Drop court case or no membership certificate

MBABANE – The Eswatini Contractors Association (ECA) is yet to issue a membership certificate to a company whose director is among applicants in a case against ECA.

The Director of Afrinta Contractors, Nomcebo Hlophe, has been running from pillar to post in an attempt to get the certificate. A company without this certificate cannot participate in tenders.

Investigations by this newspaper revealed that the leadership of ECA advised the Afrinta director to drop the court case against it before it could issue the certificate to her.

She has declined to withdraw the court case as such a move could be viewed as betrayal of the other applicants who are part of the interim normalisation committee.

The normalisation committee was set up to compel ECA to comply with the association’s Constitution, wherein there should be nine members in the committee and that the leadership has failed to convene a meeting in the past four years.

The case is before the court. The applicants are Gazebo Investments (Pty) Ltd, Afrinta Construction (Pty) Ltd and the Interim Normalisation Committee.

The first respondent is the Eswatini Contractors Association.

The director of Afrinta hoped the Construction Industry Council would assist her company get the certificate because it qualified to get it.

Isaac Magagula, the Chairperson of the Interim Normalisation Committee advised that owners of big companies should not suppress those in ownership of upcoming contractors, mainly those being run vulnerable groups such as women.

Attempts to get hold of the leadership of ECA failed last night. It must be said that there is no specific legal provision warranting ECA to deny the issuance of the certificate.

INTENTION TO AWARD AFROTIM

In another development, a notification of an intention to award a contract to Afrotim for the construction of the extension of Titandini Road and low-level crossing on D2 road in Mankayane has been issued.

It was issued by the Mankayane Town Board.

The contract price as charged by Afrotim is E6 257 644.35. Other companies that submitted bids were Irrigation Africa trading as Africivils at proposed contract price of E8 233 434.40, Inyatsi Construction Limited at E7 836 184.99.