IN A dramatic policy U-turn, the Eastern Cape housing department is wresting more than R546 million worth of RDP housing contracts from non-performing emergent contractors and offering them to established "big league" construction companies.
The new provincial plan, dubbed "Operation Thunderstorm", involves 33 projects totalling 21,000 houses throughout the province ? some in which building had ground to a halt and others for which tenders have still to be awarded.
The province's general manager of housing development, Ngwadi Mzamo, said it was the only way to achieve housing delivery and reach the provincial target of 2,000 houses by March next year.
Mzamo said emerging contractors did not have the financial strength to manage large projects across wide areas, and the situation had been made worse by growing numbers of "emerging contractors" overcrowding the market.
Such projects as Ezibeleni, near Queenstown, have been delayed for nine years. "Some municipalities do not have capacity to supervise housing construction and some emerging contractors do not have project management skills to deliver projects on time and within budget," Mzamo said.
The move was welcomed for its effect on service delivery, but the South African Local Government Association (Salga) criticised the departure from economic empowerment policy.
In Buffalo City, Operation Thunderstorm put the municipality "between a rock and hard place", said housing portfolio committee chairperson Sithembiso Tyilo. Although the committee welcomed the plan, which will apply to projects in Reeston, Sweetwaters and Tyutyu if accepted by the mayoral committee, he was unsure how emerging contractors would react.
Many would have their contracts cancelled but he hoped they would see the benefits of working under experienced firms. "Logic will prevail," he said.
Elsewhere, municipal officials have welcomed the plan but emphasised that emerging contractors were not the only ones to blame for stalled housing projects. In Mnquma municipality, land claims from local communities had stalled two projects that are now on Operation Thunderstorm's list.
Municipal manager Ngamela Pakade said housing backlogs were not limited to the inexperience of emerging contractors. "There are a number of factors at play here," he said.
He added that established contractors were more likely to get projects involving 1447 houses completed faster.
In Lukhanji Municipality, there had been problems directly linked to emerging contractors hired from the Whittlesea community. These qualified contractors required constant supervision and still built sub-standard houses. "You find that you have to call them back to complete work to standard or even to revisit a building completely," said spokesperson Mkhululi Titi.
Salga EC's deputy CEO, Chris Magwangqana, said bringing emerging contractors into the economy "is as important as building houses". Corrupt local government officials had awarded contracts to "politically acceptable" applicants rather than to the most qualified, he said. But government watchdog, the Public Service Accountability Monitor, welcomed Operation Thunderstorm as a "long overdue" attempt to accelerate housing development.
Daily Dispatch
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
