manage global processes and support international activities, The Ocean Cleanup urgently needed a modern and scalable system. The Dutch non-profit organization therefore chose to replace its NetSuite system with 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition. This modern ERP platform enables The Ocean Cleanup to achieve its growth ambitions: the system is easily scalable and can be flexibly adapted as processes, projects, or international activities expand.

A strong foundation for global collaboration is essential. For example, financial teams must work closely with fundraisers to optimally distribute donations across international projects, while project teams, engineers, and data analysts coordinate daily on technology, planning, and budgets for initiatives in rivers and oceans worldwide. As , Senior Partnership Manager at The Ocean Cleanup, puts it: “Perfect coordination between teams is essential; we hunt plastic together as a pack. The system helps us with that collaboration, allowing us to respond quickly to new challenges.”

Aurelia Ferraro further explains: “We are growing exponentially, and our internal processes have become increasingly complex, with operations spanning multiple countries. 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA is the ideal system to manage that complexity.” She emphasizes that the transformation is about more than just technology: “Change and innovation are always complex, but our organization is accustomed to change. We invest a lot of energy in communication and training, which ensures smooth 51ˇçÁ÷adoption.”

Fast implementation and configuration

, Strategic Advisor at , The Ocean Cleanup’s implementation partner, adds: “Together with The Ocean Cleanup, we are following a phased implementation. SAP’s 80-20 fit-to-standard approach allows us to implement quickly, after which we configure specific processes in 51ˇçÁ÷according to The Ocean Cleanup’s needs.”

The implementation began with financial administration and purchasing modules for five Dutch entities. The upcoming phases will include project management and logistics modules that provide insight into The Ocean Cleanup’s complex river and ocean projects. The organization expects to complete the transition to 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA by the end of 2025.

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As part of its broader digital transformation strategy, Al-Futtaim Automotive, a division of Al-Futtaim, partnered with SNP and IBM to modernize and future-proof its 51ˇçÁ÷environment. The project involved converting a 16-terabyte 51ˇçÁ÷ECC system to 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA, an initiative of significant scale and complexity. Despite this, the transformation was completed ahead of schedule in August 2025, with only 30.5 hours of technical downtime.

“This project showcases what can be achieved when deep expertise and partnership come together”, says , CEO of SNP SE. “I am humbled to meet our partners at Al-Futtaim Group here in Dubai to celebrate this milestone together. Their trust in SNP underscores our commitment to the region, supporting their growth journey as they embrace digital transformation.”

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With mainstream support for legacy 51ˇçÁ÷ECC systems ending in 2027, IBM guided Toyota through a Brownfield upgrade strategy, enabling a seamless transition to 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA while preserving existing business process investments. This approach minimized disruption, accelerated deployment timelines, and ensured continuity for critical operations.

Driving Transformation Across Core Business Functions

Vehicle Management Modernization

IBM led the upgrade of Toyota’s national Vehicle Management System—a mission-critical platform for managing orders, inventory, sales, and financial reporting across manufacturing and dealerships. By migrating to 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA, Toyota now benefits from real-time data visibility, improved inventory optimization, and faster responsiveness to customer demand.

Human Capital Management Enhancement

The second phase focused on modernizing Toyota’s HR systems, including payroll and personnel administration. IBM delivered a streamlined 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA-based HCM platform that simplifies workforce processes and lays the foundation for enhanced talent management and employee engagement.

Speed, Continuity, and Risk Reduction

Both upgrades were delivered on schedule and without operational disruption, ensuring Toyota maintained business continuity while modernizing its core systems. IBM’s proven methodologies and deep 51ˇçÁ÷expertise enabled a risk-mitigated transformation aligned with Toyota’s strategic objectives.

“We are proud to support Toyota South Africa Motors in their digital transformation journey by delivering technology solutions that accelerate innovation and strengthen business resilience,” said , Managing Partner, IBM Consulting South Africa. “At IBM, we call this the Science of Consulting – combining human expertise, AI, and technology to deliver scalable, data-driven transformations. By improving data visibility and governance, we help organizations like Toyota achieve their goals with speed and confidence.”

, Managing Director, Southern Africa at SAP, says: “The best companies run on trusted data, optimised business processes and real-time intelligence into every part of the business. By upgrading to 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA, companies like Toyota unlock a suite of intelligent technologies that help transform business processes with intelligent automation. We commend Toyota and IBM on this powerful business transformation initiative and wish them well as they continue their rollout.”

