8
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
OCTOBER
2014
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MARKETPLACE
“While PCBS’ own figures do show
an encouraging trend towards
the emergence of a growing
number of black and woman
owned companies in the sector, fluctuating
employment figures, erratic movements
in business confidence levels and the
sporadic implementation of public infra-
structure projects continue to impede the
growth and sustainability of SMME contrac-
tors as well as the implantation of the skills
development objective.
“The spike in liquidations of established
construction companies including a few
companies listed on the JSE illustrates that
even empowered organisations fall victim to
the effects of an industry that on the surface
illustrates growth but in reality falls short of
long term sustainable growth,” he explains.
For Africa sustainable growth within the
sector requires the involvement of all stake-
holders, including the end-user of basic
social services. “Ultimately what is required
is an ‘Infrastructure Codesa’ where stake-
holders can collaborate to find a common
solution to address the need for policy shift
and put in place the procurement frame-
works that will drive the implementation of
the NDP particularly at municipal and local
government level.
“With many industry sectors already
having expressed interest, the private sector
as a whole in association with industry
bodies such as CESA, IMESA, SAICE and
other relevant institutions have the neces-
sary skills and resources to assist the public
sector with the long overdue implementa-
tion of the NDP,” he comments.
Africa believes the urgency and extent
of the skills shortages at municipal and
local government level, is illustrated through
the results of a recent municipal poll the
results of which were published in a
City
Press
article on 23 February 2014. “Here
municipalities spanning six provinces indi-
cated that 40% of their municipal managers
and 34% of their CFOs had met Finance
Minister Pravin Gordhan’s deadline to
acquire the appropriate qualifications.
“Inaddition, then treasury spokesperson,
Phumza Macanda, said that 269 of the 278
municipalities have applied for an extension
to the deadline on the grounds that they had
taken reasonable steps towards compliance,
including having officials registering for rele-
vant training, but still needed more time to
complete their courses,” he adds.
Further compounding sector growth
EMPOWERMENT
measured against its
SUSTAINABILITY
Despite the ‘Construction
Sector Charter Council – State
of Empowerment 2009-
2013’ offering an optimistic
view of growth within the
construction sector, Brian
Africa, executive: marketing
and business development
at Performance and Customs
Bond Services (PCBS),
a specialist guarantee
construction underwriting
management agency,
questions whether this growth
is in fact sustainable.
Brian Africa, executive: marketing and business
development at Performance and Customs
Bond Services.
according to Africa, is the growing rift between
the public and private sector largely owing to
the outcome of the construction collusion
investigation. “Rather than allowing the
rift to continue, it should rather be seen as
an opportunity to fast-track public private
partnerships which is a viable means to
mitigate the reoccurrence of this type of
collusive behaviour.
“In addition PPPs will greatly enhance
and promote skills exchange and ultimately
a much-needed paradigm shift, based on
the reality that all South Africans, whether
unemployed or employed by the private or
public sector, have a duty to be part of the
change that improves the quality of life of
all South Africans. The bottom line is that
the time has come for the prevailing under-
standing of empowerment to be measured
against the sustainability of the empower-
ment,” he concludes.
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What were the challenges
with the conveying of skills?
An entrepreneur’s availability to attend
classes and meet with business coaches
becomes a challenge at first. Adapting to the
different sized businesses we work with and
adjusting the learning to suit each business,
because the businesses we work with have
turnovers that range between R2,5-million
and R80-million. The accuracy of finance
reports submitted by the businesses is also a
challenge because they are not always 100%
accurate. We therefore have to examine
these reports carefully and give the entre-
preneurs a true reflection of the financial
status of their business.
Who does the skills
conveying?
Raizcorp employs full-time staff who are
dedicated to facilitating business learning
and coaching. With certain specific industry
topic, we get a subject matter expert in to
present learning.
What does it take to be
successful in an industry
faced with many challenges?
Commitment,
identifying
opportunities
more than challenges, perseverance, not
being completely reliant on one contract
for all your business, being compliant with
industry requirements to maintain your CIDB
grading as this may sabotage the potential
of the business.
What are the challenges – as
you see them?
The main challenge in the construction
industry is building a sustainable business,
with steady flow of projects.
