Under- construction government projects worth hundreds of millions of rand in the Pietermaritzburg city centre have been disrupted by “communities” looking for job or business opportunities.
There are currently 12 projects that are under way in ward 27 of the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Eight of them have endured disruptions since they started and on Wednesday there were disruptions across eight of them.
Some of these projects are of critical importance in that they are meant to revive the “crumbling” image of the CBD of the provincial capital.
Public Works MEC Martin Meyer on Thursday visited the Thembalethu Heritage Building site which is one of the affected sites. Shortly after he arrived, a small group of protesters gathered outside the gate, displaying placards demanding they be considered for opportunities on the site.
Meyer engaged with the protesters, saying he respected their rights to demonstrate peacefully but urged them not to resort to threats or violence.
The Thembalethu Heritage Building site entails the renovation of a historic building in the city. The building is more than 100 years old and is being converted to offices for the Department of Transport.
The work under way is valued at close to R110 million while the construction-related work alone is valued at R70m.
It will house different units of the law enforcement unit of the department, and a control room that will monitor all the department’s buildings across the province.
The teams doing the renovations briefed the MEC on the complexities of renovating such an old building, including the difficulty of sourcing material that is no longer available in the country.
The teams also revealed that the site had a very limited capacity to employ unskilled labour and those currently at the site were highly skilled people with expertise in handling old and sensitive buildings.
They said more opportunities for unskilled workers would become available as the project progressed.
An official from the company involved in the work revealed that there had been at least two attempts to invade the site by people demanding work, with the last one being intense as there had been threats of violence.
Next to the Thembalethu Heritage Building site is the construction site for an armoury, also for the Department of Transport.
Meyer expressed serious concerns about the disruptions. He said that since 2014 the province had had to contend with threats from construction mafias demanding work on the site, something that is undermining the economy of the province. Since taking over, he has made it his priority to address the issue to the extent that he has received death threats.
Meyer said: “These are major projects as we are fulfilling the programme of the rejuvenation of the Pietermaritzburg CBD and we also want to re-purpose our own old building, so that the government does not need to rent space.”
Meyer said communities that approached the department in a peaceful manner would be given a hearing, but the department would not entertain those opting to use violence to force their way onto construction sites.
Meyer said part of the approach would be to instruct contractors on how to protect themselves from disruptive elements, collect evidence, including working with dedicated task teams and laying charges.
“This is important as currently the rate of open cases with the SAPS is very low, meaning the arm of the law cannot fully intervene.”
Siphakamiso Nzimande, one of the community members leading the protest at the site, said all they wanted were jobs.
“The councillor of this ward has not done anything for the community to be employed here. This is not the only one. There are seven others where work is continuing,” he said, adding that many of the people that worked at the site did not live in the ward.
“We just want people of this area to be appointed. We keep submitting names and no one ever gets hired.
Those who do not live in the ward should be removed. Companies that are from this area should be the ones who are hired to work on this site,” Nzimande said.
Ward councillor Daniel Kemp said the process of hiring had been completed and those claiming to be representing the community had shown up months after the work on the site had started to make demands.
The Mercury