08 January 2015

Interdict lodged against protesting group at Statistics South Africa’s construction site

Following unrest at the construction site of the new Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) building in Salvokop on Tuesday, Stats SA has lodged a court interdict against several members of the Community Working Committee (CWC) preventing them from further disrupting construction work. The CWC, governed by a Terms of Reference, was formed at the community’s request as a formal body to represent the interests of the community. CWC members locked the gates to the construction site on Tuesday barring workers from entering the premises and allegedly incited approximately thirty community members to protest against on-going construction work on the building site. This action resulted in work stoppages on-site for the past two days, effectively running into a loss of millions of rands of tax payers’ money.

The allegations made by this group against Dipalopalo, the private party in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) relate to employment and contracting issues. These issues have surfaced despite on-going collaboration between Stats SA, Dipalopalo and the CWC.

The construction of Stats SA’s new home signals the start of the broader Government Salvokop Precinct development, and is part of the Tshwane Inner City Regeneration project. There are many economic benefits which will accrue to the community of Salvokop, and the greater City of Tshwane. This project will inject R1,4 billion capex into the economy of the City of Tshwane, create 1 400 jobs over the construction and over 100 jobs during operation. As part of the negotiated social responsibility aspect of the project, a new childcare facility will be built, and Stats SA will contribute to the construction of a public square.

“It is unfortunate that this group, primarily motivated by self-interest, have taken this course of action which forced Dipalopalo (and Stats SA as the affected party) to pursue the legal route in order to ensure that this important project is not further derailed”, said Statistician General Pali Lehohla. A concerted effort was made by Stats SA to ensure that this PPP is the first to explicitly detail and negotiate Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) requirements beyond

the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) and BBBEE codes.  In this regard communities benefit directly, penalties are set beyond the norm and detailed verifications on performance standards are drafted to monitor this long term relationship. At least 85% of materials used in construction will be sourced locally. We will be receiving quarterly audits related to compliance to these standards, and where these standards are not met, penalties as outlined in the contract will be applied.

There is close monitoring on our BBBEE commitments and as at the end of November 2014 all commitments have been met:

Employment

A total of 363 people have been employed on the project, 120 from the City of Tshwane and 51 people from the Salvokop community (Male 36 / Female 15).

Procurement spend

Approximately R112m has been spent on procurement of which R37m was from local suppliers within the City of Tshwane.

Mr Lehohla reiterated that “as a matter of practice and ethics no staff member or their family members will benefit from this project in any way whatsoever. We expect all other structures to adhere to the same ethical standards and will work tirelessly to ensure that there is transparency in all processes undertaken on the project.”

Ends

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