Johannesburg, 8^th April 2020– Twenty-six years into democracy and the top levels of South Africa corporate sector should be focusing even more today on transformation than ever before.

Women make up only 22% of the board of directors in listed companies in South Africa and fewer than 10% of executive directors. Transformation has always been a slow grind for corporate South Africa in particular. In the past, the response was that South Africa is a young democracy. We are now a quarter of a century past 1994, yet the pace of change in corporate South Africa has been slow. Some companies embrace diversity grudgingly, viewing it as an inconvenience to be adhered to, to satisfy regulatory requirements and other have set the pace towards building an inclusive South Africa.

The goal of the Property Sector Charter is to ensure a change in the racial and gender composition of property ownership and to enhance the participation of black people and women in the SA property sector. The ultimate aim is to improve access to finance for property ownership and development; and to promote employment equity in the sector.

Shaun Rademeyer, CEO of MultiNet Homeloans says “to achieve diversity in the workplace, we must be at the coalface of the transformation journey. For too long we have been driving the transformation on the back of government requirements, it time that business leaders take responsibility towards transformation within their own industries”

There has been a reasonable transformation in board composition, while transformation through share ownership has been slow. Large institutional investors often hold a large portion of shares in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and may be unwilling to relinquish substantial portions of them.

Funding is a barrier to ownership that requires complex B-BBEE structures to be implemented. There is also a need to develop a better talent pipeline to accelerate transformation at management and senior management level. Investing in skills development for young professionals is also flagged as key to retaining talent within the sector. The majority of the companies in the property sector do not have B-BBEE certificates and many others are reluctant to even provide transformation information.

There is established research that demonstrates that diversity in the workplace leads to higher corporate performance.

MultiNet Homeloans has started on a process of transformation that demonstrates their commitment to permanently transforming the bond origination industry and driving women leadership in the sector. This includes recently concluding a transaction with, Vukani Real Estate Services (VRES) which has seen VRES acquiring a significant shareholding of MultiNet. VRES Executive Director, Ms Vuyiswa Mutshekwane will also be taking up a seat on the board of MultiNet.  Ms Mutshekwane who is currently CEO of the SA Institute of Black Property Practitioners is an experienced leader and voice of change within the property sector who brings a diverse perspective and a wealth of experience garnered from the various boards and organisations in which she serves.

MultiNet has also recently announced the appointment of current MultiNet Operations Director, Ms Nadia Isaacs to the board which sees her become one the first black woman executive directors in the bond origination industry.  Ms Isaacs originally hails from Newclare, Johannesburg. She started her career in 1994 in the Home Loans division of First National Bank. Nadia’s dedication and work ethic has seen her win a number of awards for customer service. She is a self-starter and her years of experience in Home Loan Origination makes her the perfect candidate to lead the growth strategy for MultiNet Home Loans.

“The property sector should realise that it is unsustainable to avoid the transformation requirements as set out for our industry. Transformation of the property sector should be regarded as an expression of positive ethics and worth striving for.” Says Rademeyer.  When diversity is an integral part of organisational culture, it has a better chance of success. South Africa is often celebrated for its liberal constitution and places a high premium on promoting equality. Organisations have tools they use to monitor diversity and may have also developed politically correct language, but these generally fall flat due to a lack of genuine commitment.

“It is apparent that the new property practitioners Act will be focusing heavily on transformation within the industry and those organisations that embrace the new changes will be ahead of their peers,” says Shaun Rademeyer, CEO of MultiNet Homeloans.

As a recognised leader in the bond origination industry, MultiNet acts with integrity in dealing with employees and business partners. Our core values of honesty and transparency are the foundation of our transformation strategy, leading the way to even greater success.