About 150 angry emerging building contractors yesterday staged a sit-in at the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality‘s housing offices, accusing the local authority of only awarding contracts to established companies and sidelining them.
Nafcoc Construction has also backed the contractors, saying the roster system used by the municipality to award tenders to them is open to abuse and that work is being given to friends and relatives.
The municipality denies this, saying the roster system is the only way to evenly spread work among all the contractors on the list.
The emerging contractors met with municipal housing and land executive director Seth Maqetuka in Port Elizabeth yesterday, demanding an explanation on how tenders were awarded.
“The municipality should use the existing contractors‘ roster when awarding these tenders, and not favour big companies,” emerging contractors‘ spokesman Sobantu Madlavu said.
“They ask us to tender when they already know that the tenders will be awarded to big companies. They are not treating us fairly.”
Madlavu cited three of the five projects identified by the municipality as “quick wins” to accelerate housing delivery as examples of their being left out of the process.
These were Wells Estate where about 600 units will be built, Ramaphosa (267) and Rocklands (300).
But Maqetuka said: “Tenders have now closed (for these projects). We asked every contractor, emerging or established, to apply, and some emerging contractors have indeed applied.”
His department was still finalising the roster, Maqetuka said, adding that not all contractors would be on it due to certain requirements that would have to be met.
“For example, only those with tax clearance certificates and . . . do not have municipal account arrears will be registered. I have explained this to them.”
Late last year, the national government announced that work would be awarded to established contractors who will then rope in emerging contractors as sub-contractors. This was because of poor workmanship among emerging contractors. In Nelson Mandela Bay, thousands of houses collapsed because of poor workmanship and the use of cheap materials.
