Housing in Southern Africa October 2015

Chikane heads up The articulate and polished new Chairperson of the National Builders Registration Council

(NHBRC) Abbey Chikane says that he has inherited a solid, stable organisation.

NHBRC has the capacity to support the delivery of 3 000 houses per day with the existing pilot operating business model and the resources to upscale to 6 000 houses per day. However, in the past two financial years government’s housing delivery has dropped significantly. “The rationale behind this op- erating model can be traced back to 2011/2012 when government delivered 300 000 per annum. With the inspection model no longer out- sourced, the NHBRC in-house inspec- tion unit has over 220 inspectors. In the event that government increases the roll out of housing to 600 000 per annum the NHBRC has the capacity to ramp up quickly. Chikane adds that the state-entity has the budget and can, if need be, outsource some func- tions to meet the demand. “We have a more controlled and well trained team with tablets and GIS enabled technical capacity.” Minister Sisulu’s recent announce- ment of 77 Catalytic Projects nation- wide will go a long way to increasing housing delivery and getting back on track to roll out 1,5 million houses and housing opportunities by 2019. “The new Council, CEO and the executives procured Enterprise Re- source Planning (ERP) solution, which provides an integrated view of core business processes, often in real-time, using common databases maintained by a database manage- ment system. ERP solution track business resources, cash, materials, production capacity and the status of business commitments: orders, purchase orders, andpayroll. This has brought about stability as far as the personnel are concerned. We are well resourced and this is a requirement by the shareholder.” NHBRC’s operatingmodel includes 23 offices countrywide, a call centre, nine engineers deployed to assist municipalities, metros and provin- cial departments with issues of land

Companies Act (where applicable), King 3 and the Code of Best Practices in Corporate Governance.” He explains that the Council’s aim is to be compliant with legislation and ensure that the NHBRC achieves a clean audit by 2017 (moving away from the Auditor General Report of non-compliance). “A clean audit is the principle measure of any Council, to execute oversight diligently and responsibly,” says Chikane. The Council has a number of strategic and operational issues on the agenda: To implement new protocols in terms of governance, accountabil- ity, responsibilities and reporting mechanisms that will ensure that we execute our mandate diligently. To determine whether the current operating model is permissible. To seek clarity of purpose in terms of the Freedom Charter and the Con- stitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 that states: ‘Everyone has the right to adequate housing’; within the context of the Constitu- tion; the National Development Plan; the National Housing Code and the Medium Term Strategic Framework; the expectation of government; the Minister’s expectation of the Council; the Council’s expectation of Manage- ment and vice versa. To review the NHBRC’s current legislation. The former Ernst & Young partner has held a string of key positions in the diamond and mining sector as well as being a business strate- gist and development economist and having established his own investment company in 2008. Abbey Chikane has no investments or busi- ness interests in the housing sector, and there is no conflict as he takes over as Chairperson. With operating costs of about R400 million and having to enrol and inspect 300 000 houses per annum, averaging 1 000 houses per day, the

Abbey Chikane

H e is quick to point out that this is all down to the Minis- ter of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, who has appointed a highly experienced Council with a strong technical, political and busi- ness background, which cuts across various disciplines and is well rep- resented across provinces, gender, women’s issues, youth and people with disabilities. A stickler for precision and cor- rectness, Chikane says that the most critical issue is to set the tone for governance and ethical perspective at the top. “We need to be compliant with the Housing Consumers Protec- tion Measures Act, Public Finance Management Act, and Treasury Regu- lations, Public Administration Act,

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