An eightfold surge in profits during 2020, the height of the Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa, has seen Shumani Industrial Equipment awarded the 2021 Goscor Business Unit of the Year Award. Outstanding new equipment forklift sales, combined with a large contribution from the expanded rental equipment fleet, resulted in the exceptional results.

Now the largest black-owned and managed industrial equipment supplier in South Africa, Shumani is an appointed dealer for all Goscor Group companies that import industrial equipment for the local market. It supplies world-class equipment across the breadth of the industrial and construction sectors.

Brands on offer include world-leading names like Bendi, Crown, Kalmar, and Doosan in the forklift market. Construction equipment brands include Bobcat, Sany, HPower, Weima, Luthian, Ozen and Sullair. In the cleaning equipment market segment, Shumani offers Tennant, Genie, Sentinel and HighPoint.

Most of the equipment supplied by Shumani is used in the stores and logistics departments of both construction and mining companies. “We offer some exciting brands in the construction and mining sectors like Sany and Bobcat. Our Crown forklift is the leading electric brand, which is tested and has proved resilient in the market,” says Shumani MD Victor Nemukula.

“Our key offering remains forklifts, which will lead the way in terms of growth. We think there is still a lot of scope for Shumani in the market, as we offer a one-stop shop. We believe the construction and mining sectors will offer ongoing support as we expand further,” says Nemukula.

While Shumani is currently headquartered in Gauteng, it has seen growth in Durban over the past two years. “We believe that supplying materials-handling equipment for port operations is the next growth area for us,” reveals Nemukula. Hence it has established a regional office with highly skilled personnel and is on the lookout for new premises as it continues to expand in KwaZulu-Natal. At present, Shumani supplies port equipment to Transnet Freight Rail and Transnet Port Operations on a short-term rental basis.

“We are gratified at receiving the 2021 Goscor Business Unit of the Year Award. We were able to show significant growth and retain our existing customers during this difficult period. More recently, we have also been able to diversify the business by making inroads into the port-handling, mining, and construction sectors, among others,” concludes Nemukula.