The municipality’s lack of expertise, as well as greedy politicians and municipal officials, are the main reasons for incomplete projects in the Govan Mbeki municipal area.
This is according to contracting companies who met with the executive mayor, Nhlakanipho Zuma at the Lillian Ngoyi Centre in Secunda last week.
These contractors claim most politicians and officials continuously ask for bribes while the municipality invests money into things they know nothing about.
The contractors told Zuma it was unfair for him to first blame them without giving them a chance to explain their challenges as local contractors.
“Local contractors do not easily get opportunities for a contract.
“We have a problem with the municipal officials at the procurement section, because some of them have their own contracting companies that benefit from municipal projects,” claimed Sibonelo Jiyane, a local contractor.
“Another problem is that the municipality is not using their own engineers. The projects management unit (PMU) hires consultants to draw up plans for all municipality projects, from road works to sewerage system upgrades.
“Those consultants don’t even bother to visit the sites. They only use Google Maps to draw up a work plan,” said Jiyane.
“The problem already begins there. When the contractor then has to break up a huge rock, for example, it was not included in the scope of work you have been hired to do. You have to spend money to hire the machinery needed to remove the rock,” he explained.
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Xolani Mahlangu, a businessman from eMbalenhle, said the local companies will not grow as long as the municipality is only benefitting certain individuals.
Mahlangu said what is more stressful is that the municipality grades the local companies and contractors, while the money was given to outside businesses in the past 20 years.
“For a contractor to have grade 9, they need to have more than R1 million in the bank and hire engineers. Where does the municipality expect these contractors to get money from while they don’t get jobs?,” Mahlangu questioned.
“The municipal website is not updated. We only see the advertisements on notice boards in their offices.”
Mahlangu said the municipality does not have an infrastructure development unit (IDU).
“How can they budget without exactly knowing what the physical work on the ground will cost? They merely rely on the consultants’ Google Map report.”
Mahlangu said politicians also demand money.
“They don’t even care whether you got a tender from the private sector or if it is a municipal project. They should include their bribe costs when they ask us for a quotation,” said Mahlangu.
Zuma responded by saying the municipality is in the process of rectifying the wrongs and he assured the contractors of a rotational procurement system to allow equal opportunities to all local companies within the municipal area.
He said the municipality is obligated to report a contracting company that failed to complete their work to the National Treasury to be blacklisted.
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Although companies whose contracts were terminated because of poor performance must also be reported to the National Treasury, Zuma believes this would be too harsh on the companies with which the municipality has mutual termination agreements.
“The municipality will soon hold a local economic development summit where a Local Economic Development Forum will be launched. This forum will be led by me,” said Zuma.
According to the mayor, the municipality needs its own CSD that will assist small and medium enterprises to grow.
“Some of you can do good work on the ground but your paperwork is not good, so the municipality must help you and create fertile ground for all local businesses, regardless of the private or public sector,” said Zuma.
