Despite the fact that nearly three years have passed since the national funding of building materials, not a single structure has been built – temporary or otherwise – for residents in the Bitou Municipality. This was after 71 households lost their homes in fires in June 2018. Alarmingly, the construction company, Nzuzo Yalo Trading cc, was paid almost two years ago for services which have not been rendered, and allegations have arisen that the contractor is in fact an Eastern Cape based company.
The Western Cape Standing Committee on Human Settlements has visited the area and inspected the building materials.
MPP Matlhodi Maseko says: “The local municipality applied for emergency funding from National Government in order to assist residents affected by the fires and was subsequently granted more than R3.9 million to construct temporary housing units. Nearly two years have passed since the company was paid for their labour on a housing development site which did not exist at the time. It was only last month that National Government transferred land to the local municipality to begin the construction of temporary housing opportunities.
We are, furthermore, concerned that the municipality did not engage the local communities about the proposed project which was then brought to a halt after community members refused to be reallocated to land that did not have any basic services or bulk infrastructure. Public participation is a cornerstone of any democratic process in order to ensure that residents buy into the work of government, particularly when plans will create such lifechanging circumstances through moving residents. This is a significant oversight on the part of the municipality which has now led to valuable resources being stored at the Plettenberg Airport and left to gather dust.
We also note that while much of the building materials are still usable, the use of some materials has been lost due to vandalism.
If allegations prove to be true that the construction company is based in the Eastern Cape, questions will need to posed about why local businesses and contractors were passed up for this opportunity. As far as possible, local governments should be leveraging their resources to empower and uplift their own local economies.
The Standing Committee on Human Settlement in the Western Cape will continue its oversight work to ensure that residents of Bitou Municipality benefit from these building materials. The apparent mismanagement by the Bitou Municipality in this matter cannot be allowed to continue.”
