When Amelia Beattie was elected president of the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) in 2014, she was never in doubt about what the focus of her presidency should be in supporting efforts to transform the industry. “One of the things I promised to focus on was education because it is at the heart of transformation,” says Beattie. “Our industry needs skills. When I became president I undertook to do a skills analysis and determine where the gaps are. We are busy finalising this and we’ll then engage business, government and other stakeholders to raise funds for such up-skilling.”
Beattie is “passionate” about education and skills development and believes that, in general, property is a powerful instrument to change people’s lives. She stresses that education has always been important to SAPOA but, this time, she “just wanted to take it up one notch so we can truly skill our people in the industry. This will lead to improved performance of companies with property portfolios, and that would result in increased Gross Domestic Product and creation of more jobs.” Beattie says a sharper focus on education is meant to not only benefit new entrants but also industry veterans. “It’s important to involve everyone,” she says. While each president may have a specific area of focus, continuity is crucial. “It’s important to not summarily drop the previous president’s issues. The themes we choose are all within the strategy of SAPOA,” she says.
Beattie, who holds a BComm degree in Financial Accounting and Transport economics, as well as a Certificate in Shopping Centre Management, has been in the property industry sector for 15 years. Her day job is Chief Investment Officer – Direct Property Investments at Stanlib, where she oversees the asset management of the Liberty Property Portfolio and the STANLIB Africa Direct Property Development Fund.
Formed in 1966, SAPOA upholds the commercial and industrial interests of its members in terms of ownership, management and development. SAPOA has a national footprint and encourages members to play an active role within the organisation by sharing their expertise and, importantly, airing their views around issues of change, decisions and legislation. Through collecting data and statistics, SAPOA is a source of invaluable information about the property industry in South Africa. The organisation’s members control about 90% of all commercial and industrial property in South Africa.
Beattie is the 48th president of SAPOA and a third woman to hold the position. While she’ll serve only for a year she’s confident that she can leave a mark. “You can do a lot in a year,” she says. “The data we’ll gather will be helpful even to future presidents.” In addition to education, when she was elected SAPOA president, she also promised to focus on relationships, advocacy and leadership.
In fulfilling its mandate SAPOA can be quite vocal, whether it’s protesting against biting municipal rates that affect the property industry or calling for ministerial intervention in the processing of damaging logjams in the property development sector. In the end, Beattie says, such activism is not obstructionist or personal. It is something that needs to be done to serve the interest of the property industry.
As president of a powerful property organisation does she enjoy ruffling feathers? “Leadership is all about the courage of your convictions,” she says. “Sometimes you will say things that some people don’t like to hear. This kind of advocacy needs to be done with integrity and with no malice. We act in the best interest of the industry,” she says. “In the end, nothing beats collaboration and listening to one another.”
Beattie says SAPOA supports SAIBPP’s mission of transformation. “We have always had good relations with SAIBPP. Their members also belong to SAPOA. We collaborate on projects that have outcomes that are beneficial to everyone,” she says.
