Women‐owned construction enterprises: a South African assessment

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the findings of a needs assessment study of South African women‐owned enterprises in construction. The study was done in preparation for the rolling out of an empowerment initiative country‐wide in South Africa, building on the lessons learnt and recommendations from the current and previous studies. Design/methodology/approach An extensive review of relevant literature was used to develop a survey instrument and guide the stakeholder workshops to establish the needs of women‐owned contractors in South Africa. Findings The study found that fair procurement processes, women‐friendly construction sites, a construction bank and relevant career‐aligned training with mentoring were enablers to transform existing enterprises to multi‐skilled independent entities able to participate in the mainstream construction sector and register in the higher grades of the CIDB Register of Contractors. Research limitations/implications Findings are based on views from respondents in South Africa registered in grades 1 through 5 on the CIDB Register of Contractors with legitimate e‐mail addresses. Practical implications The professionally facilitated workshops and broad‐based stakeholder involvement in the project enhanced the validity of the study and the success of a development agenda if adopted for implementation. Originality/value The value of the paper lies in the roadmap for development for similar initiatives.

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