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September 2015
Housing
T
he City’s Community Residen-
tial Unit Refurbishment Project
at Kewtown in the Athlone area
took the top honour at the Govan
Mbeki Awards for the Best Commu-
nity Residential Unit (CRU) project in
the country.
The Govan Mbeki Awards recog-
nise excellence across all spheres of
local, provincial and national govern-
ment and regulatory bodies, devel-
opment finance institutions, banks,
social housing providers, developers
and contractors in the housing sector.
The City of Cape Town’s CRURefur-
bishment Programme comprises up-
grading 7 500 units in a bid to improve
the living conditions of residents in
some of the most volatile areas in
the city. Kewtown includes 320 CRU
units and the City’s Mayoral Commit-
tee Member for Human Settlements,
Benedicta van Minnen says, “The
Kewtown project went beyond its pri-
mary objective of merely upgrading
the buildings. Our staff and contrac-
tors have gone above the call of duty
to ensure that the lives of our tenants
in Kewtown are improved. Our CRU
upgrade team has been determined
and committed to improving the
lives of our residents and they have
demonstrated what public service is
really about.” The contract included
the provision that over 50% of the
budget was set aside for local labour
in the Kewtown community.
“The success of the project can
largely be attributed to the estab-
lishment of a network of private and
public partnerships. We are indeed
making progress possible by working
together,” said van Minnen.
The project comprised of general
maintenance work such as repairing
leaks in pipes and roofs, glazing and
painting. Attention was also paid
to external and internal walls with
cracks and holes, the waterproof-
ing of floors, renewing floor cover-
ings, ensuring doors and windows
worked properly, that electrical and
plumbing installations compliedwith
regulations. The window sills, stairs,
balustrades and handrails were also
refurbished.
The surrounding areas between
the apartment buildings were also
improved, to contribute to the gen-
eral quality of life of the tenants.
■
Best Community Residential Units – Cape Town
At the annual prestigious Govan
Mbeki 2015 Awards held in Cape
Town, the City of Cape Town was
laudedbytheNationalDepartment
of Human Settlements, for its
efforts to improve the lives of its
vulnerable residents,
C
onstruction is one of the
biggest drivers of economic
growth in South Africa. Up un-
til now it has been a predominantly
male-dominated industry – but that
is changing. For the past few years,
we have seen women rising up to the
challenge and making a difference in
this market.
In 2014, the National Home Build-
ers Registration Council (NHBRC) rec-
ognised that women in construction
were being held back due to a short-
age of skills and training. To address
this issue, the NHBRC developed the
Women Empowerment Programme
(WEP) in partnership with Gordon
Institute of Business Science (GIBS).
NHBRC’s graduate programme
WEP is a four-month programme
that sees selected women undergo-
ing academic training, networking
and mentorship support led by lead-
ing academics and key influencers in
the industry. Today the second group
of 80 women will graduate through
the programme.
‘’Women were previously under-
represented in the industry,” says
Xoli Daku, chairperson of WEP Panel.
“Through the WEP we hope to
change the perception that the
construction industry is no place
for women. The programme aims
to encourage entrepreneurship and
improve the lives of women in South
Africa,” adds Daku.
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