Housing in Southern Africa August 2015

Housing

Industry Development Board (cidb). The first 20 women to complete the programme have been incorporated into the broader housing sector ac- cording to their home town. Two of the women are already working together and tendering on various housing projects across the country. Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, is passionate about encouraging women entrepreneurs in the build environment. “With al- most 30% of the budget allocated to women in the sector, we need to cre- ate opportunities for themand that is what the NHBRC and the Department The first group of candidates have their work cut out for them now that the theoretical work has been com- pleted. The practical work will begin on site on how to run projects, control cash flowandmore importantly work with mentors. Mnyani says that some of the best known names in the housing sector will assist withmentorships. “In order to improve the Women Empower- ment Programme, we need to create partnerships with developers. We do not want these women receiving favours – but theymust be supported. In a nutshell, the candidates have to prove themselves. Some of the industry stakeholders like RBA and Cosmopolitan could sub-contract and give thema certain portion of houses to build. Working with the right team, engineer and quantity surveyor, will firmly establish them and give the candidates the confidence and skills required to put the theoretical work into practice. We do not want them to fail.” LAST WORD Mnyani concludes, “If we look at when we started reviving the NHBRC, we have made huge strides and there is now an appreciation from the sector as a whole. We have developed a lot of partnerships with key role players and going forward there will be an improvement in the quality of hous- ing as well as in capacitating the sec- tor. We are excited to be a part of the change. The challenges going forward requires us to hold hands, appreciate each other’s roles and responsibilities and do things better. With our in- house skills, we are ready to support government, private sector, home builders and housing consumers in order to deliver quality homes.” ■ are currently doing.” MENTORSHIP

working on changing the mind set and the perception that these sys- tems are only meant for the lower income market. All of these tech- nologies offer benefits.” He cites the example of newbuilding systems that keep the home well-insulated in win- ter and cool in summer. This reduces energy usage and costs. “There has to be a consumer awareness programme to show the positive aspects of these systems. We want to educate the consumer as we implement these projects.” GREEN VILLAGE Since it was announced last year, there has been much talk about the Green Village and now the NHBRC has identified land in Ekurhuleni and the Vaal. “We will finalise this in the next financial year,” says Mnyani. “There have been consultations with the sector on the concept of the green village. The idea is to build everything - roads, water, energy, community facilities, housing with green energy efficient products and demonstrate that there are many products that can be utilised.” The NHBRC envisage a pilot

project being utilised nationally as part of housing development in the country and they can assist and fa- cilitate the process. WOMEN EMPOWERMENT Teaching women contractors how to map out their hopes and dreams and turn them into a reality offers them the real possibility of a differ- ent future and one where they can contribute to their communities and become entrepreneurs. “The NHBRC Women Empower- ment Programme started off with 20 candidates and now a further 80 have been recruited and they will be graduating during August 2015. The programme has been developed to nurturewomen builders and contrac- tors over the next three years.” The course developed in part- nership with the Gordon Institute of Business Science and provides suitable candidates with the knowl- edge and capabilities to become entrepreneurs in their own right. This has been done in consultation with the Black Business Council Building Built Environment, Master Builders Association and the Construction

August 2015