ANC OWES CATERERS R1M
106th birthday-bash suppliers still await payment
THE ANC has failed to pay their birthday celebration caterers an estimated R1-million. The 106th birthday bash in East London was two months ago and eight small business owners are still waiting to be paid.
They were contracted to supply 25 000 food packs for the party faithful. They said the ANC’s failure to pay its bills had put their businesses and home lives under financial strain.
In a previous non-payment scandal arising from the event, 50 taxi owners in January occupied and shut down the ANC provincial headquarters at Calata House in King William’s Town. They demanded an R8-million payment for ferrying thousands of party supporters.
Some of of the taxi payments have been made, but South Africa National Taxi Council (Santaco) provincial leader Noluntu Mahashe could not say how much was outstanding yesterday.
Caterers said debtors and business closure were knocking at their door.
The 25 000 food packages that were delivered each contained a chicken leg, a four-slice sandwich, a piece of fruit and a soft drink.
The service providers said the rate per pack was R40 which “was generous because that pack usually goes for about R80”.
The group has laid the blame at the door of ANC Dr W B Rubusana regional treasurer Ncedo Kumbaca, who brokered the deal on behalf of his party.
Kumbaca yesterday told the Dispatch he would get back with a comprehensive comment but this had not materialised by print deadline.
His immediate party boss, regional chairman Xola Pakati, could not be reached for comment.
It was not clear who had the responsibility to foot the bill between the region, the province and Luthuli House. But the ANC in Calata House said it was in talks with national leaders at Luthuli House to expedite the payment.
Said provincial secretary Lulama Ngcukayitobi: “We are following up with national leaders on the matter of the caterers and that of the taxis because we take this matter seriously. Non-payment of small businesses impacts negatively on their growth and potential.”
The business owners, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing victimisation, said it was ironic that at the event the party had preached on the importance of speedy payment to service providers.
Senior government officials from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s reshuffled cabinet to Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle and Finance MEC Sakhumzi Somyo have all commented on the importance of supporting small businesses in order to grow the sluggish SA economy.
In his State of the Nation Address Ramaphosa said: “The growth of our economy will be sustained by small businesses, as is the case in many countries. It is our shared responsibility to grow this vital sector of the economy.”
His sentiments were echoed by Masualle in his state of the province address, when he said the Eastern Cape government was “committed” to ensuring that state institutions adhered to the 30-day payment rule to safeguard the sustainability of small businesses.
“Charity begins at home. However, not with the ANC which is failing to pay R1-million to emerging businesses. Will this tendency get worse when it comes to bigger deals,” one of the business owners said.
Another one said he’d had to sell their TV set as their child was about to be kicked out of school because of unpaid fees – money the parents had expected to have in hand, if the ANC had paid its bills.
ANC national spokesman Pule Mabe had not responded to questions sent via text messages on two platforms and his phone rang unanswered all day. —
THOUSANDS of Eastern Cape construction workers and their families are facing a bleak Easter as many of them will be retrenched with no pay at the end of this month, if the provincial government continues to default on paying their bosses.
This is according to the Eastern Cape Black Contractors Association (ECBCA), whose more than 100 member companies, employing on average 300 people per company, are said to be owed in excess of R400-million by the provincial government.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, the association revealed that, while exact figures are not available, its members have retrenched scores of people since December and that many of their companies “are dying a slow death” as a result of ongoing non-payment for services already rendered.
ECBCA’s chairman Sakhele Skenjana yesterday said the construction sector was the biggest employer in the province, and that it was of “deep concern” that they will have to lay off thousands of workers who are mostly breadwinners in their families.
Skenjana said the provincial government’s failure to pay them timeously was crippling their businesses and that most of them are being forced to close shop as they struggle to pay staff salaries.
Skenjana said some of the projects they are involved in have since been abandoned, while some of their members’ plant machinery has been held hostage by disgruntled workers demanding their dues.
He said the non-payment of contractors was only experienced in the Eastern Cape, and it was “done deliberately by provincial authorities who are hellbent on frustrating provincial black businesses”.
“This is very painful to both us as employers and the thousands of workers in our employ. Many of our employees are in agony as they are now being retrenched while they have done nothing wrong.
“We have been paying them from our reserves, which have now run dry, placing us in debt and in risk of closing down,” he said.
He said in order to keep afloat, some of the businesses will have to cut their staff complement by 50% at the end of this month, while other business owners have already resorted to selling their assets in a bid to keep things going.
He said one of the biggest nonpayment culprits was the education department, and they were now planning to bus their employees to the department’s headquarters in Zwelitsha to hold a protest action that will “close the place down until we are paid what is due to us”.
His concerns come amid recent reports that the provincial government was sitting with over 7 200 unpaid invoices that were older than the stipulated 30-day payment period, and which amount to R466-million.
ECBCA’s executive committee member Siyabulela Moko, who revealed that his wage bill stood at R1.4- million every month, said the nonpayment affected their bank ratings, tax compliance and relations with suppliers.
“In some sites, due to our failure to pay salaries, some of our equipment has been torched by angry workers, and we now have to take expensive insurance policies just to cover our equipment,” Moko said.
The association’s secretary, Weziwe Zondani, said they are just sent from pillar to post whenever they tried to engage with provincial authorities over the delayed payments.
She said last November they handed over a memorandum to premier Phumulo Masualle, and now they have also written to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Accepting their memorandum of demands last November, Masualle acknowledged that their non-payment grievance “was a cause for concern” and promised to set up a task team to look into the matter.
However, Skenjana yesterday said that if such a task team even exists, it has neither contacted them nor assisted them.
Attempts to reach Masualle were fruitless by deadline yesterday.