The Bay Local Business Committee has warned that Nelson Mandela Bay municipality projects will be shut down by disgruntled SMMEs as they can no longer be controlled.
Bay Local Business Committee secretary-general Masixole Mashelele said the failure to replace SK Business Consultants (SKBC) had created the problem.
The SMMEs have met various municipal role players to air their frustration regarding the slow progress in incorporating them into various construction projects around the metro.
A few months ago, payment to SKBC was halted, resulting in hundreds of small business owners converging on the City Hall on November 24 to demand the consultants, their implementing agent, be paid.
They proceeded to stage a few more protests while threatening to shut down water projects, and even disrupted mayor Eugene Johnson’s inaugural media conference.
Mashelele said frustrations were turning to anger as businesses were not being included in projects.
“There are thugs and forums roaming all over the show now. We have warned them about these issues after they closed depots.”
He said the metro was trying to divide the SMMEs.
“This municipality has no interest in the development of the small businesses,” he said.
At a January council meeting, it was recommended that SKBC be further probed by a forensic firm after allegations that the company had been scored irregularly during the tender process to meet the minimum requirements.
Services with the company were suspended in November.
A six-month service level agreement was signed in February 2020 with SKBC for the provision of socioeconomic consultancy services for the municipality. It was later extended.
The recommendation to suspend the service came after an invoice for R11m and a legal opinion by advocate Shaheed Patel on December 9 called for a forensic investigation into what he believed to be gross financial misconduct.
Mashelele said the metro had tabled an alternative solution to allocate work to SMMEs in accordance with procurement regulations.
This was agreed by both the committee and municipality, said Mashelele.
However, he said this plan had fallen flat and the appointed allocation committee disbanded on Friday.
The committee’s chair, Glen Tsomo, said there had been stability.
“Now everyone will stop the projects.”
Tsomo said the small business owners were losing trust in the committee with all the delays.
“Tenders are being issued without consultants or facilitators to deal with the [30%] portion for SMMEs,” he said.
He said the contractors were not disclosing the value of projects or the scope of work.
Municipal spokesperson Kupido Baron said the metro was dealing with a number of issues to address the 30% preferential procurement for emerging micro-enterprises, as it remained one of the major local economic development objectives of the municipality.
“We hit a snag with the establishment of an internal allocations committee which needs to be addressed earnestly to make good on the hard work done by our economic development, tourism and agriculture directorate thus far,” he said.
He said that included the process of identifying 30% of all the projects that must be allocated.
He said due to the logistical concerns regarding the establishment of the allocations committee, it could not be implemented as yet.
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