Dear Colleagues

It is with great pleasure that I share with you the Budget Vote Speech of Minister Zikalala delivered in Parliament-Cape Town on 23 May 2023). The Minister emphasized the need to increased skills development training for all public servants, particularly for black women in the Built Environment. The Minister has clearly stated that more efforts must be made to address the growing skills shortages in this sector; he fully supports the call by the CBE for public sector employees in the department to obtain professional qualifications. Mr Zikalala believes this is a necessary step towards building capabilities within a developmental State and managing contracts more effectively.

Moreover, CBE has been tasked with the responsibility to engage all stakeholders on the development of a position paper for the establishment of DPWI Skills Academy by end of July2023. This is the first step towards bridging a BE skills gap experienced by both public and private sector. To achieve this target the CBE will partner with the National School of Government (NSG) to conduct a skills audit in Design Thinking, Project Management, and Contract Management for 2023/2024 financial year.

Overall, this commitment by the Minister for the CBE to prioritise skills development and training is a crucial step towards building a skilled, capable, and sustainable workforce,particularly for black women in the Built Environment sector. We must take full advantage of this opportunity to upskill colleagues and CBE employees for a better tomorrow.

In other news CBE participated in various stakeholder engagements activities . As a council,we strongly believe in the power of collaboration and partnerships, therefore we place significant value on engaging with all our stakeholders to ensure that we remain focused on delivering excellence in everything that we do. In May, we attended the launch of the National Career week in Northern Cape, which was hosted by the National Department of Employment and Labour. Additionally, we participated at the Masakh’iSizwe Bursary Programme which was hosted by the Western Cape Government Department of Infrastructure. Our role was to deliver a presentation on the importance of Professional Registration in Built and Engineering Environment.

I had the pleasure of traveling to Kenya during May for a training with the Kenya National School of Governance, where I was able to meet with innovators, entrepreneurs, and industry experts in the built environment. The training programme focused on the opportunity to collaboratively reconsider policy imperative to improve the performance of the state,promote infrastructure investments and economic growth as part of building a prosperous Africa. During my visit, I was able to meet with several industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and experts in their respective fields. This experience gave me a renewed perspective on the great potential that exists in Africa and the boundless opportunities that await us as an organisation and as a continent.

With the month of June approaching where we celebrate the youth, I am existed for the CBE planned youth month activities. On the 14 June 2023, CBE in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg will be hosting a youth engagement round table discussion under the theme: “Transformation of the Built Environment sector is an integral part of professionalizing the state’’. Furthermore, on 21 June 2023 we are hosting our 3rd Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Transformation Collaborative webinar focusing on Capacity Building under the theme: “WomenBuild: Building a Pipeline of Female Talent in the Built Environment.” which is targeting women, youth, and persons with disabilities.

In closing colleagues, I would like to encourage all our team members to remain focused and committed to achieving our targets. To make progress and achieve our goals, we must maintain a strong sense of purpose, stay true to our values, and continue to work hard with dedication and commitment. Let us strive to build on the successes of the past month and continue to drive our vision for the future.

Happy Youth Month

Kind regards

Msizi Myeza