Who We Are

Background

1995 to 2001 The early years

The organisation, then known as Women for Housing (WFH), was established as a volunteer network in 1995. For a number of years a group of women came together to discuss the country’s housing challenges, share ideas and advocate for women’s involvement in housing delivery, as both homeowners and service providers, in housing.

The group recognised the need for an organisation to play an ongoing advocacy role and to facilitate opportunities for women. They registered Women for Housing as a non-profit organisation in 1997.

WFH played a valuable role in highlighting the importance of women’s involvement in housing delivery and initiated a range of opportunities for women. Each of the women in the group was committed to promoting the interests of women in the organisations they were involved in, and in the sector as a whole. The group had a close relationship with then Minister of Housing, Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele and was influential in shaping national policy. Many of these women are still involved with the organisation today.

2001 – 2002 WFH begins to grow

In 2001, Elizabeth O’Leary, who had been working with Nurcha, a construction finance company, recognised the growing number of opportunities for women in the sector and asked the group if they would give her the opportunity to grow the organisation further. Through the in-kind support of Nurcha and the Home Loan Guarantee Company (HLGC), Elizabeth took the project on full-time. Operating out of Nurcha’s offices, the organisation’s main areas of focus during the first years were fundraising, advocacy, and programme development.

In March 2002, the organisation received their first big break in the form of a grant from the Ford Foundation. This grant provided WFH with the base upon which it would develop. WFH also received small grants and in-kind support from a number of organisations enabling it to offer a series of contractor development workshops, continue its advocacy work, and formally launch in November 2002. Minister Mthembi-Mahanyele spoke at the launch event which had brought together 400 women and stakeholders.

2003 – 2006 No looking back

Between 2003 and 2006 WFH was able to attract additional funding from various sources. Standard Bank came on board with a significant grant during this time and has remained the main sponsor to this day. Many partnerships were established and activities expanded.

Women were increasingly drawn to the sector. Government placed a significant focus on the development of women owned construction companies and thus WFH initiated programmes aimed at developing the capacity of the initial pioneers. Programmes were influenced both by the needs and interests of women entering the sector and by the opportunities in the market.

During these years WFH offered or was involved in a number of initiatives aimed at promoting the socio-economic development of women through housing delivery. These initiatives included:

Workshops and formal training for women contractors
Volunteer building projects
Advocacy and influencing both the development and implementation of housing policy
Opportunities for students to gain work experience

One of the most important roles WFH played was in the development of the Construction Black Economic Empowerment Charter. In 2004, stakeholders from government, labour unions and industry associations began to develop the Charter. The Charter set out to establish a framework and targets for the racial and gender transformation of the industry, it was signed by all parties in 2006. The Black Economic Empowerment framework further expanded the opportunities available to women in the construction sector and provides incentives for transformation.

Fortified by the energy and enthusiasm of the women and armed with commitment from government and the established industry, there was no looking back.

2007 – 2008 The next steps: organisational growth and an expanded strategic plan

In 2007 WFH moved out of Nurcha’s office and established a new home for the organisation in Rivonia. The size of the WFH team grew and the work of the organisation expanded through the support of Standard Bank and a number of industry role-players. During these years WFH developed a longer term strategy for growth and piloted a number of new offerings including a Student Development programme at the Tshwane University of Technology, a Professional Development programme in Cape Town and a unique new programme, called Re a abelana, for more experienced contractors.

Following the release of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) revised BEE Codes of Good Practice and Scorecard, the Construction Charter was adapted to align more closely with the DTI Codes as a Construction Code. WFH recognised the wide range of opportunities available to expand its offerings in line with the Codes and the increasing focus on transformation in the industry.

2009 WFH evolves and rebrands as Khuthaza

By the end of 2008, the organisation’s efforts had met with remarkable success. With limited resources WFH has been instrumental in facilitating an increasing range of career and business related opportunities for women in the sector. Looking at the long term, the Team and Directors recognised that the time had come to expand into the wider construction sector, play a pivotal role in assisting the industry to work toward its empowerment targets and to further extend its services. The Board and Team sought a new name for the organisation to reflect the essence of its work. The name Khuthaza, meaning encourage, was selected and reflects the role the organisation plans to play in encouraging change, partnership and transformation in the industry.

The remarkable drive of our small but powerful team combined with the determination of the women we work with and the unwavering support from our sponsors, government and the industry has led to an evolutionary change in our organisational development. Khuthaza is an experienced, dynamic and powerful organisation with plans for far reaching impact.

As Khuthaza we aim to achieve unprecedented successes by making an even greater contribution to the development of the housing and construction sectors.