Ironman South Africa says it has undertaken to proactively engage with an SMME business forum to resolve issues that could threaten the staging of the 2019 Standard Bank Ironman competition on April 7th.
The Summerstrand Business Forum brought event construction activities on the Port Elizabeth beachfront to a halt, demanding 30 % of the work farmed out to SMME contractors.
Spokesperson Boyce Baskiti said they began negotiating with the previous city administration for SMME's to be given a slice of the contracting pie for Ironman but this had not been followed through since the political administration had changed in Nelson Mandela Bay.
"We were promised that there will be space for us and we had an agreement last year to say that we will benefit this year," he told Algoa FM News.
However, he said they were told that Ironman has got their own SMME's.
The Forum wants Ironman organisers to reveal who their SMME contractors are and what services they are providing.
"Our programme is to say that there will be no Ironman in the Nelson Mandela metro if they are not taking care of us as they had promised in 2018."
Responding to questions from Algoa FM News, Ironman South Africa said being deeply rooted in the Metro, the organisers have made it their mission to engage with local businesses and service providers.
Ironman SA says it uses a large number of SMMEs, with a high percentage who are based in Nelson Mandela Bay while tenders were publicly advertised in January.
