71% of government contracts in Ekurhuleni awarded to service providers outside the municipality
27 October 2021
The ANC-PA-IRASA Coalition government in Ekurhuleni has exported 71.5% of its total tenders awarded in the first quarter of this financial year to businesses operating outside the municipality.
Total expenditure on procurement of goods and services for the first quarter amounted to R60.7 million, however only R17.3 million of this was spent on local service providers.
In a municipality with a 39% unemployment rate, it is concerning that opportunities for residents of Ekurhuleni are exported to other municipalities or provinces.
I have been to a light industrial business hive in Etwatwa which, at a price tag of R44million, is nothing more than a white elephant as the facility has sat vacant for two years since it opened.
If projects like this were fully operational, residents would be in a better position to upskill themselves, grow their businesses and contribute to the needs of Ekurhuleni while making a living for themselves – ultimately, feeding their families and creating jobs.
I have seen other such hives across the municipality that are in a similar state.
Public funds invested in projects such as these to assist people are nothing but monuments standing testament to the ineptitude of the ANC and its coalition partners in Ekurhuleni.
Ekurhuleni cannot continue its current trajectory.
Residents deserve a government that stimulates an environment conducive to economic growth and job creation, not a government that traps residents in a cycle of poverty and hopelessness.
Under a DA-led Ekurhuleni, centres such as these will be repurposed to ensure that they fulfil the functions they were intended to do. In the DA municipality of George, youth cafes such as these have been used to stimulate economic activity for the youth and upskilling programmes have gone a long way to reducing unemployment in economically depressed areas.
Functioning Hives will ensure that government spending is localised because the requisite skills and functions will be available at a local level – ultimately benefitting the people of Ekurhuleni.
A DA government in Ekurhuleni will get things done to ensure that Ekurhuleni works!
Issued by Refiloe Nt’sekhe, DA Ekurhuleni Mayoral Candidate, 27 October 2021
