Page 28 - NHBRC

Teacher
CITY PRESS, 8 JUNE, 2014

index

buildsonhertruepassion

Thuli Malakoana wanted to be a social worker, but 25 years ago in rural

Natal she had to opt for teaching. It wasn’t her passion. Building was

her passion. In 2005 she registered Koanas Project Management. She

hasn’t looked back since, writes Sue Grant-Marshall

In the beginning Hurdles
Thuli Malakoana never knew her father. He died when she was only four years Malakoana struggled with technical issues on her building sites. She also lost a
old. Her mother remarried and moved away from the family home in Bruntville lot of money due to not fully understanding the general conditions of a contract
near Mooi River in the then Natal province, leaving her in the care of her and experiencing problems with pricing tender documents. She also desperately
grandparents. “They were good to me and I feel I have a lot to thank them for needed office space.
because they empowered me,” says Malakoana.
“For example, when my grandfather was painting our
house and I picked up a paint brush to do what he Overcoming obstacles
was doing, he encouraged me to go ahead.” With the help of the SCI, Malakoana received the guidance she needed by
As she finished her last year of school, attending workshops and obtaining training. She was also given mentors she
Malakoana decided she wanted to be a social could consult with daily if she needed to do so and received site support and
worker. But career counselling hardly existed exposure to tender opportunities.
back in 1988. A career as a teacher was readily Importantly, she was also helped with office space.
available so she trained as one and went on to “I pay my workers’ wages and I have a set salary. I save the rest of any income
teach for many years. She made an excellent generated for a rainy day,” she says.
teacher, too, with her patience, warmth and
steady smile.
“But it wasn’t my passion and I didn’t feel Next step
fulfilled,” she says. This enabled her to build ablution facilities for uMhlathuze Water in eight
schools. “I am working for the Coega Development Corporation, which is
given construction jobs by the department of education,” says Malakoana.
Getting started She has six full-time workers and, depending on the projects she’s managing,
And so in 2005, the teacher used part of her Malakoana employs between 20 and 25 casual labourers at a time.
opportunity
surname to register a project management “I enjoy going to my building sites, but apart from that, it’s important to
company called Koanas. But four years passed be there because people steal bricks, cement, etc.”
before she got her first construction job. A
good friend, Deli Nyada, who also had her
own construction company, saw that Dreams and goals
Malakoana needed some help. I eventually want to grow into a property development company, specialising
In 2010, Nyada suggested the former in housing in KwaZulu-Natal. And that’s because my passion lies in housing.
teacher join the Seda Construction
Incubator (SCI) and she was soon given a
government contract to build five The NHBRC is important…
classrooms in KwaNongoma. Because it regulates the home building industry. Hopefully one day I will be
“Nyada has become my mentor,” asked to do some work for them.
says Malakoana happily.
Shortly afterwards, she was TIP
contracted to build a crèche at
Impendle near
Pietermaritzburg. ‘When you are working on
more than one site project, you
need to employ a foreman you
can really trust to ensure that
everything is done to the A project in partnership with the
NHBRC
highest quality’

TALK TO US Getting your dream home
email:
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citypress.co.za,
or tweet Working drawings are the actual building plans. These scaled-down, two-
dimensional drawings serve a number of purposes.
@City_Press A set of working drawings consists of the following:
#OppIndex, or . Exterior elevations are detailed;
. Interior floor plans provide a scaled-down overview for each level of your
SMS us at home; and
34263 using the . Structural plans provide cross-sectional views and details.
SPECIFICATIONS
keyword Written specifications expand on the working drawings in detail. Builders
normally provide a general specification list that outlines construction and
PROJECTS and finish details. You will usually get two schedules with the general
tell us what you specifications: an exterior finish schedule and the interior finish schedule.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU MAKE CHANGES?
are interested There is one common rule to follow: communicate with your builder
representative as soon as possible and have any agreed changes in writing
in. Please
acknowledged with appropriate signatures. A change in the working drawings
include your or specifications of your home is a change to the contract or agreement and
requires the agreement of both parties as well as proper documentation.
name. SMSes MAKING YOUR INTERIOR FINISH CHOICES
cost R1.50 You need time to make choices you can live with, and discuss target deadlines
for your decisions with your builder so you are not forced to make last-minute
decisions.
GETTING READY TO BUILD
The start of construction is only partly controlled by your builder. These are
the things you need to do before building starts:
. Submit a complete set of plans, the site plan and other engineering details
to municipal authorities for approval; and
. Once plans are approved, enrol the house with the National Home Builders’
Registration Council. Enrolment must be done 15 days prior to construction.