Rogue contractor fired over delayed R218m clinic project

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28-10-2024
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Sunday World
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The Department of Health has terminated a R218-million tender to build a state-of-the-art clinic in the Mkhondo Local Municipality in Mpumalanga.

Clear Choice Builders (CCB), the main contractor, which has pocketed more than R100-million from the project, was sent packing due to poor performance and delays.

MEC Sasekani Manzini acknowledged the delays while addressing the provincial legislature in Mbombela this week.

“We can report that eThandukukhanya CHC was planned for completion on the 30th of September 2024. However, the national department has terminated the service of the contractor due to poor performance and failure to bring the project to completion,” Manzini said.

“We are waiting for the appointment of a new contractor, with a revised completion date in February 2025.”

Manzini’s response follows a not-so-kind reception at a recent Taking Legislature to the People programme in Mkhondo.

Tensions boiled over during the public meeting, where Manzini was jeered when she attempted to report on the progress of the project.

“We are tired of lies,” shouted one visibly frustrated community member, echoing the widespread sentiment among the people at the gathering.

The disruption of Manzini’s attempts to report back to the community underscored the growing mistrust people have in government promises regarding public infrastructure projects, especially healthcare facilities.

The eThandukukhanya CHC project aimed to provide 120 jobs for locals, including youth and people living with disabilities.

Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the national Department of Health, elaborated on the termination.

“The termination was based on the contractor’s continued failure to complete the project. Further, CCB did not pay sub-contractors, which caused unrest, work stoppages and continuous delays, resulting in the works remaining incomplete,” Mohale told Sunday World.

The project’s original completion date of October 2022 was extended several times, first to March 2024 and then September 2024, before the termination was enforced.

“The contractor was informed of defects through written correspondence and remedied as necessary where quality was of concern. The allocated total budget was approximately R218-million. No private sector partners were involved,” said Mohale.

He added that the contractor was already paid “approximately R125-million”.

Mohale said the implementing agent was addressing the legal matters surrounding the contract termination and potential recovery of the money spent.

The eThandukukhanya project’s tender briefing was held on March 19, 2019, at the Sithuli Hleza community hall, where more than 60 construction and civil engineering companies participated, raising initial hopes of a smooth project roll-out.

The site handover took place on September 16 the same year.

CCB managing director Sipho Manonga did not respond to inquiries on the matter.

Sunday World has learnt that this is not CCB’s first troubled project.

In Soweto, the Nancefield Primary School renovation project remains incomplete after five years, forcing pupils into mobile classrooms while costs surged beyond the R120-million budget.

The company was dismissed from the project in 2022 for what Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development spokesperson Bongiwe Gambu labelled at the time as “non-

performance”.

CCB also faced delays and payment disputes in a R168-million project to rebuild Rivoni School for the Blind in Limpopo.

Subcontractors abandoned the site due to complaints over unpaid wages.