The purpose of this expression of interest (EOI) is to engage company profiles from interested parties who wish to participate in this tender for the provision of Enumeration, Growth & Yield Research and Quality Assessments in Mondi South Africa Forestry Plantations across the KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga region.
The scope of work required for the Enumeration, Growth & Yield Research and Quality Assessments above would include, but not be limited to:
Pre-harvesting enumerations,
Ad hoc enumerations,
Growth and yield research trial measurements,
Establishment phase quality assessments.
Mandatory Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must supply proof of the following mandatory criteria:
Company Profile.
Company registration documents.
3 years proven track record in performing forestry Enumeration, Growth & Yield Research and Quality Assessments work.
List of relevant owned plant within your company.
Minimum 3 years historical safety record if available, including certification, e.g. NOSA, ISO.
Safety File (including but not limited to Letter of Good Standing WCA/FEM, SHE Policy and SHE Plan).
Letter from the bank/ accounting officer proving financial stability.
BBBEE status / certificate (preferably minimum Level 3 BEE Contributor)
SARS Tax Clearance Certificate.
Proof of Professional Indemnity and Public Liability Insurance cover.
Any sundry certification which validates the skills or level of competency of the workforce.
Contact name, email address, and telephone number for the person who must receive communications for the tender.
Contactable references or reference letters.
Closing date for submission: 14 November 2025 (12H00 midday).
Note: After pre-qualification, successful service providers will be invited and issued with a detailed tender document. Mondi South Africa reserves the right to reject any or all EOIs or to cancel or withdraw this Expression of Interest solicitation for any reason and at its sole discretion without incurring any cost or liability for costs or damages incurred by any applicant, including, without limitation, any expenses incurred in the preparation of the submission. Should you not receive correspondence by 12 December 2025 please consider your EOI unsuccessful.
Oxen offloading logs at Thesens Sawmill. Pic by discover-sedgefield-south-africa.com
Adam Stander was born in the Knysna forest in 1928 and given two birth days, 22 November, when his name was carved on a tree to note his birth and 28 November, the day his woodcutter father travelled into town and registered his son’s birth.
The Knysna forest, which forms part of the “Garden Route” on South Africa’s southern coastline, was historically significant from colonial times as a natural timber resource used for fuelwood, construction, shipbuilding, furniture, and other purposes.
Life was hard
Life was hard for forest woodcutters. Boys from a young age laboured in their father’s harvesting team and were taken out of school when they were about 12 to work full-time. It was a challenging and dangerous life, with woodcutters working and camping in hazardous conditions to harvest and transport trees out of the forest to sawmills in Knysna.
Adam often regaled his daughter, Dalena Wolmarans, with stories of growing up and working with his father, and later with his own oxen, deep in the Knysna forest.
“Good for” payments
Woodcutters were usually paid with a “Good for” list of items they could exchange for their timber, including foodstuffs like sweet potatoes, flour, and coffee. This meant that no money was exchanged, which made it nearly impossible to save and break free from this kind of life.
On one occasion, potatoes were left in the fire overnight to cool. The elephants paid the camp a visit after dark, scratched out the potato treats and ate the men’s breakfast! Another time, the bread was five days old and too hard to eat. The men rolled it into hard balls that they threw at a few luckless doves, managing to kill them for dinner.
In 1913, a new Forest Act required woodcutters to register to practise their trade. The register of that time reflects 1,260 woodcutters.
The trees were numbered, and the registered men had to draw numbers out of a hat to obtain the trees they were allowed to harvest. They often had to walk deep into the forest to find and fell the allocated tree. Frequently, it was in a deep valley or on a steep slope, making it backbreaking to extract.
By this time, the government realised that harvesting indigenous timber was unsustainable and promoted the planting of pine plantations.
In those days trains were also used to extract logs from the Garden Route indigenous forests. Pic by Discover-sedgefield-south-africa.com
Adam Stander legacy
Adam had an entrepreneurial spirit and was determined to work his way out of the forest. In 1950, the owner of a Knysna garage was so impressed by the young man’s resolve that he did an unheard-of thing in those days and loaned him the money to buy a truck.
For almost 30 years, AJJ Stander Vervoer transported pine for Thesens Sawmill, the largest sawmill in the area at the time, until its wood yard burned down. Thereafter, he hauled timber for Urbans Sawmill in George.
He also established Adam Stander Houtverkope and a sawmill until he handed the reins to Dalena to continue growing the family legacy.
Dalena Wolmarans does it her way
Dalena Wolmarans sawing blackwood at her sawmill in Knysna
Dalena Wolmarans’ entrepreneurial journey in Knysna is remarkable. Not only has she been running three successful companies since 1993, but she is also a truck driver, sawmill operator, wife, and proud mother of two daughters.
She runs the businesses established by her father, Adam Stander, back in 1950, namely Adam Stander Houtverkope (timber sales), a sawmill and AJJ Stander Vervoer (transport).
In 1993, 16 months after Dalena finished a Diploma in Tourism, Adam had a stroke, and she returned home to take over running the company with her brother. She acquired her heavy vehicle driving licence at the age of 21 and started driving the company’s trucks.
Evolve like the butterfly
In industries traditionally dominated by men, she has made her mark through determination, skill, and ingenuity. From the sawmill floor to driving thousands of kilometres on the road, she knows and manages every aspect of the businesses and believes in delivering on every promise.
A question Dalena often gets asked is what it takes to be a successful woman in the business world, particularly in the transport and timber industries.
“I think the challenges are generally the same for women and men. We work in very demanding industries, and there is very little room for error”, says Dalena. “I do believe there is an added layer of scrutiny for women, and I often feel like I am being held to a higher standard, where mistakes aren’t tolerated”.
She believes in being proactive, in meticulous planning, and anticipating problems before they arise.
