KNOW THY NEIGH BOUR TONGAAT HULETT CERTAINLY DO! - Tongaat Hulett Developments
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KNOW THY NEIGHTONGAAT HULETT CERTAINLY DO!
IMAGES & TEXT: NICHOLAS CARROLL
Cornubia Phase 2D also known as BLACKBURN VILLAGE (BBV),
is located across the N2 west of iZinga and is a lively home to
about 4 500 residents, the majority (over 90%) of whom are
under the age of 40 years. This community is relatively highly
literate as almost 100% has an education of Grade 9 and above,
yet only 36% is employed in a Greater uMhlanga economic node
that creates more jobs than workseekers at BBV.
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0% unemployment in Cornubia
(incl Blackburn) is the economic
participation goal set by Tongaat
Hulett and eThekwini municipality.
The Training Centre is a catalyst for Skills and Enterprise
development that enables economic participation and improves
quality of life. Focus is on dominant economic sectors in the
uMhlanga region like, construction, retail, hospitality and
property services.
THIS COMMUNITY PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IS A
KEY CITY STRATEGY IN ACCELERATING DEVELOPMENT
AND SERVICE DELIVERY.
According to Beryll Mphakathi, eThekwini Deputy City Manager
for Human Settlements and Infrastructure, “This community
public private partnership is a key City strategy in accelerating
development and service delivery. Alongside TH the City has
prioritized the implementation of incremental services including
roads improvements, water and sanitation and electricity
reticulation. 47 households have been relocated to facilitate
these improvements.
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While Tongaat Hulett has made some property available for
the development of sports and recreational facilities, the City
is preparing for the installation of an outdoor gym. These
initiatives are implemented through a process of empowering
the community to organise and lead issues of importance to them
BLACKBUR N
INF O RMAL through the iThuba Steering Committee.
SE T T LE ME N T
02
BOUR N E LI SWA G OYA
Community Centre
“0% unemployment in Cornubia (including Blackburn) is the
Admindistrator
economic participation goal set by Tongaat Hulett and eThekwini
municipality to facilitate a socially and economically integrated
Greater uMhlanga region,” says Tongaat Hulett Developments MD:
Mike Deighton.
Bongani Gumede, Tongaat Hulett Developments Executive Head for
Community Public Private Partnerships continues, “Settlement of
indigent people in the proximity of opportunity does not guarantee
economic participation and social cohesion, unless deliberate
interventions are implemented to capacitate self-leadership and
development which enables economic participation”.
iThuba, meaning “opportunity”, programme coordinates and
facilitates upskilling and linkages between local demand and supply
of labour. Walk-in iThuba centres managed by the communities
have been established in Blackburn Village, Cornubia Phase 1 and
Waterloo, all feeding the iThuba Training Centre at Blackburn
Village SSIP Hub.
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Over 70% of the
graduates from the
centre are placed in
jobs within the greater
Umhlanga area.
03
RAJ
GOVEND ER
Overseeing
plumbing
training
You’d think that major developments undertaken in close there are nearly 1000 children under the age of 6, with only 80
proximity to low income housing settlements would employ some or so of these attending Early Childhood Development Centres
of the inhabitants. This is not always the case. “The challenge” (ECDCs), over 1600 children of school going age are attending
says Rieva McMurtrie of Tongaat Hulett Developments, “is that various schools in neighbouring communities with a temporary
communities battle to meet the skills requirements for these Solomon Mahlangu Primary School in Cornubia Phase 1
jobs”. Construction companies tend to bring their own skilled accomodating 700 learners. After school support services are
staff, or use conventional channels to source skilled people. lagging, but desperately needed in order to keep the children
Therefore, people from surrounding settlements often don’t off nearby construction sites and rubbish dumps. There are
get to fully participate in the new economies that are created however initiatives to accelerate more social facilities like
through these developments. ECDs, the development of a new school in Phase 1, recreational
facilities. At BBV there is a single dusty sports field that serves
“Programmes like iThuba are the essence of our Socio-economic the entire community whilst other teams are training in the
Sustainability and Innovation Program” (SSIP) continues nearby canefields’ loading zones.
Rieva. The SSIP addresses the effects of developments on the
communities they surround. Communities need to understand
what is happening in the area and the direct impact these
developments are going to have on their lives.
TONGAAT HULETT ENGAGE WITH THESE COMMUNITIES
LONG BEFORE THE FIRST GRADER ARRIVES ON SITE.
Extensive surveys are carried out to obtain a clear picture of the
population demographics in the area of development. Cornubia,
targeted at indigent beneficiaries across eThekwini municipality
together with Blackburn village have a high need for social
services. Statistics reveal the harsh reality of misalignment
between social demographics and social amenities. For example
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The creation of Early Childhood Development
Centre’s are one of Tongaat Hulett’s key
interventions – PART OF THEIR EDUCATION
TRAINING PLACEMENT (ETP) PROGRAMME
Blackburn community is proving that with empowerment,
communities can achitect their own destiny. The renovations
of the iThuba community Centre, ECD Centre were all done
by three local (BBV) construction companies. To the surprise
and admiration of the community, these companies (based
in BBV) were able to employ thirty seven newly skilled
graduates from the iThuba training centre, all residing in
Blackburn Village.
The Blackburn ECDC was renovated in 2017 and is run by
two community caregivers, overseen by a temporary mentor,
Nonhlanhla Sithole, a qualified school teacher. The centre
accommodates children from birth to the age of six.
