After running a solo operation in the Free State for a number of years, SRK Consulting South Africa associate partner and principal scientist in disaster and risk management Dr Herman Booysen is now heading up a three-person team with new offices in Bloemfontein.

Supported by Mareli Hugo in the risk management field and Louis de Villiers, dealing with environmental matters, SRK says Booysen is now able to start developing a regional client base in the Free State and the Northern Cape.

The company notes that his projects to date have taken him all over the country, but with the new office structure, he will now be able to focus closer to home.

In addition to mining projects, Booysen is looking to expand the sectors in which he can apply his specific skill set and is looking first to the agriculture sector.

“There are significant opportunities to use the same methodologies, modelling and expertise in agriculture as we do in mining,” says Booysen.

These opportunities include disaster and risk assessment, mainly relating to climate change, specifically water stewardship, flood risk assessment and water safety plans.

SRK notes that Booysen is currently busy with a research project around flood risk.

The company points out that there are many institutions, including the Department of Water and Sanitation and the National Disaster Management Authority, that have a need for predictors and risk mitigation measures in the event of flooding.

Hence, the company describes Booysen’s work and expertise on the ground as “invaluable”.

“By anticipating contributing factors, and not being reactive, we can make a plan on how to manage risk, based on specific vulnerabilities and an organisation’s capacity to cope,” says Booysen.

“For example, the same methods and processes associated with water stewardship for mining can be applied in the agricultural sector”.

SRK notes that its services and solutions offering to farms in the Free State will include working with large cooperatives, where anything up to 40 000 acres are under one collective umbrella, and this also spreads the costs of consulting fees for individual farmers.

Booysen foresees organic growth in the company’s Free State base, as it attracts experts and specialists from other regions, and as the client base expands.

“There is definitely scope to extend our Free State and Northern Cape footprint,” says Booysen, who also believes that being open to sectors beyond mining will be key to further company expansion.