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Information session empowers Eastern Cape SMMEs

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The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) will be upgrading the R61 near Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape, which will improve road safety while also providing opportunities for small businesses and local workers.

This was shared at an information session at the Engcobo Indoor Sports Centre in the Eastern Cape, which aimed to empower small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) by providing comprehensive insights into SANRAL’s procurement processes and support mechanisms.

Dr AB Xuma Local Municipality Acting Mayor, Councillor Sandiso Ngxangu, welcomed SANRAL’s drive to ensure safe infrastructure.

“The R61 on both sides of Ngcobo town has always recorded crashes that claim human lives every month. The projects SANRAL is set to bring will therefore make a big difference in people’s lives and households while attempting to reduce road crashes. It’s about the safety of road users and access to essential services in town using safer roads. We want Ngcobo to change in terms of infrastructure,” said Ngxangu.

Participants were enlightened on various aspects critical to their participation in SANRAL projects. The discussions covered the mobilisation period, the tender process and the criteria for participation in SANRAL’s initiatives. Thandile Makwabe, SANRAL’s Regional Transformation Officer, emphasised the processes prescribed to main contractors for appointing subcontractors to meet SANRAL’s contract participation goals.

“SANRAL ensures that there’s a percentage set aside for SMMEs while empowering them so to participate in construction projects in their local communities and elsewhere. We provide information and training to enable businesses to be ready when projects come. Also, to assist them in having compliance documents valid and ready,” Makwabe noted.

Makwabe delved into the tender processes tailored for targeted enterprises, highlighting the essential steps required for tender preparation. He stressed the importance of adhering to these processes to ensure successful participation.

The tender evaluation process, as explained by Makwabe, comprises four stages: eligibility assessment, functionality analysis, price and preference consideration as well as a compliance check.

He remarked on the critical nature of realistic bidding, cautioning against unviable low bids that could jeopardise profitability and lead to misplaced claims of exploitation by SANRAL.

Lusanda Kali, from the Indyebo Fund, provided an overview of the funding tools available for SMMEs. She elaborated on the various short-, medium- and long-term funding options, offering valuable guidance to businesses on how to access and use these financial resources effectively.

The session also featured a presentation from the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Assessment Officer, Lusindiso Nocha, who discussed the grading criteria, contractor competence, contractor performance, grading requirements and registration fees. “It’s important to pay your annual registration fees because failure to do so for two years will lead to the deregistration of your company,” noted Nocha.

This provided participants with crucial information on maintaining and improving their standing within the industry.

“We have now assigned transformation officers across all our projects in an effort to enhance our monitoring and evaluation and to ensure that our transformation efforts are being implemented thoroughly on the ground. This will help us ensure that the targeted enterprises (TEs) receive supervision and mentorship from the dedicated TE Mentors on site. This will greatly contribute to their development and safeguard them from any threat of exploitation,” added Makwabe.

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