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04
N AT H I M U TWA
Electrical
training in
progress
The Training Centre piloted with the opening of
the Construction Skills programme towards the
end of 2016, co-ordinates job opportunities and
work-seekers, assessing skills gaps and through the
training programmes, up-skilling and linking people
to opportunity. The initial programme is funded by
Tongaat Hulett and work is underway to encourage
other sources to contribute to this noble initiative.
The pilot (construction training) has provided many
lessons to help improve the roll out of the programme,
i.e., learn and earn and lifelong learning, ensuring
continuous skills adaptation for a changing workplace
through incremental improvements. The construction
jobs programme has been a runaway success. It is
encouraging that the Ridge Management Associations
among others have answered this clarion call to
contribute to this initiative.
“BY THE END OF THE WEEK THEY’LL ALL BE ABLE
TO WIRE AN ENTIRE HOUSE FOR ELECTRICITY!”
STATES NATHI MUTWA, ONE OF ITHUBA’S TRAINING
CENTRE FACILITATORS.
The centre’s training facilitators are mostly retired
artisans from the construction industry as well as some
contractors and business owners active on projects in
the area. This success indicates that there is a definite
role for retired professionals willing to contribute
their knowledge and skills to the development of
neighbouring communities. The quality of training is
of such a high standard that over seventy percent of
training centre graduates are placed in jobs within the
Greater uMhlanga area.
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E LE C T R I C A L T R A I N I N G
Within 2 weeks these people will be able
to compentantly wire an entire RDP house
Electrical skills development facilitator, Nathi Mutwa, was The centre trains on demand, an essential part of their strategy
able to brief the new graduates on the building’s requirements, to ensure that the trainees are placed in local jobs. The centre is
leaving them to get on with the work with minimal supervision. a hive of activity from Monday to Friday with classes underway
Such is the quality of the training and calibre of the facilitators. in a network of buildings fifteen minutes’ walk from Blackburn
village. Uniformed trainees create brick and cement structures,
chase walls for wiring conduits, run pipes, install toilets and
ITHUBA IS FAST BECOMING A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE read plans. All under the watchful eye of facilitators who pass
AND A RELIABLE CONDUIT FOR THE COMMUNITY TO on knowledge gained from a lifetime of quality workmanship.
PARTICIPATE IN THE NEW DEVELOPMENTS. This knowledge now in the eager hands of their charges - men
and women of all ages from several surrounding communities.
Community members already employed on local construction Graduation takes place every Friday.
projects frequently return to iThuba training centre for skills
upgrade on their existing skill set. As awareness of iThuba grows, it is the hope that local
businesses will assist by applying their know how to resolving
Community members are initially interviewed by iThuba some of the most pressing community challenges. Whilst
administrators, recording personal details, skills and work conditions and lack of services and social amenities remain
preferences on a central database. They are contacted when a challenge, BBV remains a home, a vibrant community
training becomes available in their preferred sectors. The determined to improve their lives. Recent iThuba statistics
database will become accessible by local businesses with the indicated that the average age of the residents is under 40 years,
view to ensuring that as many future jobs as possible will with 36% employed in an economic region that creates more
be taken up by people in communities within the Greater jobs than workseekers. Encouraging though is that over 90%
uMhlanga area. As people undergo training, details of their want skills in order to improve their prospects.
skills development are recorded on the database. Neliswa
Nogoni, a local university social sciences graduate, is iThuba’s What is abundantly clear is that construction training under
administrator and an active member of the community. She iThuba is giving men and women of informal settlements an
says that feedback from employers indicates that graduates opportunity to transform the fabric of their lives into something
from the training centre are considered very “sharp” and more safer, more sustainable and more orderly. As iThuba’s success
than adequately skilled for the work they were employed to do. grows to include more communities within the Greater
uMhlanga area, new developments are going to benefit by being
able to draw from a pool of approved, local skilled workers.
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And what is the future of informal and low income housing
settlements? Will Blackburn and Cornubia, and communities like them
continue to be stapled together with castaway materials? Or, will we
begin to see our neighbours initiate a more formalised style of living,
self created of course as they combine building skills with the formal
structures of steering committees and community centres?
Successful lessons from the BBV iThuba Community Centre led to the
City including BBV in the Urban Safety Governance Master Class 2018
for informal settlements, presenting the BBV iThuba case study at the
World Urban Forum in Malaysia, in May 2018.
There is renewed determination to drive BBV development through a
community public private partnership. Some of the key actions in this
regard include;
– Fast tracking and bringing forward the development period for BBV.
– Establishing a Development Project at iThuba centre and forming a
Project Steering Committee inclusive not only of the BBV residents,
but other neighbourhoods for participative development.
– Inclusive workshops to shape the vision for the future BBV in the
architecture of Greater uMhlanga region.
– Accelerated skills development and economic participation to
improve residents’ affordability for a better home.
06
– Incremental/phased development to minimise disruption and to
better stitch this community into the fabric of the subregion.
The case of Blackburn as an integral part of the Greater uMhlanga
region confirms the eco-systemic nature of demand and supply linkages
THULI LE
NG I BA and that neighbourhoods of different socioeconomic status planned
One of the properly can co-exist sustainably. When communities stand up and
few women develop their neighbourhoods, nothing is impossible, if they can do it
on the
training
with so little why cant you?
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Feedback from employers
so far has been very
positive - trainees from
iThuba are “sharp” and
well trained.
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SAN EL E
MA K H AY E -
For further input and if you are interested in contributing please contact
Neliswa Nogoni at Blackburn iThuba Community Centre on 073 223 5765
or Phumla Mthembu at THD on 031 560 1900.
BR ICK L AY E R
A much needed
skill for Ridge
Development
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