The National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) said on Sunday it supports the establishment of a state-owned construction company.
“We will always welcome and support any initiative that will result in construction cost reduction and also assist in job creation,” it said in a statement.
The government needed to play an active role in delivering services to the people, it said.
Over 50 housing projects, valued at R4.2 billion, had been identified for corruption investigations.
This showed that the time had come to explore the idea for a state company in this field, Nehawu said.
The proposal should be taken to the ANC so that it could be dealt with in the broader context of the land market.
“We see no point in a state-owned construction company reproducing the apartheid spatial order,” it said.
All strategic sectors of the economy should be nationalised, including the steel and cement industries.
State intervention was a way of fast-tracking service delivery and fighting corruption.
“The poor workmanship that has been delivered by private companies and tenderpreneurs in the housing sector has wasted a lot of resources and frustrated the delivery of houses in the country,” it said.
It called on Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to investigate the looting of taxpayers' money by “tenderpreneurs” who had failed to deliver houses which were paid for.
“The construction industry has lost skills and the production capacity because lately it has attracted rogues and chancers that are chasing overnight riches,” it said.
On Wednesday, Sexwale said in Parliament his department was considering establishing a state-owned construction company.
Sexwale said when houses were built in the government housing programme, the department relied “by and large” on inexperienced shovel, wheelbarrow and bakkie brigades.
“Many of these discredit the good name of genuine and committed small to medium emerging contractors,” he said.
“This does not take away the fact that some small companies have experience, but a lot of fly-by-nights take the taxpayer to the cleaners with their shoddy workmanship.” - Sapa