Eleven years, one order at a time

• 2015Umbusso Engineers (Pty) Ltd registered in Mpumalanga (registration 2015/166854/07).
• 2017First Eskom generation work: repair of two main coal conveyor gearboxes at an Eskom power station for the main contractor, including manufacture of a new output shaft (December 2017).
• 2020Concrete paving and stormwater drainage works at an Eskom power station as subcontractor to the main contractor, August–October, closed out with a certificate of completion.
• 2021First direct Eskom orders: PTZ and fixed IP cameras across the fuel oil plant, Helix rotor flow meters, surveillance network infrastructure, CAT6 structured cabling and remote intrusion monitoring — six further orders through to April 2022.
• 2022Structural steel beam installation and modification inside a water tank at an Eskom power station, September.
• 2023Engineering workshop with a 15-ton overhead crane leased at 31 Lincoln Road, Benoni South, for gearbox repair and CNC machining. Access-control and surveillance diagnostics and a security assessment for an Eskom station..
• 2024Eskom orders for the manufacture and supply of 18 conveyor pulleys for an Eskom power station and the refurbishment of three EVAPCO evaporative coolers, both October.
• 2025Quality, environmental and safety management systems certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 (January). Conveyor pulleys manufactured and delivered (March–April). Old simulator building upgrade delivered (March–April). Workshop services and supervised pumps-maintenance resources contract with Eskom (January 2025 – January 2026). ASME IX welding procedures qualified (September). Appointed Main Contractor by Eskom for the rubber lining of slurry-plant pipes and mixers (October).
• 2026Welding quality system certified to ISO 3834-2:2021 by JC Auditors (April). B-BBEE Level 1 affidavit renewed (January). Workshop resources contract renewed (December 2025).

What has stayed constant

Umbusso has grown from a subcontractor on a single gearbox repair to a Main Contractor on Eskom sites, and from one workshop to two. The way an order runs has not changed: a quality plan agreed before work starts, coded welders with current qualifications, calibrated equipment, a safety file that survives audit, and a data book at close-out.

The company remains 100% black owned and based in Trichardt, in the middle of the Mpumalanga power-station and petrochemical belt, within reach of the Mpumalanga power-station cluster.