Drew Forrest
BART DORRESTEIN is a true believer _ and those who question his dream are “doubting Thomases”.
It’s a dream which extends beyond housing to “making South Africa an economically viable country” and even to the restoration of family values in black communities.
Interviewed at his corporate headquarters in Rivonia, the tall Stocks and Stocks Holdings deputy chairman is unshakeably confident that the controversial PWV housing plan _ which his firm spearheaded _ will happen. “I feel inwardly calm about it,” he says. “I am utterly and totally convinced that we can marshal the combined resources of all the participants in the construction industry.
“I’m going to harness the support of communities and watch them blossom and grow.”
Asked if 150 000 houses in a year is a realistic target, he answers quietly in the affirmative. “Every sceptic in the country said we couldn’t build Sun City in 17 months on virgin soil, with no services, no infrastructure, no planning and a zero skills base in the area. We did it in 17 months.”
He has “no argument” with National Housing Minister Joe Slovo, who has accused the PWV of “putting the future of the country in the hands of one construction company”. But he stresses: “We must address the 65 to 70 percent who are considered credit risks by the banks because they do not have jobs or earn less than R1 500 a month. Unless we address their aspirations, we won’t have a country left.”
Dorrestein agrees Stocks and Stocks “is not going to go poor” if the PWV initiative strikes root, but stresses that through it “the haves will help the have-nots pull themselves up by their bootstraps”.
“Business must participate in creating permanent employment in partnership with the new communities emerging. Unless there is a drastic restructuring of the economy, big business will get bigger and the poor will remain poor.
“Against that security of permanent employment, we will go into the market and raise money.”
The PWV scheme entailed R1,5-billion of cash exposure for the national government, as against the R3,8-billion earmarked for the central state’s subsidy scheme. But exposure will occur “only if communities fail to rise to the challenge”, Dorrestein argues. “The government will be saying: Thanks to your vote, you now have an opportunity to find employment with the pro-active help of private enterprise.”
Does the potential for bond boycotts bother him? “This exists with conventional financing,” he says. “But we want to create a new culture in which communities exercise responsibility rather than the banks. Communities must become accountable for themselves and to each other.”
Stocks played a central role in devising the PWV plan but “no one has a monopoly on good ideas”, Dorrestein concludes. “I have put a plan on the table _ but if there’s a better one, I’ll cast in my lot with that.”