JPC reaffirms its women empowerment driv

JPC reaffirms its women empowerment drive

25 August 2016

The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) on Wednesday August 24 reaffirmed its commitment to gender parity when CEO Helen Botes said that 50% of all business procured by the City of Johannesburg's property management entity would go to women and women-owned companies by 2030.

“We have set an ambitious target but I am confident that, if we truly believe in transformation, it is achievable," Botes said during the JPC's Women’s Day celebrations at Indaba Hotel in Fourways. The JPC's target exceeds the national target by about 30 percentage points.

"As the JPC we have set a goal to achieve 50-50 gender parity by 2030 and aim to position ourselves as the benchmark for women and youth transformation in the property development sector,” Botes said. She encouraged women and women-owned businesses in the sector to get involved and take advantage of available opportunities. She said in a bid to level the playing field in the multibillion-rand industry, the company had implemented several key gender transformative policies.

“Our dedication as property transformation activists is a driving focus that will change the face of this male-dominated sector and create a new equitable playing field,” said Botes.

The JPC’s gender parity policies mean that women and women-owned businesses will have equal access to the facilities management budget that currently stands at R650-million, construction and building contracts, outdoor advertising, educational programmes, learnerships and the JPC graduate skills development programmes. Verusha Morgan, JPC's Property Asset Management General Manager, said the entity was managing R34-billion worth of public-owned property in Johannesburg. She said this presented great opportunities for women entrepreneurs, especially in the wake of Johannesburg’s continued growth and development.

“At the JPC, we live and breathe transformation and economic empowerment and believe that women are an untapped resource," she said.

'It is a fact that the demand for land will rise due to the growth of Johannesburg. Not only will the demand for land increase but so will the need for property-related services. This essentially means that the opportunities available are boundless for several sector-related businesses including quantity surveying, asset management, property management, facilities management, outdoor advertising and more,” said Morgan.