WHITE RIVER – Women still lag behind when it comes to the construction industry.
SAWIC strives towards enhancing the role of women in the construction industry through members running profitable and sustainable business enterprises.
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Its annual conference was held in collaboration with the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation (DHSWS), at Ingwenyama Conference & Sports Resort on August 21.
During the event the Construction Education and Training Authority’s (CETA) acting CEO, Robert Semenya, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which will ensure quality training to woman at their facilities.
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Women will be taught construction management at their institutions to expedite the empowering of woman in general, with the focus on practical skills development.
CETA is also mainly responsible for the review, development and registration of qualifications, accreditation of providers and the registration of practitioners in the construction industry.
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In 2014, the DHSWS minister announced that 30 per cent of all human settlement projects with a rand value of over R35 billion of the R150 billion projected budget over five years, will be awarded to companies and cooperatives owned by women.
The deputy minister of DHSWS, Pam Tshwete, the keynote speaker present at the SAWIC conference, praised the implementation thereof and underlined the importance of its continuance to expand the presence of women in the construction industry.
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According to SAWIC president, Kelikile Mteto, the Housing Development Agency still has to sign a MOU, of which the end result will be that 1 956 houses will be allocated to be built by women contractors.
Tshwete stated that the above steps taken by SAWIC and the government will empower women in the industry.
