ANOTHER STANDOUT YEAR FOR KWAZULU-NATAL

THE past year may have marked strong expansion into Gauteng by the Dormehl Phalane Property Group (DPPG), but when it came to prize time for the group, KwaZulu-Natal continued to show its dominance.

KZN received most of the accolades at the property company's 10th National Annual Awards ceremony, held at a breakfast event on March 6 at The Estuary in Port Edward, with DPPG's Wayne Francis as master of ceremonies.

Among the most remarkable achievements was the Pinetown branch, headed by Kevin Delport, taking the National Residential Sales Office of the Year award for the 10th consecutive year. In second and third spot, respectively, were the Upper Highway and Durban North franchises.

The prize for Overall National Office of the Year went to Pinetown, followed by Howick, Upper Highway Letting Prestige, Vaal and Upper Highway.

Franchisee of the Year, a certificate awarded to the franchisee showing outstanding levels of professionalism in the conduct of their business, went to Benita Stander and Natashee Henn of Vaal.

Another who stood out was Howick's Liane Aadnesgaard, who, for the 10th consecutive year, was named Top Farms and Smallholdings Agent of the Year.

The Pinetown branch can boast to being the base for DPPG "golden boy" Brendon Bosch, who once again took a truck-load of awards, and thanked Kevin Delport "for always leading me in the right direction".

Bosch took the coveted national award for Agent of the Year for the fourth time in a decade, as well as the award for Top Achiever: Urban (most units sold) for the seventh time in 10 years.

His other awards included those for most sole mandates sold, most referrals sold and, for the eighth time in 10 years, the Ooba award for most units sold for coastal regions.

The Zululand office's Raeven Oosthuizen took the award for Body Corporate Agent of the Year, while Howick's Jennifer Gordon took the award for Top Achiever (Countryside).

The Rookie Agent of the Year award was presented to Rustenburg's Henry Blom, while the award for National Rental Agent of the Year went to Estcourt's Pranitha Ramlal, who also took the award for Rental Management Agent of the Year

The award for Top Referrals Agent: Referrals Sent, who was responsible for the most DPPG referrals converted to sales, was Hartbeesport's Isabel Gouveia. Hartbeesport also took the award for Most Improved Franchisee.

Among other awards presented, The Oscar went to Upper Highway's Jean Liversage (for her commitment and support to DPPG in general administration), while the Wooden Spoon (given to "the stirrer of the year") went to DPPG trainer John Wilkie.

The accolade for Training Principal of the Year (for best intern support by a principal) went to Pietermaritzburg's Christo Pretorious, while the award for Training Agent of the Year went to Pietermaritzburg's Michael Lombard.

Wilkie said at the awards ceremony that Lombard had found time this year to not only qualify as an intern, but also as a valuator and an auctioneer - plus he has a diploma for real estate.

Note: For more about the 10th awards ceremony, see previous story.