MAIN IMAGE: TT Mbha, CEO of Black Real Estate; Leo Mlambo, President of the National Property Forum; Rali Mampeule, Chairman of the Mampeule Foundation
Rebosa publicly announced the first Rebosa Business Leader (RBL) class of 2022 at an orientation session yesterday (Thursday 4 August 2022). A total of 25 aspiring Black property professional entrepreneurs will on 15 August start their learning journey to become the next generation of real estate business owners and leaders. Following an overwhelming response to the programme and after a vigorous selection process, 25 deserving candidates received full tuition bursaries.
Most of the funding for RBL was made possible by a grant from the Leonard P. Reaume Memorial Foundation which was established in 1996 by Leonard P. Reaume, a former president of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in 1930. The foundation is active in many international initiatives stressing the need for stronger education from an international perspective and seeks to improve real estate systems outside of the United States.
Given that the Reaume Foundation’s work is to achieve success in the education of real estate practitioners in foreign markets, it was a natural fit for them to support an initiative to create new Black real estate business owners in South Africa.
In South Africa, Black property practitioners currently face economic, market and sociocultural barriers. Developing the entrepreneurial skills of Black property practitioners is central to building a robust and inclusive real estate economy and eco system.
Jan le Roux, CE of Rebosa says, “Numerous attempts to bring Black agents into the industry have failed and have not brought about meaningful transformation. We can only achieve effective transformation by fuelling Black business ownership and supporting Black property professionals”.
RBL was specifically developed by leading real estate professionals to equip potential business owners with the necessary skills to become operationally successful in the real estate industry. The programme will support candidates throughout the entrepreneurial pathway from start up to sustainability and scaling.
TT Mbha, CEO of Black Real Estate and founder of Mzansi Cribs, is among the top real estate agents in South Africa and a guest speaker at RBL. He said, “I fully believe in this intervention because of the real-life case studies and I wish I had been afforded this opportunity when I first started out. It’s also great to see a big entity like Rebosa taking the lead in empowering entrepreneurs and getting behind black real estate.” Mbha goes on to say that the RBL has the potential for a great reality TV show that can inspire entrepreneurs in all industries”.
The RBL has received widespread support including that of the new PPRA Chair, Steven Ngubeni, who together with the new PPRA board have put transformation at the very front of their agenda.
Leo Mlambo, President of the National Property Forum (NPF) said he was honoured to be on RBL’s panel of experts when the mentoring part of the programme begins. He said, “In my view RBL will enhance the professionalism of the industry. I believe RBL initiative will assist the transformation agenda which is our main focus”.
Rali Mampeule, Chairman of the Mampeule Foundation and founder and CEO of the SA Housing and Infrastructure Fund, is one of South Africa’s leading real estate entrepreneurs. In his inspirational opening address at RBL orientation he told learners, “As you get into the space you will see how many doors RBL will open for you. We’ve been looking for a programme like this for the sector”. He mentioned his own life changed after attending his first real estate training course more than 20 years ago.
Mampeule went on to say, “It’s important to bring new blood into the old vein of real estate and we’ve always wanted to have a national entity like Rebosa who can help bring more people into the sector”.
Aside from the support of the National Association of Realtors, of which Rebosa is a long-standing bilateral partner and the generous support of the Leonard P. Reaume Memorial Foundation, other local sponsors have put their hat in the ring.
Private Property and the Leapfrog Property Group each sponsored four RBL candidates and Charter Academy, RBL implementation partner, sponsored a further 5 bursaries.
Lightstone Property generously donated free subscription of their Property Toolkit to all bursary candidates for them to obtain valuable market intelligence, a resource required for them to effectively complete course assignments.
Le Roux concludes by saying, “For us, RBL is the realisation of a step towards a transformed and inclusive property sector”.
