Construction World January 2021

health and safety, project management, construction costs, contracts, the building industry wage system and collective bargaining, amongst other key areas.“These lessons also really prepared us to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as we learnt business survival measures and were able to implement them over the last couple of months,” he adds. Looking to the future, Harris says that his business is ready to capitalise on the upcoming opportunities in the sector in 2021. To assist other business owners in the construction industry to grow their businesses after a tough year and to take advantage of these opportunities, Harris outlines the following pointers: • Maintain good quality: Business owners should always make sure that they are the best at what they do to stay competitive and differentiate themselves from other players out there. This can be done by upskilling yourself through learnership programmes. • Transparency and compliance: This is very important in every sphere of running a business as no one wants to do business with a non-compliant company. It is also crucial for businesses to operate in a transparent manner to ensure trust between the client and the firm. As such, it is best to register with the BIBC and MBAWC when operating a construction company in the Western Cape. • Get a mentor: It is also important that if you do not know something as a business owner, go to somebody who does and ask for advice. Having a business mentor as an entrepreneur is always vital for business growth and it has helped me a lot over the years. “Following the announcement of the upcoming infrastructure projects in South Africa, now is the time for those in the industry to grab the bull by the horns, tap into their entrepreneurial skills and prepare themselves for a year of opportunity in 2021,” concludes Harris. ▄ programmes in engineering. The process was conceptualised and led by Gamede during his term at the helm of the UNIZULU Council. The external team consisted of TC Madikane and Prof Downing from UCT. An internal team of dedicated staff under the leadership of the Vice Chancellor Mtose made this project a success under very challenging conditions. The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nzimande, gave full support to this programme and provided future infrastructure funding for the faculty. Gamede’s dream as the then Chairperson was to also see a faculty of medicine at UNIZULU. That will be a dream deferred. “There are countless young South Africans, especially in rural areas, who have the talent and ambition to follow careers in the construction and engineering sector but who are being denied because of limited opportunities. This initiative will provide opportunities for young people in the nearby areas to realise their professional dreams without travelling long distances to unfamiliar environments. This will also hopefully reduce the stress in students and hopefully improve the pass rate. “These new programmes will now expand opportunities at a vibrant academic institution and our entire country will soon reap the benefits,” says Gamede, who is the outgoing President of the Engineering Council of South Africa after two terms of four years each. According to Professor Mtose, large scale investment in the development of the physical and laboratory infrastructure will ensure that land is allocated to develop the physical infrastructure. Such infrastructure will include roads, bulk services, and the science and technology laboratory for the University. The infrastructure will also be used by local and provincial government agencies, the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone, and local firms to generate research and development, and innovation solutions for economic development of the Region. ▄

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JANUARY 2021