LOTHAIR – Some municipal officials seemingly once deemed certain buildings in the area necessary, spent millions to construct them, and then later abandoned them.
On a local’s suggestion, Highvelder paid the town a visit.
A large and impressive face brick building, which was designed to serve as the Thusong Centre, stands near the entrance to Lothair.
Closer inspection, however, reveals it to now be a mere ruin.
In its current state, the site serves as a playground for vandals and a shelter for vagrants.
“Wasteful expenditures and laziness from the previous council were evident in this failed project,” a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed.
There are scores of similarly failed projects dotted across the countryside. In the Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality, another project was started near Oshoek, but was later stripped and looted.
It was supposed to be called the Oshoek Lodge, yet it never saw a single client, a source with knowledge of the project told the paper.
“They refurbished the place twice and both times everything was stripped and looted. After the first rain, entire structures collapsed due to its poor construction.”
According to the source, this project was also done in complete isolation from the private sector.
Local residents blame these failures on the inept planning and management of local government officials who they claim just line their own pockets.
“The project was funded and implemented by the then Xstrata Coal Mine which later became Msobo Coal. The project was a multi-year project,” Mr Mandla Zwane, Msukaligwa Municipality’s spokesman, said.
Read the complete article in the Highvelder.
