PPC Limited

PPC Limited is a leading supplier of cement and building materials in Southern Africa, headquartered in Johannesburg. PPC traces its beginnings more than 130 years to the outskirts of Pretoria, where it was incorporated in 1892 as South Africa’s first cement manufacturer.

Registered name

PPC Limited

Type

Listed company (cement and building materials)

Fields funded

Engineering and manufacturing-related qualifications

Website

ppc.africa

Factories and materials

PPC operates 14 cement factories in South Africa, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe, with capacity of around nine million tonnes of cement products a year. PPC’s materials division supplies ready-mixed concrete from 23 batching plants in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo, aggregates such as sand and crushed stone from two Gauteng operations, and fly ash from two Mpumalanga operations, including exports to neighbouring countries.

Milestones in PPC’s history

PPC’s history includes founding the Eastern Province Cement Company near Port Elizabeth, starting production at the Jupiter factory in Germiston, and buying Western Cape property that became the Riebeeck operation, where General Jan Smuts was born. PPC later became a subsidiary of the Barlow Rand group and diversified into lime.

PPC built the Dwaalboom cement plant but mothballed it during a recession, before recommissioning it as South Africa’s most technologically advanced cement plant. PPC also launched SUREBUILD, the first branded general-purpose cement in South Africa, and today sells its PPC SURE range as 100% local cement.

People and careers

PPC says it aims to create a healthy, rewarding working environment and recognises excellence, innovation and team members who embody its “Strength Beyond” values. PPC supports bursaries and learnerships in engineering and manufacturing-related fields, according to a provider record checked in August 2026. BursariesAfrica’s older PPC guide mentions chemical, electrical, mechanical, mining and industrial engineering, but has not been refreshed with verified 2027 details.

How to research PPC

Visit PPC’s careers pages, which direct applicants to its recruitment portal, and look for bursary or learnership adverts from mid-year. Cement plants run kilns, mills and quarries around the clock, so mechanical and electrical engineering students and artisans are in steady demand. Ask PPC whether bursars do vacation work at plants such as Dwaalboom, Riebeeck or De Hoek, and whether PPC funds diploma students.

Cement production is energy-intensive and releases carbon dioxide, so engineers who understand energy efficiency, alternative fuels and blended cements that use less clinker will be increasingly valuable to PPC and its competitors.

See our mechanical engineering bursaries list.