Surays Cassiem, From Flower Seller to Business Woman
It seems a long time since she started selling flowers at age seven like her Mother, Grandmother and Great Grand Mother before her.
Humble Beginings
Suraya no longer need to sell flowers on the street herself, but grows and exports proteas, supplies flowers for a supermarket chain, and started exporting proteas to the flower Mecca of the world, the Netherlands.
Suraya is also venturing into property development.
The Begining
Born into the fourth generation of a Cape Town family of flower vendors, Suraya Cassiem had enough faith in herself to move on and become the proud owner of an export flower farm. Her stylish appearance reveals very little about the battles she has had to fight to become a businesswoman of note When I first laid eyes on the farm I was to turn into a thriving business, it was a jungle. I didn’t know a thing, but I told my dad, “I was going to fight”. This farm was to become ours.
The Business Woman
Now Suraya is now a very Sucsecfull business woman, with a lot of achievements under her belt. An owner of a beautiful farm in between the Outeniqua mountain range, a member of the African Mining Partnership, she is on the board of Women in Construction and is a partner in Axitech Security.
Suraya also won the category for Top Producer for Export Markets.
After all the hard work and success Suraya's heart will always belong on the Flower Stall on York Street, George.
Women in construction
We are an awesome group
The Construction industry is a major contributor to economic growth and job creation. The industry is a catalyst for socio-economic development and through the provision of essential infrastructures such as roads, public buildings and other amenities it is able to uplift the standard of living of all citizens.
The construction sector presents a woman, in particular, with several challenges as it is traditionally a male-dominated sector. Female stakeholder and interested groups are therefore crucial to maintain a presence on behalf of women in the construction sector and to continually lobby for the transformation of the sector.