‘Give us tenders, or else!’

A group of “militant” business people in Durban, who sabotaged eThekwini Municipality services in demand for tenders, have vowed to continue to disrupt water and electricity services in the city if they are not awarded municipal work. Instead the members of the Amadelangokubona Business Forum, who admit that they are former criminals, have given the municipality an ultimatum to give them tenders without a bidding process or they would plunge the city into chaos. But Premier Senzo Mchunu said, in a statement on Thursday, that it was disturbing that the forum’s members were boasting about being “hardcore criminals” and that they “not were scared of being arrested”. Mchunu cautioned the forum that the provincial government would pursue legal action if it continued to hold the municipality at ransom. “We must refuse to be outnumbered by unruly elements,” he said.

Last month, the municipality got an interdict against the group to prevent its members from interfering with, intimidating and threatening municipal workers. The city said in its court papers that terrified workers in the municipality’s electricity, roads, stormwater and solid waste departments had been unable to attend to work on specific sites across the city for several months because of threats made by the forum. City manager S’bu Sithole had said in an affidavit that the municipality could not be held to “ransom to thugs” and that it had offered to provide training to the forum, but this had been rejected. Despite the court case, last week the ANC regional executive, along with Mayor James Nxumalo, met with the forum and it was agreed that the city would provide training to the forum’s members on supply chain management so could learn how to apply for tenders. But the forum’s leader, Nathi Mnyandu, said yesterday that the group did not need training on business skills.

He said the ANC in the eThekwini Region had promised the forum that the city would freeze tenders until its concerns were addressed and a follow-up meeting was scheduled for March 23. Mnyandu said the group, which was founded in Umlazi, had 18 branches in the city and was made up of ex-convicts who have com-mitted”schedule six” crimes including murder, rape, cash-in-transit heists. “We brought those people together and told them to stop the crime. Those people use crime as a means of living. But they changed with a hope that they would be accommodated in the new government, but they have been left out,” he said. He added that Nxumalo had been informed that they had rejected the training offer. Mchunu said his office has held meetings with leaders of the National Prosecuting Authority, Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha, Judge President Achmat Jappie, magistrates, judges and lawyers in the province to discuss how to tackle escalating lawlessness in the province.

Mnyandu said he was aware that members of the Mkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans had been given tenders without following due processes. “Bidding is a fake process to get a tender as there are people who have already been earmarked for it.” Municipal economic development planning committee chairwoman deputy mayor Nomvuzo Shabalala declined to comment on the matter yon Thursday and municipal spokeswoman Tozi Mthethwa referred the matter to the “ANC regional office”. However, ANC regional spokeswoman Zinhle Cele said on Thursday that the party had made it clear at least week’s press briefing that the party would not be involved in the functioning of the municipality and any discussions about tenders.