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August 2015
Housing
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
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
are currently doing.”
MENTORSHIP
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.”
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