Page 34 - NHBRC

Creating
Creating

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space
space to to

succeed
succeed

STILL
REACHING
Moipone
Masalesa
PHOTO: ELIZABETH
SEJAKE

Moipone Masalesa has come a long way. She has been a teacher, owned

a hair salon and has run her successful Leswikaswika Civil Projects

company from Pretoria since she registered it in 2005. In the process,
opportunity
this single mother has enabled her daughter to graduate as a chemical

engineer, writes SUE GRANT-MARSHALL

In the beginning asked her brother, who was building roads, to also
Moipone Masalesa was one of seven siblings growing DO WELL FOR YOURSELF involve her in that area.
up in a middle class, well-organised Christian family Maintenance tips and “In 2005, the Tshwane public works department
near Bela Bela, Limpopo. Her father was lucky to be asked for female contractors. I applied and began civil
working for a farmer who gave his labourers land. She DIY advice for the construction in Krugersdorp and Orange Farm. I am
says: “He owned cattle and goats. He grew beans and still building roads in Vanderbijlpark today.
sweet potatoes, which we sold on the streets of Bela interior of your home “I do road construction, storm water drainage and
Bela and to a nearby mining community.” water reticulation.”
She thinks that as the youngest child, she might Masalesa learnt her civil construction skills through
have been a little spoilt. Yet, she says, she’s “turned Although the NHBRC is not responsible for on-the-job training.
out to be the hardest worker in the family”. maintenance and DIY, here are a few issues for Today, she hires between 20 and 28 people to work
“My parents were very strict and we were not you to consider: for her “depending on the size of the project”.
allowed to mix with children who were not Christians.
We prayed a lot and did Bible studies.” Separating walls
So when Masalesa fell pregnant at 17 while still a Walls separating you from your neighbour will Hurdles
schoolgirl her family was shocked. “I had hoped generally be of masonry construction. The advice “Start-up capital. I needed this because of all the
to be a teacher but needed an income so I for fixing is the same as for plastered or delays in paying me. Another problem was that
went to live with my sister and sold dry-lined masonry walls. communities increasingly wanted to do their own
clothes and beauty products in Bela Separating walls in timber-frame building in spite of not being qualified to do so.”
Bela for five years.” Tip homes may have normal timber
With the money she saved, she studs, but the plasterboard lining
went to the Moretele Teachers’ ‘Learn all you can about is about 30mm thick. Overcoming obstacles
Training College. “My parents the construction industry Failure to seal any holes in “I obtained capital because Absa gave me an
were so impressed by my the plasterboard will reduce the overdraft. I overcame the problems in the community
determination they helped me even if the various grades sound installation of the wall, by involving the members as stakeholders in the
with funds by selling a cow.” can be frustrating to affecting not only yourself but projects. I understand where they are coming from.”
She simultaneously studied for achieve at times. They your neighbour.
matric and because there was no keep you on your Heavy items should be fixed
Setswana teacher, she taught herself through the plasterboard to the Next step
and her fellow classmates. toes’ vertical timber studs. “I intend to continue growing and expanding. I am
Masalesa ended up matriculating Light items may be fixed with a plug also empowering communities. Investing skills in the
with a distinction from Lethabong in the plasterboard layer, but take care not latter makes me feel really good.”
Secondary School, which impressed her to drill right through.
parents even more because her father “didn’t believe
that girls should be educated”. Doors Dreams and goals
The Lethabong principal respected Masalesa’s Many doors are made with a thin facing of “I’m competitive and always look for new
diligence so much that he appointed her as the compressed board or plywood on a skeletal opportunities. I hope to eventually operate outside
school’s history and geography teacher. honeycomb core within a timber frame. Items such South Africa’s borders.
“I was there for 12 years and studied at the same as coat hooks can be fixed to these doors with the TALK TO “I’m also looking at 3-D construction. One day I
time at Vista University for my BEd honours,” she says. same sort of cavity devices that are used for fixing US envisage building shopping malls in space.”
Masalesa had hoped to become a doctor, but the to plasterboard.
thought of another seven years of study was daunting. But make sure that the door thickness will Email projects@
Nonetheless, she opened a hair salon to increase her accommodate the plug or toggle fitting when it is citypress.co.za NHBRC is necessary…
income. “I was a fighter and a real self-starter,” she inserted and fully tightened. Tweet “It plays an important role as a regulatory body.
recalls with a chuckle. @City_Press I’ve worked with them and they insist on quality.
Curtain tracks #OppIndex or I’ve never seen its inspectors compromising on that.”
In masonry construction, concrete or steel lintels SMS us on
Getting started are used to support the wall above window 34263 using the
Masalesa registered Leswikaswika Civil Projects in openings. Bearing in mind the difficulties of fixing to keyword
2005. She found construction work from friends and certain lintels, some builders can help by providing PROJECTS and
community members who wanted their homes a timber batten above the window for fixing curtain tell us what you
extended in Bela Bela, Soshanguve and Ga-Rankuwa. tracks or blinds. are interested A project in partnership with the
“I measured and calculated the building sites and If a batten is not provided, ask your home builder in. Please
then I’d find contractors to build them. I bought the what type of lintel has been used and what type of include your NHBRC
bricks, cement and paint for the contractors.” fixing is recommended. name. SMSes
But Masalesa wasn’t satisfied with her income and cost R1.50 each