It is history in the making at Richmond Park where the first building to be completed at Atterbury’s ground-breaking Western Cape development will be open for business during October 2018. Mustek is the first client to start trading from its new premises. And in keeping with the dream to empower the community of Richmond Park, the security contract, for the precinct, was awarded to a small family business from within the community.
Charlene and Charlotte Goliath
The Richmond Park story is one of land restitution and the restoration of hope and dignity. One of the largest land-restitution transactions in South Africa, it started back in the Seventies and Eighties when 401 families were forcibly removed from the area in terms of the Group Areas Act. The people were resettled in Atlantis and on the Cape Flats, but some 20 years later a claim was approved to restore the land to its former owners, in terms of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, and in 2014 the land was officially transferred to the previous owners by way of the Richmond Park Communal Property Association.
Atterbury became involved with the Richmond Park Development Company (RPDC) along with Old Mutual, Bethel Property, Qubic and Richmond Park Communal Property Association, and is developing the infrastructure for a mixed-use commercial precinct of around 300 000 sqm on the site for the RPDC.
According to Atterbury’s Gerrit van den Berg, a Community Liaison Officer has been appointed, who will identify job opportunities and connect community members with contractors and clients to further maximize the involvement in the development.
The story takes a turn for the personal with the details of how the security contract for Richmond Park was awarded. Atterbury and its partners have been committed from the start of the project to involve and empower the community as much as possible, and the story of twin sisters Charlene Goliath and Charlotte Adams is testimony to the strides that have been made.
Charlene, how did it happen that you applied for the security contract?
The opportunity arose for the people of Richmond Park “Die Vlak” to start our own company; and we learnt from CPA Committee that there were specific opportunities in security and cleaning, as well as building maintenance.
Explain the details of the contract; who do you report to; and have you started working there yet?
We were initially contracted by the development company, but now we are employed by the property owners association. And yes, we already started working on the site in June 2017.
Tell us about how you and your twin sister Charlotte started working together?
It was an exciting challenge, because as a new company we didn’t have the finances to employ other staff. We had to do everything, all the admin work, by ourselves – luckily with the help of our husbands.
We believe your late father, Lionel Clive Solomons, initiated the Richmond Park land claim back in the 90s. Were both of you born in the original Richmond Park – how old were you when you were forced to move?
Yes, our family is tied to this place. We were born in Richmond Park, as was our older sister Linda, but Charlotte and I were only six months old when my parents Lionel and Yvonne were forced to move the family.
How far was the process with the claim when your father passed away?
Our late father passed away on 27 February 2014, shortly before the land claim came through. One of the streets in Richmond Park has been named after him.
We believe you had to spend time getting better qualified before the contract was awarded? How did you go about that?
We had to be from Die Vlak originally in order to qualify for the tender, but we also had no security experience, so when we first applied we were told that it was unlikely that we would win the tender. We had participated in the CPA training course that was funded by the Richmond Park Treasury Trust in 2016 and presented by Tjeka. Charlotte and I did the painting course and our mother did the bricklaying course, but then we went away and obtained the required B-Grade qualification in security to register our business. My husband Isaac has been in law enforcement for 20 years, so with his experience we could improve our skills in the security sector. We spent a year getting experience with the Provincial Department of Education, looking after school properties during school holidays. Then we went back to Atterbury and demonstrated our experience; which enabled us to win the tender.
Does CCS have other clients?
By now we do, yes.
Is the whole family involved in the business?
Charlotte and I are the directors, and we have the assistance of our husbands. We have employed three people from Richmond Park and three others from the disadvantaged community of Witsand. Our mother is currently doing a year-long course in bricklaying at our local college, West Coast College.
I imagine your father would have been extremely proud of you today?
Our father gave more than 18 years of his life to this project; he lived to help and serve the community of Richmond Park/Die Vlak. It was our dream to make him proud of us – and it is with great joy that we could see his dream coming to life.
