By KOPANO MONAHENG
AS the country celebrates Women’s Month, Dean Macpherson confirms if women are better at owning and managing businesses in construction.
The Minister of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure told Ezimtoti News: “I think that the results speak for themselves.
“Look at the quality of work that we are seeing here tonight. We are seeing complex, very expensive projects being completed by women.”
He addressed the media during the Empowerment & Recognition of Women in Construction Awards (ERWIC) event, which was held at the Houghton Hotel on 18 August.
Explaining in detail why women needed financial support for them to be able to succeed in business, he said:
“Women are just able to get jobs done on time and on budget. I’m very proud of that, and I’m a big supporter of women.
“In fact, as the Minister, I have ensured that nearly three-quarters of a billion rand has been made available to support women in construction. And I don’t know of anyone that’s done that in government, but we’ve done it because we want to ensure that we don’t just make opportunities available, but we actually remove those barriers and stumbling blocks for women.”
That’s why he leads from the front, and in the two years he’s been in office, there’s been huge progress, but the fight is ongoing to ensure that more women participate and get empowered in this in the future.
“When we come back next year, we’ll see even more people. In the two years that I’ve been in office, we have doubled the amount of entrants that have come into this awards programme.
“So that shows you that my agenda of putting women at the centre of our thought and our action is working, or else it would be going backwards.”
And if people start their own businesses, it would help to create jobs for others. That’s why this is important for the Minister.
This is the second year in a row it’s the most important event of his calendar, fighting more for what women really deserve out of this country.
“I think, as the Minister, you’ve also got to be here, and you’ve got to show up, and you’ve got to tell women that, as a male Minister, you’re fighting for them and that you are their champion, and that’s important.”
