Ministry defines the future of estate agency sector

Clarke said that for the first time in his 20 years in property, he and others in the property industry have now had a meaningful dialogue with the all-important people in government who control their futures. "The ground is now prepared for regular, ongoing liaison which could, in a relatively short space time, iron out the serious problems we have lived with for many years."

Radical transformation

Many of these problems have been the result of inefficiencies in the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB). "We all now hope that this experience will be repeated and lead to a more complete understanding of the challenges our sector faces and the steps needed to help us to become a globally respected industry."

Clarke said that the main resolutions drawn up as a result of the conference are, by and large, noteworthy and if followed will radically transform the entire estate agency industry. The key principles on which future decisions and strategies will be based have now been clearly set out:

• Empowerment and inclusion of historically disadvantaged people and organizations is now mandatory.
  
• Socio-economic equality, improved equity sharing and the integration of marginalized committees and people must "inform" all future decisions and planning.
  
• Education and training, being vital to the future success of the property sector, must now be fostered and taken further.
  
• All strategies must be aligned with the State and the Ministry of Human Settlement's development initiatives.

Road map is clear

"The Department's fairly lengthy summary has shown us that they have set their sights on achieving racial, class, cultural, socio-economic and spatial integration; as well as greatly improved governance in our sector," said Clarke. "The document states clearly that a road map to achieve these goals and overcome previous shortcomings must now be drawn up with specified short, medium and long term priorities to be met by specified dates."

The summary, said Clarke, recognises that additional funding and new financial systems will be necessary to achieve these goals. More importantly, however, the summary recognises not only that the department and the EAAB must now liaise closely with one another, but also that they together and separately must liaise with all stakeholders in the property sector.