Masakhe 02_DIGITAL PAPERTURN - Flipbook - Page 9
LEGENDARY PROFESSIONALS
joined the South African Institute of
Valuers (SAIV) in 1972, driven by a
desire to uplift the entire profession
and raise the South African standards
for property valuation. At the time,
the industry lacked the institutional
standards he had encountered in
England. His mission was nothing
short of revolutionary: to build a
professional framework where one
had not previously existed.
He was elected to the SAIV
National Executive in 1978 and served
as its President in 1982/83, a pivotal
year in which the Valuers Act of 1982
was promulgated, a significant step
toward professionalisation. For 26
years, Marten worked on the National
Executive. “In the early days,” he was
one of the few Chartered Surveyors,
arguing for a fundamental shift from
simplistic site-value assessments
to the internationally recognised
standard of “market value”.
His greatest challenge began in
1985 when he began lobbying for
SAIV to gain membership of the
International Valuation Standards
Committee (IVSC). Due to UN
resistance during the final years of
Apartheid, the path was blocked.
The breakthrough came in 1993,
following the dawn of democracy and
the release of Nelson Mandela. He
was appointed as the South African
representative, attending his first
IVSC meeting in Melbourne, where
he participated in refining the global
definition of “Market Value”.
This two-decade-long quest
culminated in the adoption and
republication of the IVS 2005
International Valuation Standards by
the SAIV, which were subsequently
adopted by the profession in South
Africa. Robin Marten had achieved
what he set out to do, having
modernised and professionalised
property valuation in South Africa,
aligning it with the highest global
standards.
Today, his legacy is cemented not
only in the standards that govern the
industry but also in the generations
that follow him. In 2005, the SAIV
established the Robin Marten Prize
Fund at the University of Cape Town.
The prize is awarded to the best
Property Studies student, but only to
one who has demonstrated consistent
excellence by achieving an average
of over 75% in both their third and
fourth years. “It is important for me
to be able to do this,” Marten says,
putting his file back on the table. We
walk up onto his deck, and I ask to
take some photos, snapping them in
the winter air. He laughs and points
down at his pool, telling me how he
designed it specifically to maximise
space.
Inwardly, I think it is a fitting
statement: it is what he has done his
whole life.
ISSUE 2
7
DECEMBER 2 025
