Building more productive and resilient construction enterprises in South Africa’s Waterberg District

South Africa, Bela Bela (ILO News) - Twenty-five construction SMME owners in Waterberg District Municipality, ranging from young entrepreneurs to experienced business owners, including women and men, have completed a training and mentorship programme designed to strengthen decent work practices and enhance enterprise productivity.

Supported by the ILO Decent Work in Construction Project, and funded by Sida, the training was delivered through a partnership with Waterberg District Municipality and Property Point, a business development services provider, that supports SMMEs in the Property Market. The support programme equipped participants with knowledge, skills and tools for putting in place decent working environment for employees.

Through face-to-face training, hands-on mentorship, and tailored business development support, the participating enterprises guided to strengthen compliance with labour laws and to adopt inclusive business practices that promote gender equity and social dialogue. The training sessions featured innovative and interactive methods, including role-plays and experiential learning exercises, which encouraged engagement from participants.

© ILO

© ILO

Property Point’s Head of Economic Inclusion and Sustainability, Clement Makotanyane, underscored the importance of supporting SMMEs to integrate decent work principles in their operations as a way of building more motived and productive working teams and more resilient and sustainable enterprises.

Through the partnership with ILO, we have integrated decent work principles into our own business development support services to SMMEs, and we have expanded our service package,” he explained.

Young entrepreneur, Boitumelo Mashiane was one of the participants in the training. Her company, JBK Civil Consultants, is currently managing a traffic safety Project which is providing signage, lane closure, and detours services for a road under maintenance Project with 184 workers in Bela Bela town.

She explained that she looks forward to applying what she has learned to strengthen safety checks and to ensure that every worker on her project has a contract, regardless of the duration of their employment.

For the Waterberg District Municipality this support programme for SMMEs was part of the strategy to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the SMMEs in the region and was a way of to fostering local economic development and job creation.

Speaking at the closing event, Katlego Makunyane from Waterberg District Municipality noted that the Municipality recognises the critical role that small businesses play in generating employment. She emphasized the Municipality’s commitment to creating a conducive environment for the growth of SMMEs by providing essential infrastructure, resources, and business development support.

Small businesses are the backbone of our local economy.

By investing in their growth and equipping them with the right skills, we are not only strengthening individual enterprises but also creating pathways for job creation and long-term economic resilience in Waterberg. Our goal is to ensure that every small enterprise operates in an environment where it can compete, thrive, and become sustainable,” she said.