Aspasia Karras
Mike Gcabo has landed a coup: the North West Builders=20 Federation (NWBF), of which he is president, has just=20 embarked on one of the biggest construction contracts ever=20 awarded to black builders.
A R60-million joint venture between Mawite (a consortium of=20 nine builders from the NWBF) and LTA Building will rebuild=20 the Mabopane Shopping Centre in Mmabatho, destroyed in last=20 year’s unrest.=20
Gcabo (30) has come a long way from the days when he helped=20 in his father’s construction company. He now sits on the=20 Bophuthatswana University Council and is a director of the=20 North West Housing Corporation.=20
He says karate has given him the necessary discipline,=20 focus, drive and philosophical basis to pursue his dreams.=20 Those dreams are rapidly being fulfilled.=20
The NWBF could function as a showcase of the Reconstruction=20 and Development Programme (RDP).=20
Gcabo traces the process that resulted in the NBWF becoming=20 such a force in a highly competitive market: “Two years=20 ago, black construction was disorganised and=20 undernourished”, he says. He decided to bring together=20 random small-scale entrepreneurs in the North West, and=20 organise a provincial, purely African structure.=20
He received assistance from both the then Bophuthatswana=20 National Development Corporation, and co-ordinated the=20 process through the civics. The federation profits by being=20 able to tender for large contracts, from which it receives=20 a small percentage.=20
But for Gcabo the real benefit lies in community=20 development through the development of individuals. “We do=20 not hope to produce instant millionaires, if we do that’s=20 great, but we do hope to produce competent contract=20 managers, who can function effectively and cleverly in the=20 fast track.”=20
Gcabo describes the negotiations that resulted in the=20 contract as exacting and laborious. They involved Property=20 company Intersite, the client Sefalana Employee Benefits=20 Organisation (SEBO) Properties, the Winterveld Development=20 Association which queried the intended reconstruction, and=20 ultimately with LTA, which was chosen as a contract partner=20 after an intensive selection process.=20
Gcabo enjoyed this particular aspect of the negotiations,=20 as the “tables were turned” and for the first time the “big=20 five” had to present their case to the contractor’s=20 steering committee.=20
Gcabo, is happy with the relationship the NWBF has with LTA=20 as it was a highly negotiated agreement based on=20 sustainability. “We sought maximum retention of wealth in=20 the area, training and development, and a business plan=20 ensuring the sharing of wealth.” =20
Essentially Gcabo understands the two partners come from=20 diametrically opposed positions. He stresses the need for=20 modular training, which concentrates on the need for=20 strategic knowledge of the industry and contractual=20 management, as well as a reciprocal understanding of the=20 new way of doing things.
Dave Simms of LTA stresses that the 14-month contract, due=20 for completion in February 1995, is going well.=20 Specifically, both partners of the joint venture are=20 benefiting from the transference of skills and the cultural=20 exchange. He sees the contract as an opportunity to create=20 an “Afro European” methodology for business.
Gcabo travels up to 10 000 km every month to ensure that=20 his pioneering aspirations are fulfilled, and it seems to=20 be working, as SEBO has approached the NWBF with another=20 shopping complex proposal, the R15-million Themba City=20
“We are community builders as opposed to ordinary builders,=20 and as specialised civilians we must ensure that people=20 live where they work and work where they live.” He says=20 society and productivity suffer because of the distances=20 people have to travel to and from work.=20
Gcabo describes himself as an “analyst”. He says he has=20 often been accused of politicising the industry, but “then=20 everything is politicised in this country”.=20
Commenting on the “boom and bust” scenarios that some=20 economists predict for the construction industry, and more=20 specifically for the black contractors within it, Gcabo=20 retorts, that not only has the NWBF been approached by=20 foreign investors regularly, but black contractors are in a=20 far stronger position to adjust to downturns as they have=20 lower overheads than the industry’s giants. His only=20 concern is that inevitably the consumer bears the brunt.