Recognising and celebrating excellence
MASTER Builders Kwazulu-natal held its Annual Awards event at the Durban International Conference Centre (ICC) on Friday, October 26, 2018.
The Annual Awards recognises and celebrates excellence in construction and health and safety within the Kwazulu-natal construction industry. The association prioritises the promotion and development of the industry and seeks to inculcate a culture of excellence in the province.
President of the association, Joyce Dolly Tembe opened the event by welcoming those in attendance. She honoured all competition entrants by stating: “Excellence deserves to be celebrated and acknowledged. We, at Master Builders Kwazulu-natal endorse this concept and we are here tonight celebrating your achievements as individuals, as companies and as an industry”.
She reiterated that lobbying and advocacy were key ingredients of an effective employer organisation and that Master Builders Kwazulu-natal continued to engage at relevant platforms, thereby influencing pro-business legislation and policy positions. The association’s key priorities were growth of the industry, transformation and skills development, quality infrastructure and health and safety compliance.
Vikashnee Harbhajan, Executive Director of Master Builders Kwazulu-natal said: “The association champions excellence in construction and health and safety in its quest to promote quality infrastructure development”.
There were 39 entries from 22 companies in the Excellence in Construction competition. The entries were not as widespread in comparison to previous years, with the majority situated around Durban and Pietermaritzburg and as far as Newcastle in the interior.
The competition criteria for the 55th Annual Health and Safety competition remained stringent. Sites entered were audited on more than 20 different elements consisting of over 1000 sub-sections.
Tribute is paid to those who excelled in health and safety and contributed to the prevention of onsite fatalities and injuries. Harbhajan emphasised that notwithstanding the industry slowdown, the association was pleased to have received 22 entries in the Health and Safety competition – and it showed that member companies do not waiver on their commitment to health and safety during tough economic times.
Master Builders Kwazulu-natal promotes health and safety continuously and believes that no employee should lose their lives for a job. The Master Builders Kwazulu-natal Occupational Health and Safety Fund – designed to further assist dependants of victims who have lost their lives in construction-related incidents within the association membership – was launched at the event. The initiative raised R137 000.
The Prestige Marketing Partner for the event was BBF Safety Group, a company that offers some of the most recognised and trusted brands such as Bova, Bronx Safety, Frams, Fuel, Lemaitre, Sisi and Wayne. Stefanutti Stocks Building was the Platinum Marketing Partner. Other Marketing Partners included Aveng Grinaker-lta, Patcon Building and Civil Engineering Contractors, Abantu SHEQ Consultants and Form-scaff.
A welcome addition to this year’s event was the introduction of a display arena which saw suppliers to the industry showcase their products and services. The association also used the opportunity to launch its new Mission and Vision statement along with its Core Values.
East Coast Radio aired their evening show East Coast Party People with J Sbu live from the event which included interviews with competition entrants and the association executive director.
The Master Builders Kwazulu-natal congratulates the recipients of awards in all categories. Special awards that recognise outstanding and positive contribution to the construction industry in Kwazulu-natal were also presented:
from Stefanutti Stocks Building; – Thandi Florentine Ngcobo from Zamadunga Business Enterprise CC; Africa;
ley from WBHO Construction, Kwazulu-natal Division;
and Safety – Aveng Grinaker-lta for Hen-
struction – WBHO Construction (Pty) Ltd, Kwazulu-natal Division for ABSA Regional Office Kwazulu-natal; ing KZN.
The MC for the event was the wellknown SABC 3 news anchor Mahendra Raghunath.