Building the Future - Umnotho Lays the Foundation for its Brick Manufacturing Plant

By Bliss Yeni

October 03, 2025

The Umnotho Community has taken another bold step towards self-reliance and sustainable housing. “We are constructing our own brick manufacturing plant,” says Managing Director Leslie Gama. “The project is already underway, the foundation has been laid, and construction is in progress.”

This initiative builds on Umnotho’s journey, which began when twelve pioneering families came together to buy land and build homes for themselves in response to South Africa’s ongoing housing backlog.

The plant is designed with the capacity to produce a wide range of high-quality bricks and blocks to meet the expectations of the housing industry. With equipment such as the Egg machine, which has the capacity to operate both manually and electrically. It comes with moulds for Maxi bricks, blocks, and paving bricks. This vital resource was purchased with the support of the National Development Agency (NDA) and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

By producing bricks in-house, Umnotho is preparing to supply high-quality material to its members once they receive housing finance and subsidies. These include support from National First Home Finance, Breaking New Ground, traditional home loans, and loans from the Umnotho Community Bank.

This also means that Umnotho is building the capacity to provide affordable, durable materials while reducing transport costs and making products easily accessible to members.

“It has not been an easy journey, but we’ve come far. This is a milestone and symbol of true economic empowerment and collective progress”, Gama adds.

To support this vision, Umnotho partnered with PPC to conduct brick-making training at the site. During the sessions, participants produced sample bricks using combinations of crusher sand, river sand, and cement. The samples will undergo laboratory testing to ensure that they meet industry standards for quality and strength.

With modern machinery and technical training, Umnotho is positioning itself to become a reliable supplier of concrete products while also creating opportunities for members to gain valuable skills.

At its core, Umnotho’s work remains rooted in a solidarity-driven model where families unite to create lasting change.