“In our business, it comes down to continuously delivering exceptional results. I am also a mother, so I know all about multitasking and always being ‘on it. We must continually adapt to new government policies and shifting market conditions. That is why our company logo features a butterfly, as I believe one must always be ready to evolve to remain relevant and competitive”.
Currently, 75% of AJJ Stander Vervoer’s business involves transporting agricultural poles, while the balance is dedicated to transporting sawlogs from plantations. One of the biggest challenges the company faces is managing the volume of loads for the two trucks in its fleet.
AJJ Stander Vervoer has a woman in the driving seat. Dalena Wolmarans takes delivery of the new Volvo FH 480 6x4
New Volvo FH 480
The company recently took delivery of a new Volvo FH 480 6x4 with a rigid chassis at Volvo Trucks’ assembly plant in Durban.
“One of the advantages of working with Volvo Trucks is the ability to order and customise a truck according to our own unique requirements. And to see it come off the line here is just the best experience, and we can’t wait to see it in action on the hills and valleys where we operate”, says Dalena.
The company’s journey with Volvo Trucks began in 1998, when Dalena and her husband, Wollie, used a Volvo FH 12 420 as their wedding vehicle.
“My experience with Volvo Trucks has shown me that investing in the right equipment, even if it comes with higher upfront costs, ultimately proves to be more cost-effective in the long run”, says Dalena.
“The reliability, performance and reduced maintenance requirements of our Volvo trucks have more than justified the initial investment, allowing us to operate more efficiently and minimise downtime”.
“What sealed the deal for me is the Volvo Trucks team’s willingness to listen to my specific needs and tailor their support accordingly. Despite being just one of many customers, I always feel valued and understood”.
Maintenance plan
The company doesn’t have a vehicle workshop and relies on Volvo Trucks dealerships. “As the service and maintenance of our trucks is not our speciality, we decided to go with a Volvo Trucks Gold maintenance plan. We have found that it offers us the perfect combination of optimised vehicle uptime without us having to worry about the maintenance side of things”, comments Dalena.
Until May 2010, the company bought indigenous hardwood timber and blackwood at government wood auctions run by SANParks. She realised it would be more beneficial to the company to cut the wood rather than sell it. The company bought a small log breakdown machine from Gearing Moss, and Dalena took a crash course in operating it.
Today, she remains very hands-on and can rapidly sharpen blades and cut four cubic metres of timber in a day. Of course, she sometimes drives the trucks to deliver the kiln-dried timber to customers.
“Back then, I just took it all on because that was the next challenge in front of me, and it had to get done. I was, and still am, determined to succeed”, explains Dalena
“Today, my team forms the backbone of the business. At our small sawmill and value-adding plant, Jaydrian Carolus and Thandai Plaatjies are invaluable. I believe in investing in their development, and they’ve learned intricate woodworking skills from a master craftsman to create beautiful cutting boards and novelties”, says Dalena.
“In the same manner, our transport company is also blessed with two highly skilled, professional, and dedicated driver-operators, Wollie Wolmarans and Jonathan Carolus. I have tremendous respect for their skills and how they get the best possible performance and efficiency from their Volvo trucks”, comments Dalena.
“With a challenging load like timber, we have found that the FH 480’s downhill cruise control system helps maintain a set speed when travelling downhill by automatically using the auxiliary brake and optimising gear selection, only engaging the wheel brakes when necessary. That is why our previous FH 480 had 760,000km on the clock, and still had 60% of its original brake pads left”.
The bulk AJJ Stander Vervoer’s business is transporting agricultural poles and the balance is dedicated to hauling sawlogs from plantations
Safety and efficiency
Her approach to customer service is centred around understanding the unique needs of each customer. For example, for clients like JC Pine Mills, it is about reliability and consistency, ensuring the mill is always stocked with timber regardless of the weather. For Vuka Timbers, it is about being an extension of their business, providing seamless logistics and timely delivery to their customers.
“We distribute poles to various customers in the Western and Eastern Cape, often in difficult-to-reach sites and over challenging terrain”, says Dalena. “That is why it is important to give our drivers the most efficient, best quality, and safest trucks that enable them to deliver the best possible service to our customers”.
The company also uses Volvo Trucks’ Dynafleet app, which provides them with real-time data and insights, enabling them to optimise their operations and reduce costs.
Waldemar Christensen, MD of Volvo Trucks South Africa, comments, “We are proud to form part of the business story of AJJ Stander Vervoer, Dalena and her team. It is businesses that challenge the status quo and demonstrate what’s truly possible that inspire us to deliver the highest quality trucks and unwavering support for our customers. This is why we love the transport business and will continue to invest in its sustainable future here in South Africa”.
SA pine mass timber used to build four storey Zanzibar building
CheiChei Living building under construction
The superstructure for the four-storey CheiChei Living building, which is Africa's first CLT hybrid structure with more than two levels has been completed and fit-out is well underway. The first residents are scheduled to move-in early in the second quarter of 2025.
The entire prefabrication process happened digitally. It was a collaboration between Studio OMT architects in Germany, the client CPS Africa, designer Leander Moons, the builder in Zanzibar and South Africa’s Mass Timber Technologies (MTT).
“The modern process used building information modelling (BIM) software and good communication to ensure everyone, including the on-site workers, understand and agree with the final design. The CheiChei team never met during the design and fabrication phases”, says Marcus van der Hoven, of MTT.
“When everyone signed off on the design, we manufactured over 1091 “flat pack” components, complete with detailing, packed them into five 40-foot containers and sent them to site in Zanzibar for assembly.
The complete project will consist of 20 buildings in various configurations accommodating studio up to three-bedroom apartments with shops on the ground floor. Construction for the next eight buildings has commenced.
