The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), in its efforts to bring about transformation in the home building industry has announced that it will be spending more than $2.31m in the new financial year starting on 1st of April this year.
Deputy Minister of Human Settlements Ms Zou Kota-Fredericks, MP emphasized on the importance of understanding that the radical economic transformation program is not a stand-alone program as it has no special budget and should be an integral part of each and every department and all government entities.
Addressing the launch,Ms.Kota-Fredericks said transformation and economic empowerment must be driven aggressively in the home building environment. She also called on the people present at the NHBRC Transformation Charter launch to revisit the Preferential Procurement Act and respond accordingly.
The launch was hosted in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) as part of the 2017 International Women’s Day celebrations.
NHBRC Acting Chairperson of Council, Ms Julieka Bayat quoted the lack of adequate skills as one of the biggest challenges in the achievement of an effective transformation program in the industry.
It is for this reason that they will be investing most of the money in the up-skilling the most vulnerable groups: Women, Youth, People living with Disabilities and Military Veterans.
She also noted the under-representation of women particularly with respect to ownership, control and the management of companies involved in the housing value chain as well as in terms of technical skills.
The youth’s high unemployment rate was also singled out for heightening the need to aggressively pursue transformation of the sector so as to create self-employment opportunities.
The NHBRC’s transformation charter seeks to address issues relating to the advancing equal economic opportunities in the human settlements value chain with a view to optimize meaningful participation of vulnerable groups such as Women, Youth, People living with Disabilities and Military Veterans.
