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The City of Cape Town’s resolution to not be intimidated by “selfish thugs” who violently extort social housing projects in the metro has come to naught, as its largest construction project in Delft enters its third week of standstill.
Standing on a wind-swept construction site a day after the fatal shooting of a city official, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced: “We will not ever give in to any terrorists who try to extort money from us.
“We are not going to be intimidated by murderers, thugs. We will do what it takes to keep this project on track … This is our biggest project in the city.”
Under the veil of not commenting on an ongoing police investigation, the city has taken an unusual turn from being willing to talk to the media, to not commenting on any matters regarding its social housing projects.
Twelve construction projects worth an estimated R1 billion, ranging from Gugulethu and Delft on the Cape Flats to as far as Sir Lowry’s Pass outside Somerset West, are being threatened by extortion, unlawful occupation and vandalism.
“It is starting to mushroom now,” the city’s mayoral committee member for human settlements, Malusi Booi, said after he visited the Gugulethu Infill site days before the fatal shooting in Delft.
In Gugulethu, subcontractors demanded 40% from the primary contractor’s multimillion-rand project. The matter was reported to the police.
Fortunately, no violence occurred at the site, said Booi. The city is also following the legal route to evict about 100 illegal occupiers who had settled in unfinished houses on the site.
A mere 15km away from the Gugulethu site, alongside Symphony Way in Delft, the city’s largest social housing project is underway. The R500 million project will consist of more than 3 000 housing units.
Operations of the main contractor, Power Construction, came to a complete standstill on Thursday, 16 February after a shooting incident that claimed the life of Wendy Hendricks Kloppers, a city official from Air Quality, and injured a security guard. Kloppers was waiting in front of the gate when 17 shots were fired at the women.
Across from the gate, learners at the Ebenezer Educare Centre “had to lie down on the ground, everyone just went down to the ground”, a staff member said.
A security guard, who was on a tea break when the incident took place, said the gate to the site is locked because of three previous incidents. In one incident, equipment was petrol bombed. In another, site workers were fired at, and in another shooting, three security guards were injured.
During the city’s visit to the construction site, Hill-Lewis and Booi, together with members of the city’s Safety and Security Investigation Unit, readily answered questions and took a firm stand that the city would not be deterred by criminals.
Hill-Lewis also confirmed through his head of law enforcement, Robbie Robberts, that the proposed safety plan was 80% complete, and would be presented to Power Construction on Monday, 20 February.
Since the media visit, the city has been reluctant to respond to general inquiries relating to its construction project in Delft.
The M&G contacted the city’s centralised media office and Booi to determine which subcontractors had been awarded contracts at the Delft site; how many small, medium and micro-enterprises had applied for subcontracts; how many subcontracts were received and whether the city’s proposed safety plan had been approved.
A brief response was received: “The city wishes to be clear: there is no excuse for the violence and the slaying of a city official. There are proper legally prescribed processes in place governing the execution of public projects which involve public money. These processes are open and transparent.”
The Mail & Guardian also put allegations to the city about a Delft sub-council manager who was allegedly awarded contracts for the project. Despite speaking to the manager and asking the city to respond to the claims — made by the notorious Delft Community Development Forum —no response was forthcoming.
Lulama Vellem, chairperson of the forum, claims the city is undermining the residents. Vellem claims the shootings were the result “of poor management from the sub-council of Cape Town” and their non-involvement in the project.
According to Vellem, some of the forum’s 153 listed businesses applied for subcontracts at the site but were unsuccessful.
Local business owners contend that few of the 153 listed businesses are registered. Booi had said some of the subcontractors who applied did not have statutory documents. He added that a woman subcontractor was appointed and that it was not well received by competitors.
The contractor at the Delft site, Power Construction, did not want to disclose which subcontractors had been appointed.
“Due to the sensitivity of the matter, and taking everyone’s safety into consideration, we feel it to be unwise to disclose information about the award of subcontracts at this stage for fear of intimidation and violence against any such subcontracts,” said Melani September, of Power Construction.
The same inquiry sent to the city was escalated to the mayoral office but only the following reply regarding the proposed security plan was given: “The safety plan is going ahead for this project. The primary goal is to ensure the project is not derailed and to protect staff.
“Broadly, private security will be increased as will municipal law enforcement presence in the area. This will be for the duration of the project. The city cannot disclose details around costs at this stage.”
September said it was not yet clear when construction at two of their sites — including Delft — would recommence “as the process to determine what measures need to be put in place to ensure the safety of all parties involved with the projects are proving quite complex and is still ongoing”.
JP Smith, the mayoral committee member for safety and security, said the city cannot comment on matters that form part of a police investigation. He said city officials had been threatened in the past and as recently as last week when two men entered the city’s Cape Town offices demanding to speak to the mayor. Police were investigating the incident, said Smith.
The city has announced a R100 000 award for information regarding the incidents but no one has come forward.
The residents are not talking, fearing reprisal. And the few who did opt to speak to the M&G, on condition of anonymity, said the message from the extortionists was clear — stay away from the site.
A local business owner who claims his house was targeted several times when he attempted to apply for subcontracts at the Delft construction site said: “Whoever is coming up with a plan will carry the consequences.”
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