Building Construction Industry Know-how

The Moveable Asset Management directorate hosted a Construction Supplier Open Day in the Mew Way Hall, Khayelitsha on 12 November 2010.

The event was collaboration between Provincial Treasury, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (the 2 Departments have the shared mandate of Economic Empowerment in the Province) and other stakeholders.

The premise of the initiative is to expose the business community/contractors to all the opportunities that are of doing business with government, both at National, Provincial and Local level. The event was not about a promise of work, but rather the tools that would enable CIDB registered contractors to better position themselves in the tendering process, improve on compliance and the creation of awareness of the customised financial packages that are now coming through from financial institutions such as ABSA.

The Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Alan Winde did the opening address at the event. The MEC in his address reiterated how an event such as the Construction Supplier Open Day underpinned the aims of Strategic Objective 1: Growth and Jobs as this objective, in part, is about the creation of an enabling environment and support for SMME's.

Presentations covered issues around finance, how to access funding, how to manage cash flows, estimating and pricing, compliance to the supply chain management processes, completing bid documents, etc.

The various stakeholders that exhibited at the Construction Open Day included:
Provincial Treasury, Department of Economic Development and Tourism, City of Cape Town, National Department of Public Works (EPWP), CIDB, SARS, Khula, Red Door, ABSA, BEE Empowered (Verification Agency)

Good interaction from the crowd was observed during the Q&A sessions following the presentations and enquiries logged at the exhibitors' stalls.

The overall sense was that of a success. The event attracted about 230-240 attendees, the coinciding service delivery protests in the immediate vicinity also had a dampening impact on the attendance.