Minister visits delayed Mamelodi court construction project

Mamelodi residents will be relieved to hear that plans are in place to fast-track the construction of the magistrate’s court, which has been delayed several times.

Public works and infrastructure minister Sihle Zikalala met with relevant stakeholders on Thursday, to discuss problems that have led to a seven-year delay in the construction of the new Mamelodi magistrate’s court in the east of Pretoria.

Local leaders, government officials and contractors attended the closed session with the minister who visited the site as part of the department’s inspection programme, referred to as Siyahlola Operation.

Siyahlola is aimed at unblocking bottlenecks in projects experiencing various delays.

The minister visited the construction site in a bid to put systems in place to fast-track the development.

“At this stage, we cannot conclude that the main problem is about a constructor,” Minister Zikalala told members of the media.

The minister seemed adamant that further engagements would help him and all stakeholders analyse the problem to identify its cause and then rectify it.

Another area of serious concern was that it was not clear if an appropriate plan for the development was available. This was based on the fact that the minister called for a clear operational project plan that will ensure that construction is progressing.

“We are going to come back in a month to ensure that we present a clear project plan to the stakeholders. Let us go back and review internally as to what has happened.”

He appreciated the commitment of the community leaders, such as councillors who assured him that they would support the project.

“They have agreed that they will work with us in addressing the issues of concern to the community and the issue of the business forum that comes to ask for opportunities. We are all for support to small contractors but that must be done legally and within the prescript that we use as the guide.”

Rekord established that Minister Zikalala wanted a detailed presentation that identifies the actual cause of the unnecessary delays to fast-track completion.

The presentation revealed that the R95-million project began in November 2007 with the appointment of the consultant.

The project is divided into two phases – piling and building – with phase 1 being from 2008 to 2009 before the main building followed in 2012 but the construction tender was only awarded in November 2013.

The work couldn’t start immediately as the legal process to consolidate the two construction sites had not been completed, however, this was beset by delays.

The first delay was of about six months from November 2013 to May 2014.

The 30-month project then started after permission to occupy and build was granted.

The meeting was told that the project was initially supposed to be completed in May 2016.

However, as a result of the six-month delay in handing over the site, completion was pushed back to November 2016, but this deadline was not met as the project remains incomplete.

Councillor Joyce Seelane said she believed it was not necessary for her as a councillor to comment on this matter at this stage as she believed the minister has shared all information available with the media.

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