ARCHITECTS LEAVING

Press, Volume C, Issue 29626, 23 September 1961, Page 5

ARCHITECTS LEAVING

S.A. Building Decline (N.Z.P.A. -Reuter) JOHANNESBURG, Dozens of South African architects have lost their jobs because of a crisis facing the building industry. These men are being lost for ever to the profession in South Africa. Many have already left to seek a living elsewhere and many more will follow, according to leading Johannesburg arhitects. Most of them are reported to be going to Britain, attracted by the building there.

The profession has been hard hit because of the reluctance of investors, both in the Republic and overseas, to spend money on building. Architects say that the bottom has fallen out of an industry- which was worth 200 million rands (£lOO million) a year. Of the total no less than 130 million rands <£6s million) too, were suppli d by private enterprise. This has now been largely lost, and the industry today has to rely on an expenditure 'of 70 million rands (£35 million) a year, which is the contribution of the central, provincial and local governments.

Mr G. de C. Malherbe, director of the National Federation of Building Trade Employers, is however, more hopeful about the future.

"Admittedly, the private industry took a 6,500,000 rand (£3,250,000) plunge at the end of the first quarter of this year, compared with the last quarter of 1960,” he said, “but the individual months within the first quarter of this year showed a progressive increase of 1,000,000 rands (£500,000) a month,” he said. “Another good sigh is the planned 20 per cent increase in the Transvaal Provincial Administration’s building programme for the current year. We hope the Administration will put a bigger share of its building project out to private contractors.”