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The Star
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Concerns raised over R1. 8 million payment for incomplete stadium project in Durban
Zainul Dawood | Published 1 day ago The management of the eThekwini municipality came under scrutiny for an allocation of R1.8 million for the rehabilitation of the Rotary Stadium in KwaMashu despite non-performance issues by the service provider. Councillors approved the urgent reprioritisation of a budget to cater for the stadium rehabilitation. According to the municipality, the R1.8 million is sourced from various projects including R585,000 from a library project. In a report before eThekwini council on Monday, the Parks Recreation and Culture (PRC) Unit stated that the mandate is to build new and to rehabilitate existing facilities. In 2024 and 2025, the PRC unit was allocated R185 million for capital projects to build new facilities and develop the existing facilities within the city. There were no figures provided on how much was already spent on the stadium. The municipality stated that the cancellation was due to circumstances beyond their control and that the project was halted due to non-performance issues by the service provider. The municipality stated that the final account for closing this project has been concluded and the invoice has been received for the payment. The municipality stated that the project line item currently has a budget shortfall, and the unit has identified savings within the unit's capital budget to be reprioritised for the payment of the final account for the project. Following an in-depth consideration of the item, the DA and Truly Alliance (TA) expressed reservations regarding the approval of this item and proposed that an oversight visit be conducted prior to the approval, as they were of the view that they needed to have all information regarding the work done and the work still outstanding. This submission therefore seeks authority to pay for part of work already undertaken under this project, with attention drawn to the urgency of the matter in view of threats being levelled against the municipal officials as a result of non-payment. Daniel Mea, DA Councillor, said the project had come before council again, this time not for progress, but for payment to a contractor who failed to complete the job. Mea said the DA will not endorse rewarding failure and because the facts placed before the council remain deeply concerning and unresolved. 'We were told that the contractor ran out of money and could not complete the contract. This raises critical red flags. Was there a proper project cash flow monitoring and did this not have a fixed scope or fixed budget contract? How did the contractor reach a point where the budget was exhausted but the work remained incomplete? And perhaps most alarmingly despite this failure the municipality now proposes to pay him more," Mea said. Mea said this sets a dangerous precedent and 'one cannot and must not create a culture where underperformance is rewarded and failure is f ollowed by financial rescue'. 'To date, council has not been provided with a comprehensive audit of the actual work delivered, nor the timeline of expenditure. If the council continues to rubber stamp such proposals then it is complicit in the erosion of accountability. Oversight committees must not be passive observers,' Mea said. Councillor Musa Khubeka, of ActionSA, expressed serious reservations, stating that one could not approve millions of rands when the report showed that other parties' views, concerns and suggestions of doing oversight were not addressed during a committee meeting. 'We demand transparency and accountability is very important, oversight must be done,' Khubeka said. [email protected]
IOL News
22-05-2025
- General
- IOL News
Residents of Sydenham flats face ongoing water supply crisis since December
Ward councillor Remona McKenzie said residents of Durban have been deprived of consistent access to water. Since December 2024, residents living in high-rise blocks of flats in Sydenham have not been receiving a regular supply of water to their taps. Image: Zainul Dawood Approximately 320 flats have been affected by intermittent water outages in the Sydenham area, with residents having to carry buckets of water up flights of stairs since December. The high-rise buildings of Sydenham Manor on Crouch Road, Sydenham Heights A Block, on Rippon Road, and Aslam Heights on Randles Road are most affected by the water outages. Leanne Lupke, a resident, said the water issue has become frequent and worse since December, which she heard was due to water pressure in the pipelines. Lupke stated that residents were uncertain about when the water supply would return to the taps.. If it does, she said, the supply only lasts a few hours or does not reach all the flats in the building. "I have been following up on WhatsApp groups and also noticed that other buildings in Sherwood and 45th Cutting are experiencing the problem. Residents believe that there is manipulation of the water system," she said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Carol Noel, 72, who lives on the 6th floor in Sydenham Manor and uses walking aids, shared her plight of having to pay people, up to R50, in the building to fetch water for her. "The water tankers come at odd hours. We also went three days without water. We pay for water that we are not using," she said. Isaac Waljee, 67, said he had to walk up nine floors carrying buckets of water in Sydenham A-Block. Carl Lortan, Sydenham Ratepayers Association chairperson, said the city management must heed the concerns of residents who are paying for undelivered services. Lortan said residents were intending to hold a placard protest outside City Hall to highlight their plight, adding that children going to school and those reliant on medication were most affected by the water outages. Ward councillor Remona McKenzie said residents have been deprived of consistent access to water since December last year. Despite escalating this matter to the head of Water and Sanitation, Operations and Technical teams, the municipality has failed to provide any feedback or resolution. "This neglect not only breaches the rights enshrined in the Municipal Systems Act but also undermines the constitutional obligation to provide access to water. The crisis is forcing elderly residents to carry heavy buckets of water, placing an undue burden on them and highlighting the severe impact on their lives. We demand urgent action and accountability to restore our right to water," McKenzie said. Sandile Cele, acting area manager of Water Operations, Central Region, said residents' concern about water tanker availability is understood. In a statement, the municipality said that to prevent the system from collapsing, which may result in a prolonged recovery period, an urgent decision has been taken to shut off outflows on uMngeni-uThukela's Wiggins Water Treatment Works. The treatment works also supplies water to Sydenham. Other areas affected include Dunbar, Chesterville, and Bonela. The municipality said shutting off outflows is necessary to replenish storage reserves at the works, which will increase flow to the city's reservoirs. As per the previous communique on May 15, the municipality stated that shutting off the outflows will continue to be repeated until the system has fully recovered. The municipality added that it was working closely with its bulk supplier, uMngeni-uThukela, to remedy the situation and find a permanent solution. It is anticipated that storage reserves will improve overnight for outflow supplies to resume. However, consumers are cautioned that the interruption of supply may continue as the system recovers.
