SAPOA signs pact with The Black Conveyancers Association

Zukiswa Ntlangula President of The Black Conveyancers Association (BCA) with SAPOA President Mike Deighton

The South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with The Black Conveyancers Association (BCA), it said on Tuesday.

The intention of this partnership is to address the issue of transformation within the property industry, in relation to capacity, resources and opportunities.

One of the main objectives of the BCA is to represent and advance the interests of 100% black owned law firms in South Africa, who specialise in Property Law, Conveyancing and Commercial legal services and who practices for their own account. The association also promotes compliance by all institutions with Black Economic Empowerment legislation, regulations, charters and codes.

Both SAPOA and BCA highlighted the importance of transformation within the property industry, which, despite having been empowered by statutes, codes charters and other enabling amendments to legislation, the industry remains largely untransformed and has failed to meet the national transformation goals.

SAPOA President Michael Deighton acknowledged the importance of this partnership with BCA. “One of the strategic pillars that SAPOA has identified is the need to drive transformation in the industry. Conveyancers play a very substantial and sometimes not fully recognised role within the property industry and I think this is a great opportunity for SAPOA to form a strategic alliance. With a key grouping, this relationship represents a key set of suppliers in a very central and important area of expertise. We look forward to how this will unlock value for both parties and for the industry as a whole and plays a role in driving the transformation of the industry over the next few years.”

Ms Zukiswa Ntlangula, President of BCA echoed the same sentiments. “For us as the BCA, this is a significant milestone. We have had a relationship with SAPOA over the years, but this signifies the marriage between the two organisations. This represents an opportunity for BCA members to be able to network meaningfully with SAPOA members. On the transformation front, we do  recognise that some of SAPOA members may be at the point where they are looking into aligning their procurement spend and patterns with the expectations of industry Charters and to comply with BBB-EE legislation So,  as BCA members we are available to work with SAPOA membership not only for transformation purposes, but also to ensure that BCA  provides the much needed expertise, skill and experience within the property sector and the real estate industry in South Africa.”

SAPOA has signed several such MoU’s with various organisations, including National Treasury, Johannesburg Property Owners Association (JPOMA), South African Council for Planners (SACPLAN), South African Planning Institute (SAPI), Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and South African Photovoltaic Association Industry (SAPVIA).

These working relationships, according to CEO Neil Gopal, are important within the property industry, as they not only benefit SAPOA members but also enable combine strategy and the pooling of resources.