COVER STORY
Already on the investing front we are seeing more women focused on gaining financial independence , delaying marriage to establish their careers and more than 43 % are already successful home loan applicants and more than 50 % are home owners that are leading the way in buying property in SA .
Just a few of the issues affecting women in South Africa include challenges such as gender equality , feminisation of poverty , violence against women and discrimination on the basis of gender as SA still remains a strong patriarchal society . Let ’ s meet just a few of the women who are shining beacons , leading and making a difference in the real estate field in SA .
Margaret Hirsch – Executive Director , Hirsch ’ s Homestores
Margaret Hirsch has become an inspiring example to businesswomen across Africa , starting from humble beginnings to eventually co-founding and managing Hirsch ' s with her husband Allan . Today , Hirsch ' s is the largest independently owned appliance and electronics retail operation in South Africa .
Margaret has an incredible passion for helping people and especially a champion of women ’ s empowerment and helps them realise their potential and achieve their passion in life . Her mantra is ‘ Your purpose in life is to find your gift and your mission in life is to give it away .’
While Margaret is the co-founder and Executive Director of successful retail business Hirsch ’ s she has also been extremely successful in investing in property . In fact her success in property investing has her singing from the rafters saying that ‘ ‘ property is probably the single best investment you will ever make .’ Quite a statement for a successful homestore retailer .
Before she even started work , Margaret first dabbled in the stock market when she was working for a boss . He was an ‘ expert ’ on the stock market , so she just followed his lead , and regretfully lost all of her money and even some more money that she borrowed to invest in stocks and shares .
This was a huge learning curve for her , and from that day forward she decided that she would only ever invest in property . Property is
15 JULY / AUG 2023 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine