women in property
Dr Anna Mokgokong Rebosis Property Fund Ltd
Janys Finn Rebosis Property Fund Ltd
Marelise de Lange Vunani Property Investment Fund
Dr Anna Mokgokong is a co-founder and executive chair of Community Investment Holdings, a black-owned investment group with interests in healthcare, logistics, energy, telecommunications, mining and infrastructure. The group was built from a zero base in 1995 to its current turnover of more than US$2-billion per year. Anna chairs three JSE-listed companies, including Rebosis Property Fund. She feels strongly about empowerment, especially of women. “Women have previously been marginalised in all aspects of the mainstream economy of our country, including property development and ownership of land,” she says. “Rebosis offers senior positions for women, and I’m delighted to say our company has women at the helm of leadership and ownership, as well as professionals. These are not token positions but meaningful ones.” Anna was born in Soweto and grew up in Swaziland. She completed a BSc at the University of Botswana in 1979, followed by an MBChB at the Medical University of Southern Africa (Medunsa) in 1984. She was voted South Africa’s Businesswoman of the Year in 1999 and in 2009 was awarded an honorary doctorate in commerce by the University of South Africa in recognition of her outstanding entrepreneurial leadership. She is one of the 350 recipients of the Star Group Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World, a forum that honours women worldwide. In 2004, Anna was appointed by former president Thabo Mbeki to serve as deputy chair of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers for a five-year term. She was also part of the task team set up to develop a health charter. Between 2000 and 2004, she was a member of the council of Unisa, becoming its chair between January 2003 and December 2004. A former member of the council of the University of Pretoria, she currently serves as a member of the Economic and Management Sciences Advisory Committee. Since 2010, she has been a member of the Bill Clinton Global Initiative, an initiative that convenes leaders across the globe in search of innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
Janys is a chartered accountant with experience in the listed property sector. She completed her articles at Grant Thornton and was appointed as the first female partner of the Johannesburg practice in 1992. In 2005 Janys joined Metboard Properties Ltd as chief financial officer until its purchase by Growthpoint Properties in 2006. She then joined Redefine Properties Ltd, initially as financial director of Madison Property Fund Managers Ltd and later as financial director of Redefine Properties Ltd on its merger with Madison in 2009. In 2010, she was appointed financial director of Rebosis Property Fund Ltd in the lead-up to its listing on 17 May 2011. “I really enjoy the dynamic of high-growth, acquisitive companies, where one is exposed to driven, entrepreneurial teams on the one side, and the balance offered by corporatisation and formal structure on the other,” she says. Janys cites the merger of Madison Property Fund Managers Ltd, Apexhi Properties Ltd and Redefine Income Fund Ltd as one of the most exciting times in her career. “This was the merging of three JSE-listed property companies into what is today the secondlargest listed property company on the exchange.” A strong advocate for work-life balance, Janys introduced flexi hours, especially for working mothers, during her time as a partner at Grant Thornton. “I definitely think career-driven working mothers have a much tougher time in the corporate world,” she says. “Those companies that can appreciate and accommodate these pressures through flexible working arrangements often attract and retain the best talent.” Janys played an integral part in the JSE listing of Rebosis Property Fund Ltd. This high-growth, defensive fund offers investors unique exposure to exceptional quality, regionally dominant shopping centres underpinned by anchor and national tenants. The office component is located in nodes attractive to national government tenants under long leases, providing a sovereign underpin to a substantial portion of the earnings and shielding them from private-sector risks such as tenant insolvency and default.
Marelise has been the chief financial officer at Vunani Property Investment Fund since 2011 and has more than 19 years of finance and accounting experience. She joined Vunani Group in June 2009 as group financial manager and, as financial director, is responsible for the full finance and accounting function of Vunani Property Investment Fund Ltd. “To my view, the challenges women have to face in the property industry are more or less on par with those that men need to face in this industry,” she says. “In-depth technical and specialist knowledge, supported by formal and goal-orientated education and coupled with softer abilities such as assertiveness, persuasiveness and a strong need to get things done come to mind. In our ever-changing world, gone are the days when parenting, balancing work and home life, and juggling many other responsibilities were in the domain of women only.” She believes that great opportunities, specifically in the commercial property industry, lie in waiting to be unlocked by women applying their exclusive, inborn and domestically practised interpersonal skills to lead, support, understand, build teams and generally helping others to understand values and issues that really matter. VPIF was formed in late 2006 by Vunani Limited, a black-owned and -managed financial-services group, in collaboration with Hyprop Investments Ltd. VPIF is the only JSE-listed property fund that offers investors significant exposure to commercial offices. Due to the difficult global and domestic conditions, local businesses have remained muted, resulting in higher-than-normal vacancies in across the sector. Due to tight management and prudent cost controls, VPIF has managed to keep vacancies below market average while delivering on its growth strategy.
+27 (0)11 511 5335 dranna@ciholdings.co.za www.rebosis.co.za
+27 (0)11 511 5335 janys@rebosis.co.za www.rebosis.co.za
+27 (0)11 263 9555 marelise@vpif.co.za www.vpif.co.za SOUTH AFRICAN PROPERTY REVIEW
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