By Thapelo Molefe
Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) CEO Malusi Shezi has called on the construction and property sectors to face some uncomfortable truths if they are serious about transformation and inclusion.
He said there were long-standing systems in place that were meant to support small and Black-owned businesses, but they often failed to deliver results.
“Most businesses, they spend 15 years sitting in incubation in Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) programmes. Should that be allowed?” Shezi asked.
“If you started a company in 2014 and you registered on the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and you were grade 2, and 10 years down the line you’re still grade 2, are you really in business? Are you a practitioner?”
Shezi was speaking at the SA Institute of Black Property Practitioners conference in Durban during a panel discussion titled: “Unlocking the Sector’s Eco-System for Inclusion.”
His comments highlight growing frustration with the state of ESD programmes, which are designed to help small players grow.
“In our analysis we are doing, it currently benefits the bigger corporates and multi-national companies other than the beneficiaries in this ESD programme that we have.
Shezi said CETA had launched several programmes to help contractors improve their CIDB grades so that they could qualify for bigger projects.
One such programme in the Northern Cape was helping 300 SMMEs grow.
CETA was also investing around R18 million to build a new skills development centre in Port Nolloth in the province. The project was part of a larger vision to develop the area into a new hub for skills, housing, shopping, logistics and air travel.
“We foresee an opportunity for new malls, definitely a new airport and also all the warehouses for all the distribution warehouses and stuff. That is an opportunity for property developers to start thinking that the town is small today, but in the next 10 years the outlook of the town will change completely,” Shezi said.
Services SETA acting CEO Sibusiso Dhladhla told the conference that although the real estate sector was one of the largest income contributors in the services sector, the number of registered companies within the sector remained relatively low.
“We have higher revenues coming from real estate but lower numbers in terms of registered companies that actually contribute to the industry. So, it is a very important sector that we deal with.”
Both CETA and Services SETA said they were aligning their qualifications and programmes according to the needs of the industry. New qualifications being developed included ones for property entrepreneurs, business brokers, property managers and facilities managers.
Also, to ensure transformation and inclusion in the sectors, property development must be promoted as a career of choice amongst young people, Shezi said.
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