A Partnership Built for the Future

Building on these successes, IBM is collaborating with Toyota on the next phase of its 51ˇçÁ÷modernization program, focusing on parts management systems. IBM and SAP’s long-standing partnership brings together hybrid cloud infrastructure, automation, and generative AI innovations powered by IBM watsonx™, enabling clients to unlock new value and drive industry-specific transformation.

With over 18,000 certified 51ˇçÁ÷consultants and 300+ 51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA implementations in the past five years, IBM helps organizations define transformation roadmaps, co-innovate solutions, and deploy modernization strategies with speed, scale, and AI-driven outcomes.

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KTDA Group Chief Executive Officer, Wilson Muthaura said the agency was executing a comprehensive transformation strategy anchored on sustainability, innovation and farmer-centric governance.

He said KTDA’s singular goal was to maximise value for farmers while building a world-class, future-ready tea enterprise.

Muthaura revealed that KTDA had launched a major internal restructuring effort to ensure that the transformation and intended goals were achieved.

He added that the agency’s board had established ten cross-functional management committees to drive efficiency, reduce costs and accelerate value addition.

The GCEO said the committees would also identify business opportunities along the entire value chain from farm to factory and all the way to the market.

“These committees are actively feeding into our newly developed KTDA Group Strategic Plan, which aims to future-proof our operations,” he added.

He explained that the transformation strategy was not a top-down process since it was arrived at after a landmark meeting, the first of its kind since the Tea Act reforms of 2020 which was convened by KTDA chairman.

“All the 71 factory unit managers and KTDA’s senior leadership came together to co-develop a roadmap that ensures every decision made benefited the farmer.,” he said.

Muthaura said KTDA’s main objective was to ensure that farmers received not just better prices but better services.

“The services range from enhancing fertiliser distribution and leaf collection logistics to upgrading factory efficiency and introducing traceability tools,” he said.

The GCEO observed that implementation of the Systems, Applications and Products (SAP) enterprise system was already streamlining operations across KTDA thereby ensuring smarter, data-driven decisions.

He said KTDA had enhanced its digital backbone to create more agile processes and eliminate inefficiencies.

“The agency is doubling down on communication and farmer engagement to ensure that growers are not just recipients of services, but co-owners of the solutions because they are shareholders, stakeholders, and strategic partners,” he said.

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The company has announced the completion of a private cloud data centre in Durban, as well as a Gauteng-based colocation facility in partnership with mobile operator Vodacom.

The announcement comes after Transnet last week  its enterprise resource planning system from ECC 6.0 to 51ˇçÁ÷S4/HANA.

Transnet plays a central role in the country’s economy by managing key infrastructure that supports trade and industrial growth.

Despite facing operational and financial challenges in recent years, it remains a strategic asset tasked with modernising South Africa’s logistics network, improving efficiencies and positioning the country as a competitive hub for global trade.

According to Transnet, the completion of the facilities will modernise its data centre and hosting capabilities.

It says this move will allow it to navigate the increasingly complex digital landscapes, ensuring the foundational operations are resilient, secure and capable of supporting next-generation business applications.

This initiative is one of the four strategic pillars of Transnet’s ICT digital modernisation strategy, says the state-owned company (SOC).

It explains that the private cloud data centre in Durban is designed to serve as a secure and scalable hub for business-critical systems. The colocation environment provides geographic redundancy and resilience, while extending reach into one of the country’s primary ICT corridors.

Supported by a public cloud on Microsoft Azure through its strategic partners − Microsoft and Liquid Intelligence Technologies − these facilities provide the necessary capacity, flexibility and operational resilience to migrate core business applications and decades of data into a hybrid cloud architecture, says the SOC.

Critical to this transformation has been the collaboration with Altron, with its original equipment manufacturer, Huawei, the technology partner responsible for configuring and preparing the two private cloud environments, it states.

Transnet notes their expertise in data centre and cloud solutions accelerated readiness, ensuring the environments are optimised for migration and future integration into the broader hybrid cloud strategy.

By partnering with Vodacom for colocation services in Gauteng, Transnet has also ensured strong network integration and high availability within South Africa’s ICT ecosystem, it adds.

“The journey towards digital transformation is ongoing but achieving readiness at the data centre and hosting level marks an essential milestone,” says Transnet group chief information officer Pandelani Munyai.

