Gerald Brown, chairman of Mitchell’s Plain Unemployed Residents and Local Building Contractors Forum (MPURLBCF)
We as a community-based organisation (CBO), registered on the City of Cape Town’s community database, support the integrated local contractors based and operating their legally compliant small and medium-sized civil and building construction business from their residential premises within Mitchell’s Plain.
Mitchell’s Plain has among the highest unemployment and crime rates within Cape Town and is currently under construction and will still be developing for the next 10 to 20 years.
The forum believes that this will be one of the greatest employment opportunities for local contractors to engage and render subcontracting services to other privately-owned or government-awarded construction companies developing within Mitchell’s Plain.
It will provide much more subcontracting work to local, compliant subcontractors and hundreds of job opportunities to most unemployed people within Mitchell’s Plain and will reduce the huge unemployment and crime rates.
Without any demands or threats, the forum is humbly appealing that all private or government appointed developers or contractors first seriously consider the need for the local subcontractors and for the unemployed to benefit from all project developments within Mitchell’s Plain.
We will respect that and will not allow any ignorance or bad behaviour from any developer or contractor.
All developments before starting the project must be advertised through all the necessary channels mainly the local newspapers and Sub-council 12 and 17, including meetings scheduled with the community.
The forum, on behalf of the local contractors and the community, want to make it clear that no outside subcontractors or local employees will be allowed to perform any trades that can be done by the local subcontractor or the local unemployed people within Mitchell’s Plain and can only be brought in if such skills are not found within Mitchell’s Plain.
The forum is open to all local contractors and unemployed people free of charge.
We are here to serve the community in an ethical manner and try our utmost to help create jobs and training opportunities.
For more information contact Gerald Brown via WhatsApp on 078 193 5640.
Siseko Mbandezi, mayoral committee member for finance, responds:
The City's tendering process is a structured process, in order to be fair and transparent especially as public money is involved.
Its stringent selection and evaluation processes are in place to ensure the most suited, and capable businesses are selected to provide services and or goods to the City.
The City also encourages small and local businesses as well as business forums to partner with medium to large contractors and form partnerships or joint ventures when anticipating procurement opportunities.
Small businesses are encouraged to register on the City’s database and should ensure their information is correct and up to date.
In respect to the use of local labour at City projects, the City’s affordable housing projects have a localised labour component as well as a project steering committee (PSC) that represents the beneficiaries and community.
Employment on site for City housing projects is sourced from the municipality’s jobseekers database, which maximises the use of local labour as far as possible.
The City’s website has a step-by-step guide to assist with registering as a supplier, as well as a tender process guide.
For assistance businesses may email supplier.management@capetown.gov.za, procurement or supplierregistration@capetown.gov.za.
It is important for registered suppliers to make sure that their information is always up to date and the documents submitted to the City are in order.
This is the responsibility of the supplier.
To assist local businesses, the City also hosts weekly information and registration sessions.
For more information read the municipality’s tender process guide book which is on the City’s website www.capetown.gov.za