Results of the popular and closely contested 2017 Bell Equipment Welder of the Year competition were announced at the Richards Bay factory's Welcome Back ceremony where Sphamandla Zungu was presented the winner's trophy and Zenzele Gumede and Clement Nene took second and third place respectively.

When presenting the awards, Bell Equipment Welding Engineering Manager, Henk de Villiers, said: "2017 saw the launch of a several exciting new products. With this came evolutions in the weld joint designs and the need for our welders to continuously evolve to keep up with the ever-increasing demands on their skills."

Prerequisites to enter the competition are the ability to stick to standard times and to have a good track record with no absenteeism, coaching or disciplinary records during the course of the year. Contestants are then judged on the quality of their work according to set criteria. Henk thanked all the participants saying that the 2017 competition saw an increase in entries, "which is gratifying considering the qualifications just to enter and speaks volumes about the work ethic of the contestants".

He also expressed appreciation to the judges for taking the time to assess the high standard of entries and determine the final outcome, as well as to Sagren Naicker, Bhim Sewpershad and Mike Renshaw for facilitating the competition, and Afrox for sponsoring the prizes and attended the prize giving.

Commenting on the awards, Afrox's Senior Segment Sales Manager: Transport Sector, Paul Jackson, said: "It was an honour and very gratifying to experience the pride with which the top welders received their awards. I believe that Bell has a winning formula for developing in-house skills along with building pride and work ethic within the workforce. Afrox is proud to be involved in this initiative and looks forward to a continued mutually beneficial relationship with Bell."