Nick Wilson

Property Correspondent

EMPOWERMENT property manager Akhona Properties, 100% owned by women, has won a contract to jointly manage Southgate Mall in Johannesburg.

Said Akhona CEO Noluthando Gosa last week: “We’ve won a joint- venture contract with Broll to manage Southgate, and we’ve won another contract to manage jointly the Gauteng portfolio of the Public Investment Commissioners.”

Broll, one of SA’s largest property management companies, has strong empowerment credentials. The Mvelaphanda group owns a significant interest in Broll.

Gosa said that Akhona Properties had been in operation since January last year.

“Akhona is a new player on the property management scene, but we’ve secured significant business in the past 18 months,” she said.

Akhona had won a number of property management contracts in partnership with Broll.

“We usually partner established property players, depending on the requirement of the particular tender,” said Gosa.

Akhona is involved in property advisory services.

“One major contract on that side is a contract we won to advise the foreign affairs department on its property (residential and commercial) needs in countries where they have properties.”

Akhona, which has three women and one man on its board, manages R1,3bn worth of properties in joint ventures with other players, and about R400m worth of properties on its own.