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Fatima Court gets a new lease on life

Nthabiseng Masithela is an electrician by profession, owns a construction business, and became a property entrepreneur in 2019. Seeking to expand her portfolio, she worked with TUHF and the Intuthuko Equity Fund to buy Fatima Court in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, in August 2020.

“Construction is about creating beautiful properties for other people, and I realised that I wanted to do this for myself,” Nthabiseng says. “This property is an opportunity to do that, as my company will be doing the construction work needed to give Fatima Court a new lease on life.”

When Nthabiseng realised she wanted to become a property entrepreneur, she began looking for opportunities to learn about property as a business. “I came across TUHF through Henry Chitsulo in 2019,” she says. “I was speaking to him on site one day and told him I was looking to expand my property portfolio. That’s when he mentioned that he consults to TUHF and is one of the mentors on TUHF’s TPPE training programme. He told me about the programme, and that TUHF would be opening it up to non-clients that year, so I was able to attend with a few of my friends.”

“The TPPE really helped me understand more about the industry and how it works,” she says. “As entrepreneurs we often tend to jump in, and the TPPE shows you how to do it in a structured and professional way. It also helped me understand the market better and which areas make sense to invest in if you want to create affordable housing.”

The TPPE made such an impression on Nthabiseng that she often nominates aspiring entrepreneurs to attend. “I was inspired and excited, and I wanted to get my first project going as soon as possible,” she says.

She worked with TUHF and the Intuthuko Equity Fund (IEF) – a unique inner-city property finance initiative for property entrepreneurs who face constraints in accessing equity finance – to conduct a feasibility study and acquire Fatima Court.

“It’s easy to go out there, find the property and do the numbers,” she says, “but it’s not always the case that one has the money for the equity contribution. That’s where Intuthuko really helped. They funded the portion of the equity that I didn’t have on hand – about 10% – while TUHF extended the loan to purchase the property.”

The building needs renovations, which Nthabiseng intends to start in July 2020. The mixed-use building has four commercial units on the ground floor, while the three flats on the top floor will be divided up to form seven residential units aimed at young professionals or start-up families.

“The final configuration will be four bachelor studios and three one-bed units,” Nthabiseng says. “We’re hoping to complete the renovations in three months.”