Roekeya Bardien has been appointed as the first female executive director of the Master Builders’ Association Western Cape (MBAWC).
Roekeya Bardien. Image credit: MBAWC
With more than 30 years of industry experience under her belt, as well as serving on various industry committees and stakeholder forums, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her role in the association.
Bardien has fulfilled numerous roles in the industry, gaining extensive experience in construction project surveying and management, as well as business management and administration. In addition, she has served on several industry boards and lectured at the University of Cape Town and Cape Peninsula University of Technology on various built-environment subjects.
This experience, combined with workplace resilience and a solutions-driven approach, means she is well positioned to serve the MBAWC’s membership and broader industry. “I believe my many years of working in multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary teams on complex projects stand me in good stead to offer guidance, insight and professional input for MBAWC members,” says Bardien.
An advocate of lifelong learning, Bardien holds a BSc in Quantity Surveying and is currently studying the Theory of Law and Law of Contract as well as Law and Practice of Arbitration through the Association of Arbitrators South Africa.
In addition, she has garnered numerous certificates in industry-related subjects, such as Scaffold Inspecting; Property Investment Principles; and the Essentials of Arbitration, to Economic Viability Studies; Lean Design and Construction; and Tendering Procedures in Construction Companies, amongst many others.
Bardien’s involvement at the MBAWC dates to 2015 when she joined the MBAWC Executive Committee, and she has served on various committees during this time. One of these is the Training Committee, which involves stakeholders from industry looking at formulating training offerings that address the current needs in an evolving industry.
“I must admit to feeling a keen sense of duty to continually support students, be it the apprentices in artisan training or the soon-to-be graduates at tertiary institutions. My time as a struggling student in the early 90s was not so long ago that I don’t remember the plight of under-resourced students,” she says.
She adds that she has been blessed with devoted mentors throughout her career. “These mentors not only believed in mentoring the professional, but the person as well. While my mentors came from different corners of the industry, they all endorsed the idea of continuous development: development in the profession, with the focus on the industry; and in the person, with the focus on ethics and service to community.”
Personally, she pays tribute to her parents, who she says embodied the essence of living a balanced life. “This is something my brothers and I strive towards but have yet to achieve. We are, after all, a work in progress.”
