Herbert Theledi grew up in a community of black entrepreneurs. The young Theledi was exposed to the business strategies of his father, who was an innovative entrepreneur. It is common knowledge that since his childhood days, Herbert has revered his father as a groundbreaker in his own right. The entrepreneurial lessons taught by his father have been used by Herbert ever since.
In addition to his father’s lessons, Herbert had the advantage to learn from bright and successful black entrepreneurs in his rural community.
The exposure to astute black entrepreneurs cultivated a desire in Herbert to be involved in commerce in some way. It was in this sort of environment that he came to the belief that the future of African people is in business.
This belief made Herbert a driving force in the enhancement of black entrepreneurs, as well as black businesses.
Whatever his role, entrepreneur, managing director, property developer or mentor, Herbert is an ardent promoter of black empowerment in the challenging world of commerce.
With over 20 years’ experience in the real estate industry, he’s got what it takes to be a campaigner for black ownership in the property market. And a zealous campaigner at that.
On 12 August 2018, City Press published an interview with Herbert in which he clearly expressed his concerns about the accessibility to the property sector for black people, saying: “The equity cheque is the main barrier for black industrialists. Equity is a big problem because we have never had value creation through property.”
In the interview Herbert expressed his conviction about transformation in the property sector, emphasizing that the unlocking of both land and capital is of paramount importance.
Five days later, 17 August 2018, he continued his campaign for black empowerment in the property sector in an article on Moneyweb when he was making a strong case for “developing black industrialists in the property sector.”
Herbert’s line of argument in the article is evidence of his campaign for black ownership in the property market.
At the beginning of the article, Herbert referred to the Black Industrialists Scheme (BIS), which was launched by the government in 2016, with the goal to financially assist black industrialists.
He continued to state that assistance for black industrialists is “indisputable” and mentioned two positive outcomes of the support by the Department of Trade and Industry (dti): the establishing of sustainable businesses by black industrialists and the process of economic transformation benefitting to create “tangible results.”
However, Herbert argued that more need to be done for the property sector, saying: “One sector that deserves greater focus and investment from the BIS is undoubtedly property development.”
Herbert emphasized that “an overwhelming majority of black South Africans have never in the history of their families experienced formal property ownership and its wealth creation benefits.”
The situation described above were mainly caused by injustices of the past, namely, the implementation of the Native Land Act of 1913 and “subsequent discriminatory policy and legislation,” Herbert remarked.
He accentuated the importance of property ownership, saying: “Property ownership is one of the best ways of radically transforming the ownership patterns of our economy,” and added that although the property sector is “ lagging significantly behind other major industries”, it has a major role to radically transform the South African economy.
Herbert also expressed his concerns about funding by banks for “black property players”, observing: “When it comes to financing for projects like rural and peri-urban shopping centre developments, the banks assess loan applications in terms of the sustainability of future income. Lack of experience in retail development by many applicants makes it difficult to grant funding.”
He, therefore, urged the government and the private sector to join forces “to reduce the debt burden for property developers.”
Herbert cited another obstacle to black ownership in the property sector, that is, dominating “big players” that are not enough encouraged and motivated “to open the space up to emerging companies.”
As a promoter for property development by black industrialists, Herbert mentioned the property sector in the country is facing many challenges, among others: huge shortages of housing over a wide spectrum and lack of proper infrastructure in certain areas.
Regarding the huge shortages of housing, Herbert mentioned at the time of the article that at a national level “the backlog of low-cost homes is an estimated 2.1 million” and expressed his concern that it shows no sign of improving. He also referred to the acute shortage of housing for students in the country.
With regard to infrastructure, he pointed out that property development and infrastructure development are closely connected. South Africa is facing an enormous challenge regarding infrastructure development and Herbert emphasized this by quoting from a report published by G20 Global Infrastructure Hub (GI Hub): “South Africa needs to invest $464 billion (R6 trillion) by 2040 in the water and electricity sectors to plug its infrastructure investment gap and address economic and population growth between now and 2040.”
He continued to point out that access to basic infrastructure is affecting “people’s lives in the most fundamental way.”
Herbert pointed out that “property development and jobs go hand-in-hand.” He expressed his concern about South Africa’s high unemployment rate and mentioned that property development could ease the burden of unemployment, saying: “With the support of the government, a vibrant construction sector, property development underlying commercial activities could help to absorb millions of low- and medium-skilled workers…”
The fruit of Herbert’s passion for black empowerment is evident in the following two citations about Nthwese’s BEE status on its website. The company of which Herbert is the founder and managing director.
“We are a 100% black-owned company that is constantly striving to uphold our commitment to socio-economic development in South Africa. Within the property industry, we support sustainable economic development and job creation throughout our value chain, from deal sourcing to project implementation,” and,
“As one of the few black-owned property companies, Nthwese is conscious about playing its role in helping to correct skewed property ownership and transformation in the sector.”
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