Villagers unhappy with appointments
Community members from Mageva village in ward 24 in Giyani stopped trucks from DWS Construction North from collecting sand in their village alleging that they were not happy with the manner in which the appointment of labourers was carried out.
“The community is furious as they allege that they do not understand how the appointment of the labourers works. They say that they do not remember holding a meeting about it and that until there is a meeting conducted and people are appointed fairly, the collection of sand will not go ahead,” said Lenny Nkuna, ward 24 councillor.
Sand is collected from Mageva for the building of the new water infrastructure project in Giyani. DWS Construction North says that the matter affects them gravely as it has brought construction to a halt since they rely on the village for quality sand. “The villagers have to understand that we are not responsible for the appointment of labourers, we are there to make sure that the pipes from the dam to the reservoir are connected.
“We are blamed for mistakes made by our predecessors, like the R3.4 billion that was wasted. We are a new contractor. This water project was started by LTA Consultants who were responsible for designing and monitoring the project, and Khato Civils whose contract was terminated, as it was alleged that they were incompetent.
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“These contractors worked with the former Lepelle Northern Water Board, but since then a new board has been installed. The new board appointed iSiphethu Engineering and DWS Construction North was appointed as the responsible contractor for the water project,” said Shadrack Mabasa, DWS Construction North’s social consultant.
He added that 45 labourers were appointed by the Water Project’s Steering Committee (PSC) chaired by Boysen Mabunda and who in turn was appointed by the Water Forum. He said that as a contractor their deadline to finish the project is by September this year. Herald contacted Gezani Maluleke who is part of the PSC on the process of the appointments.
He said that they have sent the complaints to the mayor and they can only comment once they get a go-ahead from her. The Herald also contacted the Greater Giyani Municipality and said that they are still looking into the issue internally and that they can only comment after they have reviewed their position.
