Major Eastern Cape water projects stalled over battle with small businesses

Work at the Bushmanskrantz Water Treatment Works has ground to a halt.

• Two major water projects near Komani in the Eastern Cape have stalled because of a dispute over subcontracting small businesses.
• Local businesses say they are not getting a fair share of the work on the Poplar Grove and the the Bushmanskrantz (Zweledinga) water treatment works.
• The two projects are intended to benefit 30 villages, which are struggling with severe water shortages.

Two major water projects in Whittlesea, outside Komani in the Eastern Cape, have been halted since January because of a dispute over the subcontracting of small, local businesses.

The Poplar Grove and Bushmanskrantz (Zweledinga) water treatment works are meant to serve nearly 30 villages struggling with severe water shortages. Many rely on boreholes that often stand idle due to a lack of diesel.

“We are really struggling with water and we hoped these projects would help,” said Siyabulela Ningiza from Mchewula village. “Now they are closed and we don’t know when they will reopen. We have taps but they are dry.”

Both projects have faced repeated interruptions since construction began.

Work stopped in 2024 after residents protested, demanding jobs, but resumed once some villagers were hired. Then in June 2025, local business owners raised concerns about the share of work allocated to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

Hewu Contractors Forum member Bongani Tabata said local businesses had applied for subcontracting opportunities but were overlooked. “None of the local small business owners were called for interviews. Instead, we saw a subcontractor already working on site,” he said.

He said the budget for Poplar Grove water treatment works, which started in August 2024, was R124-million, and for the Bushmanskrantz (Zweledinga) water treatment works, which started in November 2024, was R105-million. (Despite repeated inquiries, GroundUp was unable to confirm these figures with the municipality.)

Chris Hani District Municipality spokesperson Nangamso Ngceke said contractors are required to allocate 30% of the work to SMMEs, including subcontractors and local suppliers, but responsibility for appointing them “rests with the contractor”.

She confirmed the stoppage followed complaints from the forum and said the municipality is investigating.

Mcebisi Pala, CEO of ATG Tradings, the main contractor for Bushmanskrantz, said the site had been closed for safety reasons after workers were threatened and intimidated.

He said the process of appointing SMMEs has already been done and five subcontractors were appointed, and two are expected to be appointed at a later stage. He said the 30% allocation applied to small businesses across the Chris Hani district, not only those from the villages where the project is located.

Dave de Wet of Sinakho Consulting, the project’s consulting engineers, said the same – that SMMEs were appointed from the broader Chris Hani district.

But Pala disputed the claim, saying they had advertised what the project required, and the shortlisted applications were sent to the district municipality, “who selected the company to be appointed”.

Tabata said tenders were advertised twice, in August and October 2025. They had applied both times.

He said tensions rose when forum members discovered that a subcontractor working at the Bushmanskrantz site was not from the area.

But he denied that the forum had closed the construction sites.

“As community members we did not close the site. All we wanted was transparency because none of the people we know from our villages were appointed,” he said.

Work on the Poplar Grove Water Treatment Works is also stalled.

Tabata said the forum approached the district municipality, and a follow-up meeting was scheduled for 28 January. “Now the municipality is running away from us,” he said.

Ngceke confirmed the meetings and that the municipality had received a formal complaint from the Hewu Contractors Forum regarding SMME participation.

“However, subsequent developments occurred outside of the agreed process. The district municipality strongly condemns the manner in which this matter was handled,” she said. The municipality was trying to “secure a sustainable and lawful resolution” and to “accelerate the delivery of services to the intended communities”.

When GroundUp visited, both projects were closed and under security guards.

Thinasonke Maneli, a member of the project steering committee at Bushmanskrantz, said attempts since August to resolve the dispute had been unsuccessful.

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