EThekwini won’t say what it pays plumbing middlemen

A cable that contractors tied around a gate to the Pinetown municipal water and sanitation depot during a protest in July. Photos: Joseph Bracken

• Plumbers are up in arms about a new five-company panel that subcontracts plumbers instead of the eThekwini municipality allocating jobs directly.

• The municipality says the change was necessary to comply with the Municipal Finance Management Act.

• But the new system has sparked protests over late payments and raised questions about fees paid.

• Although the municipality announced in August that the panel would no longer deduct a 15% fee from plumbers, it has not clarified what management fees it pays the panel.

Plumbers in eThekwini are up in arms about a new municipal system of sub-contracting them through a panel.

Since November last year, plumbers on the municipality’s database have held pickets outside water and sanitation depots over late payments and dissatisfaction with the new contracting system.

Earlier this year, a panel of five companies was appointed by the City of eThekwini to take over the subcontracting of water and sanitation work. The panel is made up of companies that were awarded contracts to work on ward-based community infrastructure projects (CIP). Under the CIP programme, each of the five companies was allocated a section of eThekwini.

The municipality won’t say how much the five companies are paid.

Under the previous system, the plumbers were selected directly from a municipal database on a rotational basis. But the municipality said in a July press statement that this system was not compliant with the Municipal Finance Management Act.

Under the new system, the five management companies send out the subcontractors on behalf of the municipality.

The plumbers have complained, saying plumbers not on the municipality’s database were being given jobs, that they were being underpaid, and that a 15% management fee was being deducted from their hourly rate.

In August, following months of engagements, the municipality released another statement saying that an agreement was reached with the plumbers that the hourly rates would stay the same, but the 15% management fee would no longer be charged. The five companies also agreed only to use subcontractors from the municipality’s list.

According to DA ward councillor Andre Beetge, the companies at first took 15% from both the municipality and the plumbers. It is unclear if this fee is still being charged to the municipality.

In August, Beegte said, “Approximately R800-million was paid to contract plumbers in the previous financial year. Even a small change in the percentage paid by the City could therefore translate into a substantial additional cost to ratepayers.”

Fees

Senzelwe Mzila, municipal spokesperson, confirmed that a management fee is in place but did not respond to questions about it.

The management companies are now making money for something that used to be done directly by the municipality, said a plumber who asked to remain anonymous, fearing he’d be penalised.

He said the municipality identifies a sanitation or water issue and then contacts the panel’s company managers to tell them how many plumbers they need. The managers then select plumbers from the existing municipal database. The plumbers’ invoices are then handed over to the managers, who give them to the municipality to pay them, he said.

“They’re still giving all the paperwork to the municipality to pay. So where’s the need for them to be here in the first place?” he asked.

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