As the R1 billion housing project delivers an average of only 17 houses each month, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape requested that contractors should be invited to appear before the relevant committees of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature.
A third of the 19 contractors originally appointed on this critical project were fired by the Northern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA). Contracts were also reduced to accommodate some poorly performing contractors, including original housing allocations for Madibeng and Perth that were cut by 86%. Scope reductions will also affect Kimberley, Pabalello, Rosedale, Padstow, Heuningvlei, Nababeep, and other communities. Scope reductions at this scale suggests that COGHSTA is struggling to appoint contractors who can complete housing projects on time, within budget, and at the required standard.
The lengthy process of readvertising tenders and finding new contractors costs time and money that the province, with its housing backlog estimated at 90 000, simply cannot afford.
While COGHSTA is quick to blame a lack of capacity on the side of local contractors, some contractors say that COGHSTA issued flawed geotechnical reports. These flaws force contractors to bring in additional equipment and personnel, thereby causing the cashflow constraints that delay delivery.
Clearly, we need to hear contractors’ version of events so that we can probe the real reasons for these delays. It has already taken COGHSTA 28 months to build just 480 of the 6 500 new homes promised to the province by premier Zamani Saul. We cannot afford further delays.