Question NW632 to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
22 March 2023 - NW632
Hicklin, Ms MB to ask the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
(1)What steps has her department taken to deal with the unhappiness of staff belonging to her department with the way that they are being treated by a certain company (name furnished); (2) whether the employment of local, Cape Town-based labour was a provision of the terms and agreement of the facilities management contract as the specified company is a Johannesburg-based company; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) what number of local, Cape Town-based staff are employed by the company, if the employment of local labour was a prerequisite of the facilities management contract, since much of the unhappiness experienced by its staff is because the company is said to bring most of its staff complement from Johannesburg and is not making use of local, Cape Town-based labour; (4) what number of staff have been brought down from Johannesburg to be employed in projects that are managed by the company in all the parliamentary villages; (5) whether there are any consequence management actions that have been taken against the company for its failure to honour the obligations to employ local, Cape Town-based staff for the duration of the facilities management contract; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of the actions taken?
Reply:
The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
(1) The Department has not received any report that there is a DPWI staff being mistreated by any company contracted to DPWI.
(2) The use of local labour was not a prerequisite or a condition of Facilities Management contract.
(3) The Facilities Management contractor currently employs two hundred (200) general workers including EPWP staff, of the two hundred (200), one hundred and eighty three (183) are from Cape Town. The Contractor also has a core staff compliment of thirty four (34) individuals of which twenty six (26) are from Cape Town.
(4) The Facilities Management contractor reported that six (6) general workers/operators, four (4) team leaders, one (1) driver, two (2) irrigation specialists, one (1) quantity surveyor and one (1) site administrator have been brought from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
(5) No consequence management is applicable as the Facilities Management contractor is not contractually required to employ local labour.