36 / 56
longest serving nhfc
18
I
t was the opportu-
nity of a lifetime to
sit next to a mag-
nanimous individual
always willing to lend
a hand to the young
and upcoming. Eric
Molobi looked at him-
self as a pioneer and
trail blazer and made it
his duty to develop tal-
ent and expose them to
opportunities.”
Molobi and Tati had
p r e v i ou s l y c r o s s ed
paths, when Tati head-
ed the Get Ahead Foun-
dation, a micro finance
business and housing
projects, while Molobi
chaired and ran the Kagiso
Trust.
“Eric Molobi had tre-
mendous people skills, he
was good at spotting talent
and it was a privilege to have
worked with him. Joe Slovo,
the first Minister of Housing,
was responsible for the hous-
ing policy framework in the
country. Slovo constituted the
National Housing Forum, which
was overhauling the entire hous-
ing market. The conclusion
reachedwas that there was
a huge gap in the mar-
ket – the lower end and
previously disadvantaged
individuals were not being served
by traditional markets. This ‘market
failure’ was addressed by Slovo,
who proposed the establishment of
development finance institutions.
TheNHFCandNHBRCbothemanated
from the policy framework that he
laid out in those early stages of the
new democracy.”
As a new Board member, Tati says
that it was important to understand
NHFC’s mandate and under the lead-
ership of Professor Michael Katz, it
wasn’t difficult. The Board had a mix
of public and private sector expertise
and how the two divergent approach-
es to businessmelded together was a
challenge for the institution in order
to serve the sector in a sustainable
way.
Tati was part of the Board that ap-
pointed the first CEO, who did a ster-
ling job in getting it off the ground.
He was also part of the panel who
interviewed candidates for the suc-
cessive CEO, when Samson Moraba
was appointed.
Moraba’s impressive financial
institutional background, grasp of
sectoral issues and ability to deliver
exactly what he says, has stood the
test of time. “Samson has never
disappointed us. He has the ability
to steer and spearhead a large insti-
tution through turbulent times and
always works in a unifiedmanner. He
is extremely focused, which shows in
the results achieved.”
Tati adds that the NHFC has
never had any adverse audit reports
throughout its 20 year history, which
bodes well for a state-owned entity.
“This is something we are very proud
of, as we have always been above
board. Samson has done a sterling
job and this would not have been
possible without the Chairperson,
Michael Katz, and our sub-com-
mittees' supporting management.
Michael has done an excellent job
in providing leadership. I have the
privilege of working withMichael and
Samson in this delivery space, which
has truly been an honour.”
During NHFC’s 20 year history it
faced a number of challenges. Tati
explains that as a wholesale DFI, the
initial challenges were to operate
through non-governmental institu-
tions, retail finance institutions (no
banks) and to ensure that they had
governance and systems in place to
handle the funds being channelled -
that was a huge milestone.
“In leveraging the private sector,
the NHFC established a secondary
housing market and securitisation
created by Gateway Housing, funded
by the private sector. The concept
took off but failed to scale up to the
extent we anticipated. We saw the
model in the United States – Fannie
Mae, the leading source of financial
mortgage products, and thought it
would take off in South Africa but
the private markets were not ready
Sizwe Tati, theNHFC’s longest serving and current NHFCBoard
member, fondly remembers the invitation to serve on the
board by Chairman, Eric Molobi.
Sizwe Tati