Van Heerden said the idea for what became Afrimat was born in September 2004, when he identified an opportunity to consolidate South Africa\u2019s fragmented quarrying industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time, he was working for Prima Quarries after moving from the corporate world to a smaller business to gain entrepreneurial experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said a number of changes in South Africa were creating opportunities, including new environmental, labour and safety regulations, the emergence of BEE, and the awarding of the 2010 FIFA World Cup to South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quarrying sector was dominated by small, mostly family-owned businesses, which Van Heerden believed were increasingly struggling to comply with new requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese smaller businesses really battled to comply with all the changes in the environment and being able to keep up with all the new requirements. And they were desperate for a solution,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He took his idea to his superiors at Prima Quarries. Although they initially supported the concept, that changed after a lawyer advised them that the idea was unlikely to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA very clever lawyer in Cape Town said to them, \u2018Nobody will ever buy shares in a quarrying business. It\u2019s not a listable entity,\u201d Van Heerden said. The decision was then made to fire him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFire the guy and go on with your life. So that happened on the 8th of April 2005. I was fired,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than abandoning the idea, Van Heerden turned to his mentor and business partner. Together, they acquired the Lancaster Group in the Free State, which owned five quarries and several block-and-brick factories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From R10.50 per share to just R1.60<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Andries-van-Heerden-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nVan Heerden moved his family to the Free State and began building the business from there. In May 2006, however, he received a call from his former colleagues at Prima Quarries, leading to the two businesses coming together again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The merged company was subsequently listed during the strong initial public offering boom of the mid-2000s. Van Heerden recalled that the listing was 27.5 times oversubscribed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afrimat then embarked on an aggressive consolidation strategy, acquiring businesses including Malan\u2019s Quarries in the Western Cape, Denver Quarries in the Eastern Cape, Sunshine Crushers in Dundee and Blue Platinum Quarries in Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company soon faced its first major test. Van Heerden said the introduction of the National Credit Act and the global financial crisis contributed to the end of South Africa\u2019s construction boom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afrimat\u2019s share price fell from R10.50 before the crisis to R1.60 at its lowest point, and it took six years to recover to R10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company responded by repositioning itself towards infrastructure projects, supplying materials for major developments, including Medupi and Kusile power stations and Gauteng freeway projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the construction market weakened, Afrimat diversified into industrial minerals, including limestone and dolomite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It acquired Glen Douglas from Exxaro, which Van Heerden described as the company\u2019s first major turnaround. It later acquired Infrasource, a listed company that was close to bankruptcy, and Cape Lime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company later expanded into manganese and anthracite, completing what Van Heerden described as its bulk commodities portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More recently, the group acquired Lafarge South Africa, a deal Van Heerden said was driven primarily by the quality of its quarry assets rather than its cement operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t buy it for the cement. The cement is a small part of it, but it has the best quarries in South Africa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the Lafarge business was in poor condition when Afrimat acquired it and required a major cultural and operational turnaround.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, Van Heerden said the group\u2019s revenue has grown at a compound annual rate of 18% since its listing, although the company is currently working to restore profitability following pressure on some parts of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afrimat has also faced the effects of deindustrialisation, weaker iron ore prices, higher shipping costs and the closure of ferrochrome smelters. Van Heerden said these pressures demonstrate the broader challenges facing South Africa\u2019s industrial base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking ahead, Van Heerden said Afrimat has a dedicated team whose role is to assess new opportunities, and that the quality of opportunities available in South Africa remains significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll in all, Afrimat is a company where we try to be an example of what can be done when you have a healthy culture, healthy values, built on solid ethical values and good people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afrimat reached an annual group revenue of R10.0 billion for the financial year ended February 28, 2026. However, its total stock market value (market capitalisation) is lower, sitting at approximately R4.7 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andries van Heerden had an idea that led to his dismissal from a small quarrying company in 2005, which ultimately became the foundation for Afrimat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":871242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2090455598324236683","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2181748162645583","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18106631726173649","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26240,18849,853],"class_list":["post-871177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-afrimat","tag-biznews","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871177"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":871209,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871177\/revisions\/871209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nVan Heerden moved his family to the Free State and began building the business from there. In May 2006, however, he received a call from his former colleagues at Prima Quarries, leading to the two businesses coming together again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The merged company was subsequently listed during the strong initial public offering boom of the mid-2000s. Van Heerden recalled that the listing was 27.5 times oversubscribed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afrimat then embarked on an aggressive consolidation strategy, acquiring businesses including Malan\u2019s Quarries in the Western Cape, Denver Quarries in the Eastern Cape, Sunshine Crushers in Dundee and Blue Platinum Quarries in Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company soon faced its first major test. Van Heerden said the introduction of the National Credit Act and the global financial crisis contributed to the end of South Africa\u2019s construction boom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afrimat\u2019s share price fell from R10.50 before the crisis to R1.60 at its lowest point, and it took six years to recover to R10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company responded by repositioning itself towards infrastructure projects, supplying materials for major developments, including Medupi and Kusile power stations and Gauteng freeway projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the construction market weakened, Afrimat diversified into industrial minerals, including limestone and dolomite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It acquired Glen Douglas from Exxaro, which Van Heerden described as the company\u2019s first major turnaround. It later acquired Infrasource, a listed company that was close to bankruptcy, and Cape Lime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company later expanded into manganese and anthracite, completing what Van Heerden described as its bulk commodities portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More recently, the group acquired Lafarge South Africa, a deal Van Heerden said was driven primarily by the quality of its quarry assets rather than its cement operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t buy it for the cement. The cement is a small part of it, but it has the best quarries in South Africa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the Lafarge business was in poor condition when Afrimat acquired it and required a major cultural and operational turnaround.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, Van Heerden said the group\u2019s revenue has grown at a compound annual rate of 18% since its listing, although the company is currently working to restore profitability following pressure on some parts of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afrimat has also faced the effects of deindustrialisation, weaker iron ore prices, higher shipping costs and the closure of ferrochrome smelters. Van Heerden said these pressures demonstrate the broader challenges facing South Africa\u2019s industrial base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking ahead, Van Heerden said Afrimat has a dedicated team whose role is to assess new opportunities, and that the quality of opportunities available in South Africa remains significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll in all, Afrimat is a company where we try to be an example of what can be done when you have a healthy culture, healthy values, built on solid ethical values and good people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afrimat reached an annual group revenue of R10.0 billion for the financial year ended February 28, 2026. However, its total stock market value (market capitalisation) is lower, sitting at approximately R4.7 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andries van Heerden had an idea that led to his dismissal from a small quarrying company in 2005, which ultimately became the foundation for Afrimat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":871242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2090455598324236683","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2181748162645583","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18106631726173649","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26240,18849,853],"class_list":["post-871177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-afrimat","tag-biznews","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871177"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":871209,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871177\/revisions\/871209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}