Municipality versus tenderpreneurs

Makhotla Sefuli

Gift Rampai
Matjhabeng local Municipality
Welkom Free State Province
15th August 2022

#municipalityversustenderpreneuers

On the 25th July 2022 the local tenderpreneuers embarked on a rampant strike for payments on the services they provided to the municipality since 2021.

They maliciously invaded the council offices and brought everything to a standstill and services were severely disrupted.
Chief among their demands was that the current mayor Mr Thanduxolo Khalipha should vacate the office because he has reneged on his promises. Their claim is that for the past nine months they haven’t received any payment for the car services they have rendered, their pleas are being ignored and their cries fell on deaf ears.

The strike lasted for two working days under heavy police presence to keep the situation under control. For the duration of the protests and the occupation neither municipal official nor the members of the public got hurt.

On the third day things started to deteriorate to the point where police had to use teargas and grenades to disperse the rampaging protesters
After two days a meeting between the two parties was scheduled to take place to resolve whatever issues that were stalling the process. The meeting was scheduled to take place during the same week but it took exactly the whole month before it was convened.

In a meeting that took place on 22nd August it was resolved that outstanding payments will be honoured, but most of the companies informed that will be be removed from the municipal database because they could not meet the requirements.
Some of them failed to produce proof of the work done or services rendered to the municipality.