Company Announcement - Teachers are essential in helping to build and train young minds. And, if recent developments in the construction world are anything to go by, it appears that they are just as adept at handling bricks and mortar as they are at teaching children. By making use of their backgrounds as educators, three former teachers from Mpumalanga are showing just what ‘quick studies’ they are and are setting the pace for others in the construction industry. They have proved that they have what it takes to learn the lessons they need to tackle building projects, control staff and also run small businesses.

The three construction queens, Joyce Makhubela, Sibongile Qhimbi and Ruth Khoza also have several other things in common. They are assertive, confident and have shown that they can literally ‘build businesses from the ground up.’

As small business owners, they all began with minor projects after realising that their personal ambitions went beyond the classroom. After many years of service at community schools, they downed chalk and went into business on their own, using small projects as the springboard into financial independence. They have now all reached the point where their rating by the Construction Industry Development Board has opened the way for them to compete for substantial government tenders.

All acknowledge that taking on projects in rural areas where infrastructure and roads are sketchy, still poses many problems.  They admit too, that when it came to honing the business skills they needed to acquire, they have benefitted from the ‘behind the scenes’  support and assistance of Standard Bank, Tusk Construction Support Services and Massbuild.  The business chain begins with Tusk, which extends its training and supervision service to small builders who have managed to climb on to the tender ladder, but lack the resources and formal training to simply ‘go it alone.’  As experienced construction project managers, they assess the abilities of the contractor concerned, the value and complexity of the proposed job and then refer the contractor to Standard Bank. The bank, which has set aside up to R 100 million to assist small building companies, then provides the finance that enables the entire team to go forward and bid for projects.

Closing the loop is Massbuild, which operates Builders Warehouse, Builders Express, Builders Trade Depot and Builders Superstore - through its retail outlets it provides lines of credit for the builder to source the materials they need to get the job done.  The final element in the end-to-end support system is the Tusk construction support manager who attends site meetings and facilitates work with the contractor. All benefit from the process, especially the contractors who literally ‘earn while they learn’, gathering the skills they need to make their businesses self-sufficient.

Says Joyce Makhubela, who taught at various schools for 24 years:“I had three small projects running at the same time, and realised that I needed help on the financial side so that I could complete one of the projects - a commission in Mpumalanga - on time. I registered my company in 2001, but only really got going in 2006, with a tender for R 160 000. I heard about Tusk from a building supplier and approached them for assistance.”

“I am now working with Tusk to complete two projects. The first is in Bushbuck Ridge in Mpumalanga, the other in Balfour. “The Bushbuck Ridge project, which involves building RDP houses, is complicated by the nature of the area.  Houses are not part of a bulk development, but are separated from each other by large distances of up to 40 kilometres, which makes moving machinery and building materials difficult. This also has an impact on how jobs are costed out, so that you don’t do jobs at a loss. ” “Building materials have to be brought in over long distances, which add to the challenges of building. In addition to the costs, it is important that the right materials arrive at the right site at the right time. If things go wrong, it can make meeting deadlines difficult.”

“When it rains in the area, roads can become difficult to drive on. There are also major challenges with getting the right labour. Often, skills have to be brought in from other areas as the local people cannot work on the contracts.” Despite these difficulties and having to undertake projects in several provinces, Joyce’s company, Dinah & Joyce Business Enterprise CC, is going from strength to strength. Today, she is looking at tendering for a project that could be worth R 17 million, and has moved her focus from only construction of RDP houses to road building and maintenance.

Ruth Khoza takes up the story:The start in construction for Ruth involved building pit toilets for a contracted R 5 000.  Today, after going through the intensive CIDB process, she proudly acknowledges that she has been able to add a R6-million project at the Kruger Park’s Olifant’s camp to her company’s portfolio. Her explanation about women going into the construction industry echoes her and her fellow builders’ confidence in their abilities to build their own futures. “Women like challenges,” she says. “They are happy to take problems one at a time and carefully resolve them. Construction is a tough sector, but there is no doubt that women can handle it.” Proving her point is that as her contracts have grown, so has her workforce. From having 12 skilled and six unskilled labourers in her company, she now has a work complement of about 60 skilled workers, 70 unskilled workers and eight staff helping with the administration of projects.

Her turning point - and association with Tusk, Standard Bank and Massbuild - came when she was conditionally awarded a R 5 million contract. “It was my first big project and getting the work meant being able to guarantee R4 million of the total. I didn’t have the cash. That was when Tusk and Standard Bank came forward.” The proof that the system works is her CIDB rating of ‘6’, which has enabled her to move from the rural areas and effectively compete in an urban environment for RDP housing projects in Soweto and Mamelodi.

Sibongile Qhimbi was teaching at Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga when it was suggested to her that she open her own company and enter the training business - a natural extension of her career as a teacher. She took the step, but soon realised that with the infrastructure upgrades taking place in the area, construction offered better opportunities. Instead of using classrooms, she landed a contract to build a block of classrooms at a rural school. Small industrial contracts from Eskom soon followed. “It was Joyce who introduced me to Tusk. At the time I needed money for labour and materials. It was my ‘sister’ in construction who really got me going,” she says. Although she acknowledges that rural projects offer unique challenges, Sibongile is also upbeat about her present and future. “It is the challenges that I face every day that strengthen me and keep me moving forward. I am not a quitter, someone who runs away when there are big challenges.  Each challenge is really a stepping stone. You need to move on from stone to stone to truly find yourself.”

To the partners in assisting emerging builders – particularly women - to break the barriers that would otherwise limit their futures, Tusk, Standard Bank and Massbuild work on the basis that each construction business is different and that each contractor has specific needs. “We understand that independently-minded people want to remain in charge of their destinies and their businesses. Our roles are to build partnerships that are based on mutual respect and common interest. Although Tusk may provide technical support and assist with controlling finances that are provided by Standard Bank, the contractors must retain the decision - making rights over their own companies,” says Diale Mokgojwa, Senior Manager: Enterprise Development at Standard Bank.

“We have a common objective. That objective is to assist where we can to help ensure the growth of viable businesses that will help enhance the standard of living of South Africans and at the same time build prosperity through the creation of jobs. It is partnerships like these between large and small enterprises that can make a massive difference to our future as a nation,” says Mr Mokgojwa. 

Andrew Latimer, Head of Financial Services at Massbuild, says “Supporting previously disadvantaged communities and businesses within the building and construction industry should be a key focus of established corporate entities. Without a thriving SMME sector we cannot create a competitive industry environment with equal opportunity for all participants.”

“Lack of a competitive sector results in the consumer suffering due to lack of choice, variability in quality and price. The encouraging growth and participation of women in this sector is something we are very excited about and will continue to support. The results of the women-owned businesses involved in our initial trial bear testament to this,” adds Mr Latimer.  There is no doubt that small and medium businesses in this sector possess fantastic technical skills and business potential but they have struggled to access capital, a basic building block of any business, especially within an industry with large lead times between initiation of project and completion or payment.

“As a consequence Massbuild, who have extended trade credit to these businesses for many years, identified a need to partner with a bank that not only had access to capital but the ability to understand this market segment and its needs. This partnership allows us to offer a full finance facility as well as on-the-ground project support with the help of Tusk. We believe in the longevity of this fund and our ability to collectively service this important market segment”, concludes Mr Latimer.