The City of Cape Town is seeking an urgent interdict to protect its newly-constructed MyCiTi bus depots after a group of would-be extortionists forcibly removed security guards and threatened to vandalise the R430-million facility.
On Monday 24 November the group removed the legitimately-appointed security presence from the depot on the corner of Spine Road and Mew Way between Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain, reiterating threats to disrupt operations unless their preferred security company was appointed.
This followed an ambushed meeting with City officials on 20 November, during which community members issued direct threats if their demands were not met. These included removing legally-appointed service provider Bidvest and replacing it with Sibakhulu, a company that was subcontracted to provide security services during construction of the depot. The group also demanded that only companies in Ward 99 and the broader Khayelitsha area be considered for cleaning and security work.
Cases have been opened with the police, and Law Enforcement has been deployed to stabilise the situation.
City defends procurement integrity
Urban mobility Mayco member Rob Quintas said the City would defend the facility and its procurement processes through every legal means available.
“This facility is a public asset, built to serve more than 1,4 million residents across more than 30 communities. It cannot be captured by any group for narrow personal gain. “Procurement processes are founded on law and fairness and cannot be rewritten in a community meeting or dictated by threats. Attempts at unlawful interference for narrow local interests are an attack on the entire community and will be met with the full force of the law.” The Vehicle Operating Company contracted to manage the facility is responsible for appointing its own subcontractors, including security and cleaning services, in line with Municipal Finance Management Act prescripts. The City emphasised that temporary construction-phase work opportunities do not confer automatic rights to long-term security or operational contracts.
Local business tender concerns
The extortion attempt comes as councillors have raised concerns about the low number of local enterprises securing tenders for MyCiTi construction projects, with only 3,5% of contracts being awarded to area businesses in Mitchell’s Plain.
The issue emerged during a sub-council 17 meeting last month, when City official Thandeka Longfoot presented an update on MyCiTi progress along AZ Berman Drive.
Subcouncil 17 chair Elton Jansen said there was a need to help more local businesses become compliant to improve their chances of securing tenders.
“We want to advocate for local enterprises,” Jansen said. “Again I’m going to ask that we do a drive to encourage businesses to register on the sub-council database.”
Multiple challenges
The MyCiTi expansion, which links Khayelitsha, Mitchell’s Plain and other metro-south east communities with Claremont and Wynberg, is South Africa’s biggest metro-led public transport project.
Construction progress has been hampered by security issues, with Longfoot telling councillors that theft of temporary construction signage was frequent and work sometimes had to be stopped completely due to gang violence.
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“Another major issue that we are facing is gang violence and shooting that happen in the close proximity of the site,” she said. “It is not project-related, but there’s a lot of project stoppages because of gang violence.”
Depot facilities completed
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis visited the completed depots on 23 October, describing the infrastructure as “amazing” for bringing safe, affordable and reliable public transport to the area.
Each 7,5 ha depot has initial capacity for up to 145 buses, which can be scaled up to accommodate 250 buses each. The facilities are fully equipped with mechanical workshops, refuelling facilities, underground capacity for electric-bus charging, automated bus-cleaning facilities, office space, drivers’ eating areas and ablution facilities.
The depots form part of multiple infrastructure projects across the metro-south east, including Sky Circle construction at Govan Mbeki Road and Jan Smuts Drive, bridge construction and major road upgrades along key routes to Wynberg and Claremont. Construction phases are at various stages of completion, with phase 1 at 85% complete, phase 2 at 79%, phase 3 at nearly 60% and phase 4 recently initiated. Phases 5 and 6, involving the red MyCiTi road construction, have not yet started.
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