Academics, policymakers, regulators, and sector leaders gathered at the event on Ocean Sciences Campus, hosted by the University’s Department of Building and Human Settlements together with the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).
Minister Thembi Simelane
Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane, opened the session by emphasising the importance of a data-driven and context-specific understanding of both the property and the real estate services sectors.
She noted that although real estate is part of the broader property sector, it presents distinct challenges and opportunities. These warrant analysis both in relation to, and separate from the wider industry. Minister Simelane underlined that transformation goes beyond academic qualifications, it demands graduates perform meaningfully in the property market despite its inequalities.
She highlighted the real estate education model’s multiple entry points, including universities, schools, and TVET colleges, and accentuated the need for evidence-based approaches to ensure these pathways truly empower historically disadvantaged individuals. “We must design systems that do more than train,” she said. “They must enable participation, performance, and progress.”
Thato Ramaili
From the regulatory perspective, Thato Ramaili, CEO of the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA), provided a sobering analysis of the country’s human settlements reality.
Ramaili explained that updated data shows nearly three million South Africans still require housing assistance and that more than 4,000 informal settlements continue to expand.
She spoke about government’s obligation to prioritise persons with disabilities, the elderly, and child-headed households, and the challenges that arise when beneficiaries bypass allocation protocols or when RDP houses are sold illegally.
Ramaili also reaffirmed issues of spatial inequality, where poor communities remain placed 30 kilometres or more from economic centres, reinforcing poverty through high transport costs. She amplified the need for innovative policy responses, better land identification, and digital tools to track beneficiaries and monitor settlements.
“Property can be a driver of wealth,” she noted, “but only when communities are placed where they can live with dignity, affordability, and opportunity.” She called on researchers to provide practical blueprints that can guide future policy, ensure safe building practices, and strengthen oversight in both urban and rural areas.
Shifting from research systems to sector leadership, Queendy Gungubele, Board Chairperson of the PPRA, reflected on the broader national development context. She reminded delegates of the Eastern Cape Human Settlements Ingxabaniso held earlier in the year, where stakeholders agreed that incremental reforms were insufficient.
Instead, the sector requires strategic, theory-driven, and socially responsive research that informs planning and implementation. Gungubele welcomed the growing partnership between Nelson Mandela University and the PPRA, especially joint initiatives, such as the short-learning programme that equips councillors, traditional leaders, and officials, with critical knowledge about land and housing governance.
She asserted that the property sector cannot be viewed in isolation, as it intersects with economic growth, land reform, infrastructure development, and social justice. For the Eastern Cape, a province still heavily dependent on automotive manufacturing and pit-to-port industries, the colloquium was timely.
“We must rethink how the property sector can ignite new forms of growth,” she said, “not only in urban centres, but also in our rural towns and secondary cities.” Her appeal was for the colloquium to become a catalyst for transformation, not simply a conversation.
Representing Nelson Mandela University leadership, Dr Muki Moeng, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, delivered remarks on behalf of Vice-Chancellor Professor Sibongile Muthwa.
Dr Moeng emphasised the power of research partnerships between like-minded institutions. She highlighted that the evolution of South Africa’s property sector since 1994 presents both progress and new opportunities particularly those tied to spatial justice, equity, and access.
She commended the PPRA’s Property Sector Research Centre for prioritising studies that identify barriers to entry for historically disadvantaged groups, analyse discriminatory practices, and develop transformative curricula across universities and TVET colleges.
Dr Moeng reaffirmed the University’s commitment to research that supports economic inclusion and strengthens the resilience of communities. “Regulation cannot only be about compliance,” she said. “It must be about insight, foresight, and evidence-based decisions.”
MEC Siphokazi Iris Lusithi
Turning attention to the rural–urban dynamic, Eastern Cape MEC for Public Works, Infrastructure and Human Settlements Siphokazi Iris Lusithi, placed the day’s conversations within the global context of rapid urbanisation.
By 2050, she noted, nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities, a shift that risks deepening inequality if it is not managed through justice-centred policies.
Lusithi affirmed that property is more than land or housing; it is identity, heritage, livelihood, and security.
She called for transdisciplinary approaches that bring academics, NGOs, traditional leaders, and communities together from the start of every research process.
She also urged stronger attention to rural property systems, arguing that rural land can be a site for innovation, climate resilience, and economic growth without displacing cultural rights. “Rural communities have long practiced sustainability,” she said. “Their knowledge must guide our solutions.”