In the Midlands, delays in the issuing of rates certificates by the Msunduzi Municipality has become a major concern impacting negatively on the industry. Delays of 6-12 months have become common and organised business in the area have come together to act against it. The situation became critical and resulted in quarterly stakeholder meetings to facilitate dialogue between businesses and the municipality. Master Builders KwaZulu-Natal participates in this forum and the most recent meeting took place on 10 July 2019. At this meeting, acting Rates Manager, Mr Morgan Pillay informed delegates that due to financial year-end processes, the updating of property values on the municipal IT system would cause further delays. This was due to the fact that employees would not have access to the system throughout July and August.
A well-known local developer expressed immense frustration over the continued delays, noting that it had cost his organisation R1.7 million in interest to banks over the last 12-18 months. Consensus was reached among stakeholders that the situation was at a critical point and that a committee would be established to compel the municipality to urgently address the matter.
In the South Coast, Port Edward and surrounding areas continued to be hampered by water outages causing delays to construction operations. It was reported in the media that Ugu District Municipality issued a request to the military hardware procurement agency to help fix a broken pump station which supplies water to reservoirs serving the area.
The grounding of flights to Margate in December 2018 spelt trouble for local commerce with some business operators attributing as much as a 40% drop in turnover as a result thereof. Inaccessibility by air to an area such as KZN’s South Coast definitely impacts the building industry, as it becomes a less attractive option for prospective investors. It seems that commercial flights in and out of Margate will soon resume. It was announced that Ray Nkonyeni municipality have signed a contract with SA Airlink to open a route between Margate and OR Tambo International Airport in August 2019. Good news for the area!
The Zululand area was plagued by violent service delivery protests that resulted in a number of roads being blocked. With access to member sites hindered, operational challenges caused much frustration and resulted in reduced productivity. Richards Bay is a major industrial hub and the potential losses to the South African economy due to these ongoing business interruptions is cause for great concern.
News coming out of Zululand that may result in future work for Association members, is that Transnet have signed a cost-sharing agreement with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, to conclude a feasibility study for the development of a liquefied natural gas storage and regasification terminal at the Port of Richards Bay. This aligns to Government’s draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which outlines government’s intention to diversify the country’s energy mix. According to the draft, the country will see a shift from coal-generated electricity to renewables and gas.
A meeting of the Master Builders KwaZulu-Natal Member Forum was convened on 23 July 2019 and took place at the Association’s Westville premises. The forum was established to provide members with a platform to engage directly with the Association on relevant industry matters and for this meeting, Peter Barnard of Cox Yeats Attorneys was invited to provide input on JBCC related matters. Peter serves on the JBCC Drafting Committee and members greatly appreciated the opportunity to engage with him directly.
