It was also a night where three of the most eminent people in the land boogied to the beat of Bob Marley; where women showed that with the right support, they can achieve anything.

While Public Works Minister Thoko Didiza, Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool and Western Cape Transport and Public Works Minister Marius Fransman enjoyed the music, they also delivered a serious message at The Women in Construction awards dinner, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

And their verbal support for women in construction was backed up with the financial support to make equality a reality in a traditionally male preserve.

“Its not just empty promises,” Premier Rasool said. Faced with a VAT tax windfall, “we decided to invest in infrastructure. R112 million will be made available to fund projects headed by women in the construction industry in the Western Cape.”

The first annual Western Cape Construction Woman of the Year awards formed part of the Summit on Women in Construction, held at the CTICC on August 21 and 22. The initiative was a response to a realisation that the building environment had not seen any real change since 1994.

As Fransman explained: “We wanted women to stop fighting over the crumbs falling off the table and to think big. Over the next three years we want to push up the percentage of road infrastructure contracts awarded to women to 15%.

“And we will not just be building roads. Three major hospitals will be built in Mitchell’s Plain, Paarl and Khayelitsha. And we will deliver at least 17 schools. Women need to take up the challenge and tender for these projects.”

The Construction Woman of the Year awards were given in three categories: small, emerging contractor; medium contractor; and large contractor.

In the Small Contractor category, the award went to Puleng Molaoa, who, with her sister Mpho, started a painting and renovations company, Bua Fela Trading in Summer Green’s, Milnerton, in 2003.

They currently employ seven people.

In the Medium Contractor category, the award winner was Razia Khan, the young director of Urban Projects who has a fierce determination to deconstruct the prevailing stereotypes of women in the construction industry.

Her company is also involved in empowering women in marginalised communities, and is working on empowerment projects, from Ladismith to Khayelitsha.

The winner, and only finalist, in the Large Contractor category was Petri Strydom-Titus, director of HAS Trading, a company that specialises in building schools and employs 150 people.

She was also responsible for the renovations of the prison buildings on Robben Island.

“These women are demystifying this industry,” Didiza said in an impromptu speech at the dinner.

She believes government is creating an enabling environment.