Many tendering companies registered in Kgatleng are reportedly struggling to make it in business as the Kgatleng District Council is accused of starving them tenders preferring to award projects to companies from outside the district.
Council Chairman, Daniel Molokwe is furious that his council continues to ignore councilors appeal for small/medium projects in the area to be reserved for companies registered in Kgatleng. His councilors also shared the same sentiments. Molokwe is not happy that the same appeal was also recently made by the Assistant Minister of Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Setlhabelo Modukanele but council’s implementing officers seemed to have also not taken him serious and continued allocating such tenders to companies registered outside their district.
When addressing Kgatleng District Council this week Molokwe reiterated that his council needs to find ways to grow business in the district by awarding tenders to locally registered companies. “It does not sit well with us to see for instance a P16 000 tender to be awarded to a company residing 700km away from our district, one would wonder if there was no company locally that is capable of doing that job” Molokwe highlighted.
The council was recently allocated over P1.5 million by government in order to put in place measures to prevent the spread of Covi-19 virus in the district’s primary schools. It however turned out that only three out of eight companies engaged to fumigate the primary schools were registered in Kgatleng whereas the rest were coming from as far as Serowe to do the small projects of around P6000.
Speaking in an interview on the sideline of the meeting Molokwe lamented that from a very long time Kgatleng District Council did not have a strategy of how to reserve small/medium tenders to its local companies something which he says is not the case in other councils. “If you look at all our tenders they are open for everyone but other councils most of their projects are reserved for companies registered in their district,” Molokwe highlighted complaining that such arrangement is not happening in Kgatleng Council.
The Council Chairman complained that denying local companies tenders hinders their efforts to create job opportunities for youths in the district. He stressed that it is also not fair for council to deny local companies business despite the companies paying council fees for renewal of their business license ever year.
“As councilors we have promised our youth employment so for us to create those job opportunities for them is only if we ease business development in our area. One of the things that we can do is to give local companies business so that they can employ our youth and also boost our local economy,” Molokwe highlighted.
The councilors have advised Kgatleng District Council to review the current Local Assets Procurement and Disposal (LAPAD) Act in order to remove impediments that leads to reservation of tenders to locals. Molokwe stressed that as council they need to introduce enablers in order to improve their service to the electorates.
“I want to request all stakeholders in our district responsible for awarding tenders to first consider locally registered companies because this will help in Local Economic Development which we are currently drafting its framework. The move will also contribute in job creation and reduction of poverty in our district,” the council chairman requested. It is his belief that tenders below P10 million should be reserved to locally registered companies. The Kgatleng District Council Public Relation Office was yet to comment on the matter.