Members of the Hantam Black Business Forum staged a march to Hantam municipality. Picture supplied
THE HANTAM Black Business Forum is aggrieved that local SMMEs are being excluded from major road projects in the Namakwa District.
The forum recently staged a peaceful march to the Hantam municipal offices following grievances over the R310.9 million road maintenance and resurfacing of the national road linking the Northern Cape-Western Cape border to Calvinia.
According to a memorandum that was handed over, SMMEs were being sidelined in favour of multi-national companies.
The chairperson of the Hantam Black Business Forum, Emit Fallet, stated that local contractors were supposed to be awarded 30 percent of these tenders.
“Subcontractors that were employed on the R27 road are being paid low rates, while the majority of contractors were from outside the region,” said Fallet.
He indicated that out of a total of 24 contracts envisaged, only six subcontractors were appointed and only seven subcontractors were actively employed during the second phase.
The acting municipal manager of Hantam Municipality, Jan Johannes Fortuin, stated that he would revert back to the Black Business Forum within the set deadline.
“The municipality was not involved in any process of identifying any subcontractors. The community liaison officer made it crystal clear from the onset that he would not allow any councillors to be part of the processes. Neither I, the accounting officer of Hantam Municipality nor any senior manager were involved in any appointments,” said Fortuin.
In a letter of acknowledgement, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) indicated that it was committed to ensuring the fair treatment and empowerment of local SMMEs in the Hantam region and Namakwa District, and a meeting has been scheduled to take place on November 5 to discuss grievances and explore viable solutions.
Sanral did not respond to media enquiries.