Durban - Men claiming to be from the Esikhaleni Business Forum and boasting of their intimidation tactics and unlawful activities at construction sites on the N2, have now targeted private contractors in the Esikhaleni area.
The uMhlatuze Municipality’s mayor and Speaker’s lives were also allegedly threatened by these men, who threatened violence, stopped work at the local hostel, and also prevented water tankers from getting to the area.
This has since resulted in the municipality launching an urgent high court application to interdict the Forum and its members from threatening, intimidating and harassing contractors’ employees and preventing them from doing their work.
The municipality’s interim interdict became final on Friday.
In court papers, Nhlanhla Sibeko, the municipal manager, said there was a “very genuine fear” among the contractors and their employees that the Forum were capable of carrying out their threats.
The municipality sought leave from the Durban High Court to serve the court order on the Respondents (the Forum and three of its members) through the newspaper.
Sibeko said the municipality had hired contractors to refurbish the three hostel blocks at Esikhaleni, and replace the asbestos water pipes at all households in Esikhaleni with modern pipes.
Hostel residents, he said, were relocated to a transit camp and told their units would be ready before Christmas. However, this deadline, said Sibeko, was affected because of the Forum’s tactics.
Sibeko said another reason for them seeking help from the court was because the municipality was about to award a big tender for the widening of the road in Esikhaleni, which Sibeko predicts would also be blocked by the Forum.
He said in September their contractor alerted them that Senzo Ngcamu, the first Respondent, had come onto their work site to enquire about the local sub-contractors.
He apparently wanted to ensure that local people were being employed.
At an initial municipal enquiry, Ngcamu told an official he was from Delangokubona Business Forum, an association that is currently interdicted by the high court from intimidating, harassing and threatening violence against the employees and contractors of the eThekwini Municipality.
This particular forum has been accused of running a mafia-style tender gang. It claims to have 320 members from 19 business forums in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Forum has been linked to threats against municipal employees and contractors on the N2 uMhlanga interchange development as well as the construction in the Mount Edgecombe area.
Ngcamu apparently threatened to stop the hostel refurbishment project if he did not get information about the contractors employed.
In October, Ngcamu, Brian Kheswa and Thabani Gazu (the second and third Respondents), met with municipal officials.
They said they were from the Esikhaleni Business Forum and complained that locals were not being hired by the contractors.
Sibeko said the men threatened to ensure that this contract would be terminated if they did not hire locals.
However, a few days later, the three men arrived on the hostel construction site, forcing the workers to leave.
Security guards on site reported that one of the men had a gun and they had placed padlocks on part of the fence covering the three hostel blocks.
According to Sibeko, municipal officials tried to reason with the men, but to no avail.
“They also stated that the mayor would have to increase his security from three bodyguards to about eight,” said Sibeko in his affidavit.
Soon afterwards, Sibeko said the Forum stopped the water tankers from delivering water to the Esikhaleni community. They also forced workers off sites where the water pipes were being replaced.
Police were called in to help, but, Sibeko said, they refused to.
He also said the mayor, the Speaker and municipal employees’ lives had all been threatened.
“Given the history of the Respondents of carrying out their threats, I respectfully submit that there is a reasonable apprehension that they will carry out their threats,” said Sibeko.
He feared that the longer it took to stamp out the Forum’s unlawful activities, the more other people would be encouraged to emulate the Forum’s actions.
@noeleneb
Daily News