Turnstar Scores at African Cup of Nations
14 August 2007
They did it in 2003 for the Cricket World Cup in South Africa and they've done it again for the African Cup of Nations 2008 in Ghana: Turnstar will supply all 132 turnstiles for Africa's biannual soccer tournament.
Craig Sacks negotiated the deal and is delighted with the choice: "Our turnstiles are 100% South African and have been designed by South African professional engineers. We were up against respected European and American manufacturers and we've shown that South African companies can compete against the world's best."
At R2.5 million, the value of the Cup of Nations order is even bigger than the Cricket World Cup. Sacks says, "In 2003, our 142 waist-height turnstiles handled some 700,000 ticketed cricket spectators with zero-failure. For Ghana, we will be supplying full-height turnstiles and we know that they will deliver the same faultless performance during the Cup of Nations and for many years afterwards. Long-term reliability and durability are Turnstar hallmarks, backed by an industry-leading five-Year guarantee."
Some of the turnstiles for Ghana will be galvanised and some powder coated. The flagship Accra stadium will get 44 turnstiles with the remaining 88 units being installed at the Kumasi, Sekondi and Tamale stadia. The first units have already been shipped and installation will be complete by the end of October, well ahead of the first Cup matches in mid-January 2008.
Will supplying the Cup of Nations influence the choice of turnstiles for the Soccer World Cup in 2010?
Turnstar managing director, Sid Sacks, certainly hopes so, "Turnstar has over 700 turnstiles installed at all the major stadia in South Africa as well as at top grounds in Namibia, Mauritius and the West Indies. Given the long-standing success of our products in stadia environments, I'd like to think we are the front-runner for 2010. Not only do we produce turnstiles that deliver proven reliability, we are also accustomed to handling large projects on budget and on time.
"The 132 units for Ghana represent under a month's output for us. It's a great order and we are justifiably proud to have won it. But it's important to understand that we have the infrastructure to manage big single orders without impacting on manufacturing for all our other clients."
