Far right: KZN Public Works and Infrastructure MEC Martin Meyer (bright tie) with ward 27 councillor Daniel Kemp (right) faced the disruptive business forum. Picture: Supplied.
Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Public Works and Infrastructure MEC Martin Meyer has warned the ‘construction mafia’ that he would not be intimidated after the forum disrupted KZN’s R109 million construction site.
During the media briefing in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday, the MEC said on Wednesday a group of people who, according to the site manager, demanded jobs and subcontracts stormed the R109m Department of Transport’s construction site and seven other sites.
At least eight sites were disrupted by mafia on Wednesday. Meyer said he would not be bullied or intimidated by the mafia.
He expressed his disappointment at the disruption, saying he had been informed that the group had targeted all eight projects that were taking place within ward 27.
He warned that demanding jobs using violent means would not be tolerated. The MEC said he would not negotiate with such people, although his hands were open to people coming peacefully to him and raising genuine concerns.
The MEC said the building was part of many owned by the government which his department had undertaken to rejuvenate to mitigate the shortage of space for government work to avoid renting buildings from private owners.
“I want to reiterate that I am willing to listen to the people who want to raise genuine business concerns with my department, with regard to business opportunities that are being created by the department. But I would not entertain people who storm our project sites and intimidate staff. I am not going to be bullied and intimidated by such behaviour. We call on anyone who has genuine business interests in our department to approach us peacefully and we will listen and come up with a solution,” said the MEC.
While he and his project team were having a meeting on Thursday, the group came in again and demanded answers about why they were not getting jobs and business opportunities. The group who denied that they were a construction mafia told the MEC that they were from ward 27 under Msunduzi Local Municipality. They accused ward councillor Daniel Kemp of hiring his relatives and subcontracting work to the business forum outside of the ward. The group urged the MEC to investigate whether businesses that were subcontracted were indeed from the ward because they did not know them in the ward. It also emerged that the group was led by a person who was out on bail.
The group leader Siphakamiso Nzimande said their investigation has revealed that all businesses that got the job were from Mbali township which is far from the ward, adding that even the people who got job opportunities were mainly from outside ward 27.
The site which belongs to the Transport Department is a heritage site, more than 100 years old. It was once a girls’ boarding school, later it was turned into a music school and then abandoned before it was handed over to the Department of Transport.
The MEC briefly met with the group’s representatives and took their memorandum promising to respond in seven days. He, however, told the group that because the building was a heritage site, the work required special skills which some of the local companies may not have.
Kemp denied the allegations levelled against him, saying there was enough consultation. He said he wondered where these people were because the project started nine months ago.
He said he believed that the people were coming from other wards and their action was politically motivated. The councillor said all the requirements were met including giving preference to women-owned companies and people living with disabilities. He said three of the five subcontracted companies were women-owned.
In his budget speech two weeks ago, the MEC announced several new projects, vowing to turn KZN into a construction site.
Disruption of construction sites by the violent forums demanding a 30% slice in the projects started in 2014 and has persisted in spite of the government’s crack down and police establishing a special task team to deal with it.
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