The South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) continues to play a critical role in the construction industry’s ongoing efforts to transform, according to newly-elected council member Dr. Thandi Ndlovu, CEO of Motheo Construction Group.
The appointment “bears testimony to both the transformational role that Motheo Construction Group continues to play within the industry, and the esteem in which it is held,” Dr. Ndlovu commented.
She was a founding member of South African Women in Construction in the early 1990s, established Motheo Construction Group in 1997, and in 2013 won the Businesswoman of the Year Award in the Entrepreneurs Category, as awarded by the Businesswomen’s Association of South Africa.
Dr. Ndlovu said her long association with SAFCEC extended to her role as President of the Black Business Council for the Built Environment (BBCBE) in 2012, when both SAFCEC and the BBCBE began engaging the construction industry about the so-called Voluntary Rebuilding Programme (VRP) or Settlement Agreement, concluded finally with the government in October this year.
This commits the seven listed South African construction companies to collectively invest R1.5 billion over the next 12 years into the Tirisano Trust, which will be overseen by SAFCEC, in conjunction with a govt-appointed board of trustees.
This will result in a ‘window of opportunity’ whereby the government will begin to release its major infrastructure spend.
Dr. Ndlovu added that SAFCEC continued to play a critical role in the South African construction industry. We do not give due recognition to the fact that its specific provisions to include black people is a huge step.”
The Motheo Group has developed into South Africa’s leading, mainly black female-owned and managed construction company, boasting six black female shareholders who have a 54% stake in the Group. Motheo is currently registered with the CIDB as Level 9 GBPE and 9 CEPE. A leading provider of social housing, it has been registered with the NHBRC since its inception.
