If you can’t fight them, get them to join you. This was the unusual approach taken by Solly Sebola when he was confronted by business forums that were reputed to employ bullying tactics to threaten large construction companies to secure contracts.

Sebola is the founder and managing director of Cape Town-based Rainbow Group, one of the country’s biggest 100% black-owned construction companies, which has a number of SANRAL-contracts. He says the forums are not entirely to blame.

Sebola took it upon himself to walk into a veritable lion’s den and hold discussions with business forums that have shut down building sites, demanding jobs or a slice of the profits. He has engaged with KwaZulu-Natal’s three biggest business forums – Delangokubona Business Forum, Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association and Vukuzakhe – and has provided work opportunities for 17 grade one civil engineering subcontractors belonging to these organisations and who employ 119 people. “We have commenced business

“We have commenced business development training for the subcontractors and engineering skills development training for the employees at our various roadworks sites.

“When I recently interacted with the subcontractors and employees, it was so touching to listen to them relating how their lives have changed for the better since landing jobs,” says Sebola.

He adds that the business forums were “impatient and hungry for contracts”. He understands only too well the pain and hardship of being unemployed and therefore empathises with the forums’ disruptive tactics on construction contracts.

Sebola, one of nine children, struggled to find work in the early days of his career. When he landed a job as a cleaner at Cape Town International Airport in 1992, it was the humble beginning of a great future.

He was soon promoted to supervisor and then to operations manager. Eventually he caught the eye of an Acsa regional manager, who encouraged him to strike out on his own.

Sebola had studied business management and he registered his own close corporation, attended a course at the Small Business Development Corporation and successfully tendered to clean Metrorail trains at Bellville and Strand.

Eight months later, he landed a threeyear contract to clean aircraft at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth airports. In 10 years, Sebola built the Rainbow Group into a successful business that empowers thousands of people at its various subsidiary companies. The company employs 2 000 people on contracts it has landed with SANRAL to maintain national roads across the country and includes a road-marking division.

“When I sought contracts, I first made sure I was fully compliant. I did not go about banging on doors demanding contracts.
“It is important that subcontractors who seek work from SANRAL realise the importance of obtaining training in the tendering processes, including quality in construction, contracting and documentation.”

Sebola says it is his business philosophy to train a smaller subcontractor whenever he works on projects.

“Education and training are key to alleviating the unemployment problem in the country,” he says. “That is why when I recognised the frustration of the business forums, I committed to do something about it.

“There is a misconception by the business forums and local communities that the new Treasury regulations automatically entitle them to 30% of the work on projects in their areas.

“These groups did not want to participate in any formal tendering process. However, I am slowly getting the business forums to change their thinking and to refrain from work stoppages.”

He says he wishes more big contractors would give emerging businesses a chance.

“My company’s mission is to empower people by offering them fair remuneration, coaching and mentoring, in exchange for honest labour.”

Sebola’s company has also adopted SANRAL’s 14-point plan, appointing project liaison committees (PLCs) at its sites.

The principles set out in the 14-point plan are applied to facilitate better project-level liaison with local communities and structures. They help ensure communication and transparency in the execution of works, as well as inclusivity in the allocation of projects to benefit black business and local communities.

SANRAL CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma has praised Sebola’s efforts to cultivate progressive relationships with the business forums and in so doing assisting black businesses to participate in projects.

“Solly Sebola has shown that it is possible for transformation and empowerment to happen in the industry, if people are willing to acknowledge our past and seek a different future,” Macozoma said.

“I thank him for his visionary leadership in agreeing to partner with us in accommodating the plight of black businesses that are disadvantaged, unskilled and without capital, driven only by a hunger to get equal access to economic opportunities in South Africa.

“At SANRAL, we continue to strive to find the right balance between enabling black business participation in our projects through our Transformation Policy and condemning criminal activities at our project sites.”