About 25 angry emerging building contractors from the Sundays River Valley area staged a peaceful sit-in at the Cacadu District Municipality’s housing offices in Port Elizabeth, accusing the local authority of delaying building contract payments.
A high-ranking ANC official and building contractor in Sundays River Valley, who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation, said the contractors had submitted their financial claims and documents in May last year.
“The contractors held a meeting with the head of the Housing Department in August and we were promised we would get our money within 7 days, but we’ve waited in vain.”
The contractors were then told their payments would be based on a housing report by the municipality to the head office of the Housing Department in the Eastern Cape.
“The reply was that the Housing Department had no funds, but would ask for an additional grant from Treasury to finance us.
"But that’s got nothing to do with us because our work is to build houses for the people and get paid.”
He said they had stopped working because of not getting paid, but big contractors had taken over in September last year and had been paid on time.
“We are not moving an inch here until we get our money because we spent Christmas Day with empty hands and now we need our money to buy school uniforms and stationery for our children before the schools open.”
Housing Department spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha said the department was aware of the problem involving contractors in the Cacadu region.
“There was a problem encountered with the payment system at the municipality level that affected payments to these contractors.
"The department is working to resolve the problem,” he said.