Call for increased budget allocation for women contractors
'There has to be meaningful economic benefits for women from the R33-billion human settlements annual budget.'
MINISTER of Human Settlements Nomaindia Mfeketo has called on provinces to allocate 30% of the human settlements budgets to women contractors.
Addressing a women’s indaba in East London on Friday, Mfeketo said there has to be meaningful economic benefits for women from the annual R33-billion human settlements budget.
‘The need for real economic benefits for women across the value chain, not just in construction, is imperative.
‘Women’s participation in construction should not only be limited to building government subsidised houses, but they should also become suppliers of building materials so they can become major role players in the sector,’ Mfeketo said.
She told the women delegates that their voices were missing in the current debate around the expropriation of land without compensation.
‘We all know that those who own the land control the means of production. Women cannot be marginalised when it comes to land redistribution and ownership.
‘We need to be beneficiaries and active participants in the land and property sector.
She added that the property sector is worth R5.8-trillion and it was therefore time for women in construction to lay a claim in the industry.
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