Page 42 - NHBRC Flipbook

In the beginning
It is apartheid-era violence that Romalda Zulu
remembers in particular from her childhood.
Her parents were so poor that at the age of eight
index
she was selling sweets at the school in KwaNongoma Building
where she spent her early years.
“I grew up with eight boys, my four brothers and
four cousins, and my dream was to work like men
do in the industrial sector. No dolls for me. It was
always soccer,” says Zulu.
She moved to Durban to be with her parents in
Grade 7 and attended KwaMathanda High School in
Umlazi township. A LEGACY FOR
“I had to take two taxis to get to school. There
was violence all around us. I became an ANC
member and got involved in the apartheid struggle.
stokvel when she heard of a pending construction THE NEW
Inkatha would attack us in our homes.”
After she matriculated, Zulu knew her parents
couldn’t afford her tertiary education. She was
playing women’s soccer and was a member of a

project through her local ward councillor.
She sent her CV and the councillor, impressed
by her energy and leadership, made her the site GENERATION
clerk.
Getting started
“I knew once that job finished we’d all be out
of work and I heard the men discussing opening
their own companies. So I did the same and
registered Romalda Zulu Civil Construction
in 1999.” Romalda Zulu grew
Her first project was clearing a
road in Umlazi.
“It was worth R54 000, but I Tip up extremely poor,
had no money, so I sat down
with my workers and asked ‘What I’ve learnt over playing soccer with
them if I could pay them the years is the
once the work was done. importance of working
They agreed.” closely with and listening the eight boys in her
The coach of her soccer
team helped her with carefully to my staff.
transport to the building site. They are the backbone family. She used a
She borrowed R3 000 from her of a company.’
stokvel with which to buy brooms, stokvel she had joined
spades and petrol, and completed
the work on time.
“I then paid my workers and was able to to propel herself into
opportunity
bank R34 000. That became my start-up capital.”
She registered her company on the database of
the department of transport in KwaZulu-Natal. She the world of
also became the first woman to register with the
eThekwini Municipality for construction projects, she construction, forming
says with pride.
Growing the business her own company in
Initially, she worked on gravelling roads in
rural areas such as KwaNongoma, Underberg
and Nkomazi. 1999, writes Sue
“I built a road where I’d grown up because the
villagers there asked for one. Grant-Marshall
“I was so proud of it that I took my three
children, then between the ages of six and 20, to
see it.”
Today Zulu works on projects with values of up to
R1.5 million. Most of her work is with the eThekwini
Municipality and KZN department of transport.
Hurdles
The competition was intense.
“There were only four of us small, black
contractors registered with the [eThekwini]
Municipality. Three of them were men and one was
a woman. And that woman was me.”
Zulu found herself asking the men for advice, even
though she was competing against them.
At one stage she had to hire graders, rollers and
other equipment for a project for the department of
transport. In spite of having paid the deposit in
advance to hire the machines, the company did not
hand over the equipment to her.
“They told me the machines were busy elsewhere.
It took a huge amount of energy and determination
to get them to deliver,” says Zulu.
Overcoming obstacles
“I am a calm person and a very good thinker. So I
gathered together nine businesspeople like me. We
formed a consortium called Club Seven, opened one
bank account and put any profit we made into it.
“The first person to get a project borrowed money
from the account and paid it back at the end of the
job. We paid only 5% interest on our loans because
it was, after all, our own money.”
Next step
Zulu wants her company to grow by taking on
increasingly bigger jobs “and then my construction
grading will improve. I want a higher grade – 5CE –
so I can build bridges.
“Long term, I want to work all over SA and in all
areas of construction.”
Dreams and goals
“I am building a legacy with my company that the
new generation will inherit. It means that when I
retire, I’ll have an income because the company will
still be mine.
“In addition, I plan to build houses for two of my
staff members. They’ve worked with me for 15 years NO DOLLS FOR ME Romalda Zulu’s first project was clearing a road in Umlazi, a township on the east coast of
and have walked with me through the dark days.” KwaZulu-Natal. It was worth R54 000 PHOTO: ELIZABETH SEJAKE
Moving on and up
“Right now I am building roads in areas that have TALK TO US
not yet been developed. In time, I want to build Email projects@citypress.co.za A project in partnership with the
houses there, too. Tweet @City_Press #OppIndex or SMS us on 34263
“So I plan to register with the NHBRC [National using the keyword PROJECTS and tell us what you are NHBRC
Home Builders’ Registration Council] to learn more interested in. Please include your name. SMSes cost
about the housing construction industry.” R1.50 each

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