Africa on behalf of Mthembi-Mahanyele: Summit on Women in Construction

4 Dec 2002 

Keynote address delivered by North West MEC Darkie Africa, on behalf of Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, at the summit on Women in Construction, Mafikeng

Programme Director
MEC Darkie Africa
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

On Tuesday, the Sowetan Newspaper published a fascinating story of Noluthando Luzipo, a female contractor from Motherwell who has just been awarded a building contract worth R1, 3 million in the Coega Development Initiative in the Eastern Cape. When asked how she managed to achieve that, Luzipo said:

Women can compete in the field of construction (because) they have the ability to do whatever they put their minds to. 

Indeed, these challenging words from the 30 year-old woman, sum up the depth and potential that women have and can contribute in the housing and construction sector, including the economy. Most importantly, this lady had been unemployed for eight years, and only surviving from handouts, until two years ago when she decided that her kind of life should change for the better. Today, her achievements speak volumes: before she got the Coega contract, she had just completed a housing project at Motherwell, where she created employment for 16 permanent staff members. 

I am therefore delighted that she joins many women in construction who have passed through our training programme for emerging developers and contractors who now qualify as established participants in the industry. Some of them are beginning to manage contracts worth millions of rands. We can count from this category of contractors and developers, women such as Francess Alberts of A & D Developers, Thulie Malale of Abathandi Projects and Irene Mahlangu, who have already established themselves in the housing and construction industry. Women are building houses, schools and other public amenities. 

The government is putting various strategies to try and assist women to participate in construction. The story Im relating to you occurred hardly a month after we had launched the Women for Housing organisation that has been a vehicle for women empowerment in housing and construction for the past six years. The launch, and the entire efforts that we have been making for the past eight years to try and empower women in construction speak volumes on our intentions to ensure that women form part of not only housing and construction, but of the mainstream economy in our country. This because it is through housing and construction, among others, that we want to create an entry for women into mainstream economic activity of our country. 

It is estimated that women head about 52% of households in South Africa. Women raise children and also take care of other family members usually with very scant resources. In addition, it is estimated that women generate a third or more of all household income in this country.

Despite this contribution to society, women continue to operate on the periphery of the economy and our aspiration is to change this situation. The government has designed programmes that promote the advancement of womens participation in the economy and other sectors of society.

The governments strategy in making this construction industry accessible to women is premised on the understanding that the construction industry is one of the critical industries that can be used to optimise the contribution of women in promoting national social and economic development. We provide skills, we assist women to access working capital and also use our procurement process help women. 

Women for Housing is an organisation established specifically for the purpose of facilitating opportunities for women within the housing sector. Its aim is to provide women with both the tools and the ongoing support they need to become successful economic participants, decision makers, and established contractors and developers. All this as part of our effort to empower women in the fields of housing and construction.

The advent of a new beginning in South Africa brought about the development of a new national plan for addressing the economic crisis, new programmes to promote entrepreneurship and small business development has significantly widened the scope of possibilities for women in these areas. 

It is accepted within South Africa and internationally that women must be consciously involved as economic participants, as decision makers, as housing consumers, as housing agents and contractors in order to build sustainable viable settlements. The Government has recognised these roles for women and is committed to pursuing the promotion of women and women owned businesses through its housing policies and programmes. 

Eight years on from South Africas first democratic elections, the racial profile of South Africas construction industry begins to experience gradual transformation, much better than it was before 1994. The government is clearly doing its best to empower women. 

To this end, our overall aim is to eradicate sexism in construction and encourage and influence active women participation through focused policies of women economic empowerment. These policies aim to make it easier for women to gain access to capital for business development.

It is also clear that there are significant opportunities available to women in the sector and that it is necessary for us to influence women to enter the construction-related professions and to link women with the increasing number of opportunities available in the sector.

As we continue with the transformation of our country at all levels, smashing the stereotypes about women as the biologically weaker sex, construction work remains one of our priorities for growth. Apart from the glaring proof of women as successful builders in informal and rural areas, women in the formal construction sector have demonstrated that they can and will excel as builders and owners of companies. They have proven that they are exceptional coordinators and managers in the public, private and NGO sectors. 

Women have managed to get a fair share of the R20, 3 billion that we have invested in the construction of 1,4 million houses in the low-income sector. Furthermore, we continue to produce women developers with great construction and administration skills through the peoples housing process. Women have constructed more than 90% of the 23 000 houses delivered through the peoples housing process. The peoples housing process has also influenced the mushrooming of small and medium enterprises related to housing delivery. These are mostly owned and run by women. This year alone, the government has allocated housing development projects worth more than R100 million to women developers and contractors.

I thank you.