Small, micro, medium enterprise and black economic empowerment in the construction industry : a case study of Gauteng provincial housing department, south Africa

Abstract

Purpose - The study explores the practices in the implementation of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) interventions in the construction industry and the problems facing SMMEs in the industry Design and Method- a cross-sectional exploratory research design was used in the study. The approach was used to gain insight into the problem under investigation, and because the research question lacked established research findings. Besides, the exploration was necessary because of a need to obtain the contractors' and project manager's perception pertaining to service delivery in the Department. Further, the approach was chosen since it was found to be efficient and a tested means of assessing information about large populations, especially in instances where individual perceptions as for the current investigation were sought. Besides, the variables we were interested in have not been studied before, either independently, or with other variables, so that there is sufficient information to ask a question about the relationship between them. Therefore, the design did not dictate how the variables were to be measured in testing their relationship . A survey method was used to collect the data in which a carefully planned questionnaire was designed and distributed for completion by the respondents. The respondents were randomly drawn from the following four main regions under the Department of Housing: Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, Tshwane/Metsweding, Westrand/Sedibeng and Johannesburg. In order to ascertain the reliability of the research instrument, a pilot study was conducted as a pre-test of the instrument. Findings -Empirical results revealed that government interventions in the promotion of black SMMEs have assisted in creating employment and income redistribution with in society. However, there is inadequate commitment to service quality by contractors (inadequate task standardisation), and some of the contractors do not know what quality manuals are and therefore do not have quality manuals to ensure standardisation. Recommendations - Based on the findings , we recommend that SMME contractors and their employees must have relevant technical skills. They must also have and adhere to quality assurance manuals. It is further recommended that SMME contractors that do not comply with quality assurance nor committed to the provision of the service(s) tendered for should be strike off of the service provider's data base. Nonetheless, further research is required to assess the impact of accidental service providers and quality assurance in the Department of Housing's construction industry.