70’s: Built on knowledge

In the 1970s, a young SAPOA made a defining bet that professionalising the property industry through education would be the surest path to lasting growth. More than five decades later, that bet continues to pay off.

Today, the South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA) runs one of the most comprehensive property education ecosystems on the African continent. From a flagship programme delivered in partnership with the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business to nationally accredited short courses, a dedicated bursary fund and strategic university alliances, SAPOA’s education footprint spans every province and touches every level of the profession in the commercial property sector.

But rewind to the late 1960s and the picture was starkly different. South Africa’s commercial property sector was booming in the post-war era, yet there was no formal pathway for professionals to learn the disciplines that underpinned their industry. Finance, development and marketing were skills acquired on the job, if they were acquired at all. When SAPOA was established in 1966, its founders recognised that advocacy alone would not be enough to build a world-class sector. The industry needed knowledge. It needed professional standards. It needed education.

The first rumblings came as early as 1967. Two South African universities, Witwatersrand and Pretoria, were launching BSc courses covering elements of the building industry. A SAPOA spokesperson at the time publicly endorsed the move, stating the organisation would support any higher education initiative for people in the property industry. But SAPOA’s leadership felt that shorter, intensive courses were also urgently needed to equip working professionals with practical knowledge in property management and finance.

By 1969, the vision had crystallised. SAPOA launched its first Property Development Programme (PDP) at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. Eighty delegates attended a three-week intensive course covering three core disciplines: Finance, development and marketing. It was a bold step for an organisation barely three years old. One delegate from a large institutional investment house captured the spirit of the moment perfectly when he reflected that he had gained immense benefit, starting with the most important lesson of all: How little he really knew.

That humility and the hunger for knowledge it revealed, would become a hallmark of SAPOA’s approach to professional development.

If the 1960s were about founding an institution, the 1970s were about proving its worth and embedding it in the fabric of the industry. SAPOA entered the decade with a hard-won advocacy victory. The rent control legislation that had been extended to all business premises on the very afternoon of SAPOA’s founding in 1966 was successfully challenged through years of sustained positive dialogue with government and the restrictive law was amended in the early 1970s. It was a powerful demonstration that a unified industry voice could influence national policy.

But SAPOA’s leaders understood that influence alone was not sufficient. If the property sector was to grow sustainably and attract serious capital, its professionals needed to be equipped with the same rigour and discipline found in established professions such as law, accounting, and engineering. The 1970s became the decade when education shifted from a promising initiative to a core organisational function.

In 1971, SAPOA formalised its international connections by affiliating with the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) in the United States. This relationship, which endures to this day, gave South African property professionals access to global best practice and reinforced the principle that professional standards must be continuously raised. Under the presidencies of Doug Hoffe, MA Bezuidenhout, Roy Canning, Corné de Leeuw and Murray Hofmeyr, the association found its institutional stride, growing its membership base and expanding its reach across the country.

Through it all, education remained the engine. The PDP continued to attract delegates who returned to their organisations with sharper skills and broader perspectives. The programme was not merely academic. It was intensely practical, designed to solve the real challenges facing property owners and developers in a rapidly evolving market.

What began with 80 delegates in a Cape Town lecture hall has grown into a sophisticated, multi-tiered education system that serves the entire property value chain. Over the decades, SAPOA forged a strategic partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand to provide what it described as a one-stop service for property courses. This alliance ensured that education offerings were aligned with industry needs and delivered to a consistently high standard.

Today, SAPOA’s education portfolio includes introductory and intermediate short courses held nationally in partnership with several universities. These institutions obtain accreditation through the Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council for Higher Education, recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) as the Education and Training Quality Assurance body. Companies whose employees attend SAPOA courses through the universities can claim refunds from their skills levy, creating a virtuous circle where investment in education delivers measurable returns.

The 2026 education calendar reflects the breadth and depth of what SAPOA now offers. Courses span property management, property development, facilities management, public sector property and property finance, among other disciplines. The Education Committee, chaired by Professor Francois Viruly, drives continuous curriculum development to ensure that content keeps pace with a rapidly changing industry where sustainability, technology and new asset classes are reshaping the landscape.

The Property Development Programme remains SAPOA’s flagship educational offering and stands as one of the longest-running executive property programmes on the continent. Now in its 57th year, the PDP continues to be delivered in partnership with the UCT Graduate School of Business. It has evolved from a traditional classroom format into a hybrid programme that accommodates both in-person and online participation, reflecting the way modern professionals learn and work.

The programme’s alumni network reads like a who’s who of South African property. Past SAPOA presidents and the current Chief Executive Officer, Neil Gopal, are among its graduates. In 2025, the latest cohort continued a proud tradition by raising funds for a nominated charity, donating R45 850 to The Hope Exchange, which supports homeless individuals in Cape Town on their journey to independence. It is a fitting illustration of how education creates professionals who understand that success in property is measured not only in returns but in the impact made on people and communities.

In 2009, SAPOA took a transformative step by establishing the SAPOA Bursary Trust, initially in partnership with Pareto. The fund’s mandate is clear and compelling: To promote transformation, redress the past, bring awareness of the property sector to South Africa’s youth and address the current and future skills shortage in commercial property.

Funded primarily by SAPOA members, the Bursary Fund supports students pursuing full-time qualifications at accredited South African universities across disciplines including BSc Property Studies, BSc Quantity Surveying, BSc Construction Studies, BCom Property Valuation and Management, BSc Urban and Regional Planning and BSc Real Estate. In a landmark partnership in 2015, the Services SETA contributed a R40 million grant to sponsor one hundred students over four-year degree programmes, significantly expanding the fund’s reach and impact.

Beyond financial support, bursary recipients benefit from mentorship, vacation work placements and in-service training with SAPOA member companies. After graduation, bursars work for their funding member company for a period equivalent to each year of support received. This model does far more than produce graduates. It builds a pipeline of skilled, diverse professionals who enter the industry with practical experience and professional networks already in place.

When those first 80 property professionals gathered in Cape Town in 1969, they could not have imagined the scale of what their commitment to learning would set in motion. The same instinct that drove them to invest three weeks in mastering the fundamentals of their craft drives the bursary students of 2026 and the PDP alumni who continue to shape South Africa’s built environment.

Education has never been a peripheral activity for SAPOA. It is the engine that has powered the professionalisation of an entire sector. From the very first course to the latest intake of bursary recipients, the principle has remained constant: A stronger industry begins with better-equipped professionals.

As SAPOA celebrates 60 years of leadership and service, the commitment to education is not a chapter in its history. It is the story itself. And the next chapter is already being written by a new generation of property professionals who will carry the industry forward.

The SAPOA 60 story continues in the May edition of the SAPOA Newsletter, where we look at the 1980s and how the association scaled its influence across South Africa’s property landscape.

For 60 years, the mission has remained unchanged.

Elevating property. Elevating South Africa.