Membership Activity August 2019

With respect to membership services activity throughout the month of August 2019, a number of stakeholder engagement meetings took place involving key industry stakeholders.

A Durban member meeting took place at the Master Builders Centre in Westville on 22 August 2019, where presenters included Dr Samuel Chikafalimani, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Durban University of Technology and Andrew Batho, Director of Afzelia Environmental Consultants.

Dr Chikafalimani presented on how technology is changing the face of construction and drew attention to the 4th Industrial Revolution. He gave an overview of both the negative and positive impacts of technology on our industry and strongly advocated that members keep up with technology than run the risk of being left behind.

Mr Batho spoke of environmental legal policies and framework and emphasised the importance of complying with environmental legislation. He spoke of the consequences of non-compliance and his message to the industry was that contractors have to be proactive and not reactive with regard to environmental matters.

News out of Zululand is that ongoing protests throughout the month caused various disruptions to building operations in the Richards Bay area. It was reported that the protests were mainly against foreign nationals and the alleged criminal activity. Protesters moved randomly around the city blocking off access roads which made it difficult to predict and work around. Staff were unable to get to work and delivery of materials were invariably delayed.At times this resulted in work stoppage.

In the Midlands, the Association attended a commercial property forum where discussions centred around damage caused by municipal mismanagement and the impact this had on development projects in the city of Pietermaritzburg. New investors face delays of three to five years to acquire the various consents and approvals which is a major deterrent for possible investors.

Discussions also focused on potential attractions to future investment in the city. Education is a strong leader with Pietermaritzburg being home to some of South Africa’s most prestigious private schools like Hilton College and Michaelhouse. Health continues to be an investment drawcard with seven private hospitals and three government hospitals in the area. The general consensus of all who attended the forum was that there is an extremely urgent need to improve or streamline municipal processes in such a way that it will attract future investment and not deter it.

On 13 August 2019 the Association attended a developer round table meeting hosted by Ray Nkonyeni Municipality. The Association had written to the municipality requesting a meeting to address concerns that had been voiced by members from the Area. In addition to being a worthwhile industry networking event that involved several industry stakeholders from the area, it was a fruitful engagement that resulted in a meeting being scheduled with the municipality to address the specific concerns of the Association.