Housing Company Tshwane’s CEO Obakeng Nyundu is a fierce leader fighting the housing battle for the City of Tshwane’s voiceless
Since 2001, the Housing Company Tshwane (HCT) has been mandated by the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CoT) to promote the business of procuring, developing, owning, and managing residential accommodation; primarily for the low and middle income brackets in terms of the National Housing Code.
HCT’s key objective is to develop safe and affordable housing options closer to economic hubs and transport nodes. By creating housing opportunities where people can live, work, and play, HCT aims to revitalise urban areas and provide safe living spaces for the citizens of Tshwane.
In addition to offering affordable rental accommodation, HCT promotes community development programmes that foster inclusive living and social engagement among tenants, such as sports, gardening, GBV awareness, abstinence, purity, and learning.
Tasked with overseeing the operations of HCT is CEO Obakeng Nyundu, who has been in the role since October 2020 after a short spell as Acting CEO in the same year.
She believes that the work of HCT, through CoT, is invaluable to the people of the region.
“HCT reflects the City of Tshwane’s commitment to the people of Tshwane and recognises the impact that the provision of affordable rental housing to low-income families can have to improve the quality of life of its citizens,” Nyundu says.
Noteworthy achievements of HCT include developing the largest social housing project in the country, retaining an unqualified audit opinion for eight years, and expanding their property portfolio from 94 to 2 138 units.
Under Nyundu’s leadership, HCT has repositioned its organisational structure, increased staff numbers, and maintained accreditation status with the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA); which are all seen as major wins for the betterment of the organisation.
However, things are not always plain sailing.
Budget cuts at a governmental level have had an impact, leading to a shortage of affordable housing supply relative to demand and hindering efforts to reduce the housing backlog.
To overcome these challenges, Nyundu is seeking partnerships with the private sector and government entities to adopt a more collaborative approach.
“Rental boycotts in the affordable housing sector pose additional challenges, stemming from affordability issues and misunderstandings of the model,” Nyundu explains. While it is important for governments to support their citizens and provide affordable housing solutions, it is also important to understand that the programme needs to be sustainable, hence we need to encourage a culture of self-sufficiency and responsibility amongst beneficiaries.
“I believe a partnership with National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) for first home finance is important so that it can create some form of transition out of social housing and into home ownership. The two government entities exist, however, there is a requirement to link and coexist.”
Celebrating a strong female leader
Nyundu is a high-performing C-suite executive with 20 years of experience in the property development, social housing, and construction management sectors.
She boasts a successful property development career and has an in-depth knowledge of human settlement development projects, including bulk infrastructure, from feasibility stage through to handover.
As a result of her extensive experience, Nyundu has learned many lessons over the years, with one of the most important being that “a leader is only as great as her support structure”.
“Social housing was not prominent in Tshwane when I took over and it was a new concept. In order for the entity to move forward, it was important that the shareholder and the team I was leading understood and aligned to the vision and the turn-around strategy,” Nyundu reveals.
“It is important that as a leader your team understands where the company is going and how important and valuable each of their roles are in ensuring that the entity succeeds.
“Once that was achieved, I knew that we would succeed in this turn-around. In this space, collaborative partnerships and teamwork are vital. Seeking inputs and fostering partnerships creates a sense of belonging and worth, which builds trust and gives people the motivation to want to do more and be recognised.”
One of Nyundu’s greatest attributes is resilience, which has stood her in good stead at HCT.
“My journey has presented numerous challenges that I’ve had to navigate in order for the entity to remain operational. The challenges varied from political change and insufficient funding to terminations of contractors. In the midst of it all, it was important that I stayed strong, remained focused, and pursued the dream,” she adds.
As it is Women’s Month, one question which crops up a lot at this time of year is whether we are doing enough to empower women and create the right opportunities for them.
While Nyundu believes progress has been made, the reality is that a whole lot more needs to be done if we are ever to reach the goal of equality.
“Despite progress in women’s empowerment and leadership, there are still areas where societal attitudes towards women need improvement. Efforts to foster gender equality and combat discrimination against women are ongoing, with a focus on promoting women’s rights and opportunities for advancement in various sectors,” she avers.
In terms of what HCT does for women empowerment, Nyundu is proud of the fact that the organisation prioritises gender diversity in its workforce, with the critical positions of CEO, COO, Development Manager, Client Services Manager, and Maintenance Officers held by women.
In total, women make up 51% of the organisation’s employees, reflecting a commitment to empowering women in leadership roles.
Leading HCT into the future
With Nyundu at the helm of HCT, the future is certainly bright for the people of Tshwane.
Her success as the organisation’s leader is in part down to her personality, which creates an environment in which her team can flourish.
She explains: “As the CEO, my charismatic personality as a leader has inspired and motivated the team. By adopting a hands-off approach and empowering managers to make decisions, I have fostered collaboration and communication amongst team members, enabling them to work together towards a common goal.”
As mentioned above, the future certainly is bright with Nyundu around, but what exactly is her ultimate goal for the remainder of her time at the organisation? Well, it has a lot to do with continuing with her current stellar work and building towards a sustainable future for all stakeholders.
“The initial focus of HCT was to deliver Townlands, and not only has that goal been realised, it has further received a Gold Award from Reside for being the Best Social Housing Development for 2024.
“Looking to the future, the company seeks to reduce dependency on municipal funding and aims to be financially sustainable. Furthermore, to become the preferred affordable housing provider that facilitates transition out of rental and into home ownership for its residents,” she concludes.
And we look forward to seeing how that pans out in the years to come.
The mandate of HCT
On 30 June 2023, HCT’s mandate was revised from that of provision of Social Housing (SH) products and services to that of the provision of Affordable Rental:
Development and management of affordable rental housing stock (that incorporates all housing rental tenure options, i.e. student accommodation, first home finance, and affordable rental)
HCT as a delivery and rental housing managing agent for the CoT.
Implementing the affordable rental housing strategy on behalf of the CoT.
Therefore, this means that the mandate of HCT extends beyond just the provision of social housing products and services to the social housing target market and includes development and management of other affordable housing rental stock.
Currently, HCT has 2 138 units under its management in different residential portfolios and Greenfield projects of approximately 1 971 new units across the City in the current business plan, as indicated below:
Self Sufficient Elderly (SSE) is a rental portfolio to accommodate only the elderly citizens from the age of 60 years.
Affordable rentals is the portfolio of rental units transferred from the City of Tshwane.
Social Housing is the portfolio that has been implemented and managed in line with the Social Housing policy and regulations, as prescribed by the SHRA.
