HOW A VILLAGE FELL THROUGH THE CRACKS
Sterkstroom project stalls after legal showdown ensues over pay dispute
A grubby, vandalised hall that nobody ever used cost Enoch Mjima municipality its arms and legs.
The Sterkstroom community hall, at the centre of a court battle which has brought the Enoch Mgijima local municipality to its knees, has been abandoned for six years.
Located in Masakhe township, 67km from Komani, work on the large hall stopped when it was 90% complete. Only sewage lines and electricity connections still had to be installed.
Despite its gates and doors being locked, the outer doors have been forced open. There is no running water or a sewerage line, nor is there electricity.
Over the years the paintwork has been damaged. Dirt has piled up on the rough floor. The piping to the hall has all been stolen and there is evidence of forced entry into the building’s main hall.
Residents of Sterkstroom say they have been kept in the dark about the community hall.
Kelina Nkabi said they see the hall being vandalised on a regular basis and nothing is being done about it.
“Even if the hall is opened there is still a lot of work to be done,” she said.
According to court papers, the construction company Milowo Trading Enterprise (MTE) rendered services to Inkwanca municipality, which now forms part of the merged Enoch Mgijima LM, to build the community hall.
When the municipality failed to cough up for these services, it entered into an agreement with Milowo to pay R7-million a month over three months. But the court papers say the Enoch Mgijima municipality reneged on these payments.
In a public meeting in Komani Queenstown recently, mayor Sisisi Tolashe said a report, compiled on behalf of the department of co-operative governance, revealed that the Inkwanca local municipality had appointed Vuba Imaginers cc as a consulting engineer to plan, design and administer the Sterkstroom community hall project, as well as Tyhutyhani general trading as contractor.
But Tyhutyhani could not cope with the execution of the project, and so appointed MTE as sub-contractors in March 2012, a contract valued at R5.1million at the time.
The report reveals that “due to escalation in costs” MTE claimed R4.5-million more to complete the project.
Tolashe said: “The report revealed that we don’t owe this company any money, instead the company was overpaid. But we will have to settle the difference so as to avoid more assets of our municipality being auctioned off. But at the same time we will have to hold the officials implicated in wrongdoing and there is a report to that effect.”
Former Inkwanca councillor, which was part of the council that was dissolved in 2014, Ntsikelelo Qibi said if the administrator or the leadership elected in 2014 had paid the contractor the debt would have not accumulated to the extent that it had.
“If they checked the things that needed to be finalised before going forward they would have seen what was supposed to be done. Because they had an attitude towards the dissolved council they ignored everything, leaving the debt to accumulate,” he said.
Qibi said when the contractor stopped working it had finished 90% of the work.
“The only things that were outstanding were the electricity [connections], finishing the sewerage line and laying tiles in the hall.
“Since the contractor stopped working on the hall in 2014, the hall has being vandalised,” he said.
Milowo Trading Enterprise’s Robert Goss said he could not remember exactly which year he stopped working on the hall but it was after the municipality failed to pay him.
He said last week: “I can confirm that they paid R14-million this week and an arrangement has been made between them and my attorneys.”
The report revealed that we don’t owe this company, instead the company was overpaid