“By investing in private and public cloud facilities, leveraging colocation partnerships and collaborating with trusted technology partners, the organisation has built a robust foundation for the future where ICT is a key driver of growth, efficiency and resilience.”

Munyai notes that with the data centre and infrastructure foundation in place, the organisation is now well-positioned to migrate core business applications and vast repositories of historical data into its new hybrid cloud environment.

He points out that this will not only modernise ICT operations, but will also unlock opportunities for advanced analytics, digital platforms and innovation across the business.

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51ˇçÁ÷S/4HANA is SAP’s latest ERP software suite, built on the company’s HANA in-memory database platform, enabling real-time data processing, advanced analytics, and integration of intelligent technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

It serves as the core of an organisation’s digital operations, managing everything from finance and HR to sales and supply chain, and is available for cloud, on-premises, or hybrid deployment.

°ŐłóąđĚýmigration comes after Transnet had been grappling with severe delays at South Africa’s major ports, where backlogs have disrupted the flow of goods and dented business confidence.

Congestion at container terminals, equipment breakdowns, and inefficiencies in rail and logistics operations have worsened turnaround times, leaving cargo ships waiting offshore for days and slowing exports of key commodities.

In a statement, Transnet says through in-memory computing and advanced analytics, the migration allows the company to operate with greater agility, reliability and insight, all of which are critical factors in ensuring the entity remains competitive and resilient in a rapidly-changing environment.

This migration is part of Transnet’s ICT Digital Modernisation Strategy, which is built on four strategic pillars, including the modernisation of its core applications, it notes.

Changing with the times

According to the state-owned company (SOC), the S4/HANA modernisation programme is one of several strategic initiatives within the broader ICT strategy, aimed at driving innovation and improving Transnet’s service delivery.

The ERP is core to Transnet’s operations and has been formulated as a strategic initiative driven by a programme with a focus on Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) as the leading operating division in the company’s migration roadmap, the SOC notes.

The successful transition of TPT is just the beginning, says the company, adding that it plans to migrate the remaining 51ˇçÁ÷ECC6 systems across its operating divisions as part of a broader S4/HANA modernisation programme, leveraging the lessons learned from the initial success of TPT.

Transnet group chief information officer says this step aligns with the SOC’s ongoing digital transformation agenda and marks a pivotal moment for the organisation.

“It underscores our commitment to enhancing operational efficiency and supports Transnet’s ‘Reinvent for Growth’ strategy, which focuses on sustainable growth, operational excellence and creating value for stakeholders. Our successful move to S/4 HANA is more than a system upgrade; it’s a foundation for innovation and growth across the organisation,” says Munyai.

He points out that as part of the digital transformation journey, TPT has reached a milestone by completing the migration across all 16 sea-cargo terminals nationwide.

“This transition represents not just a technological upgrade, but a fundamental step forward in modernising our business processes, improving efficiency and enabling smarter decision-making across Transnet.”

, general manager for corporate services and information communication technology at TPT, emphasises the scale and significance of the achievement.

“We’ve completed our transition to S/4HANA with minimal disruption to operations. This is a major accomplishment, considering the complexity of such upgrades. Many global organisations have faced significant delays, cost overruns, or even failed implementations.”

He says the success is a testament to the dedication and collaboration of Transnet’s internal teams and partners.

Raliphada adds: “This system empowers us with enhanced visibility and control across sourcing, billing, pricing, inventory, contracts and credit management. It also supports our OEM [original equipment manufacturer] partnerships and maintenance contracts, ensuring our investment in new equipment is backed by a robust digital backbone.”

For Munyai, this achievement is a testament to the collective effort of TPT leadership and the project team, group ICT PMO and system integrator Tech Mahindra.

“This shows that when technical expertise meets teamwork, there are no limits to what can be achieved. Moving to S4/HANA not only aligns us with the long-term 51ˇçÁ÷roadmap but also opens the door to future innovation.”

Munyai explains that the in-memory database capabilities of HANA enable instant processing of large datasets, empowering Transnet to run predictive analytics, AI applications, and real-time reporting without the need for data duplication into business warehouse or other business intelligence tools.

“The introduction of simplified data models – eliminating aggregates and index tables – significantly reduces system complexity and lowers total cost of ownership, while helping to standardise and harmonise processes across business units.

“This successful migration is a testament to the dedicated teams and their commitment to driving Transnet forward to embrace the future of digital operations,” Munyai concludes.

This article first appeared in .

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