New tender again to be issued on unfinished Tshwane ‘PSL’ stadium
Construction at the 112-year-old home for Arcadia Shepherds FC, was expected to be completed this year, however the deadline was missed and scheduled for May 2024.
A new contract will be issued to a contractor to complete the halted construction of the Caledonian stadium on the corner of Pretorius Street and Steve Biko Road.
The stadium has been under construction since June 2021 and is projected for completion in May 2024, however, this has not materialised due to the previous contractor failing his agreed-upon duties.
In April 2021, after a decade-long lament by football stakeholders and residents, Tshwane announced an R120-million revamp of the stadium. Soccer legends Mark Fish and Deshi Bhaktawer, who once called the stadium in its heyday home, hosted a sod-turning ceremony.
Construction at the 112-year-old home of Arcadia Shepherds was expected to be completed this year, however, the deadline was missed.
The upgrades, once finished, would give the facility the possibility to host Premier Soccer League (PSL) games, according to MMC for social development and community services, Peggy de Bruin.
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De Bruin however recently called out EFF for spreading false information regarding the facility as it faces contractor disputes.
The scope of work at the stadium involved the stripping and demolition of old structures, the removal of spectator seating and embankments and the building of a boundary wall.
EFF Tshwane chairperson Obakeng Ramabodu had alleged that there was no project progression as the area was riddled with heaps of sand, long grass and debris that indicated that the refurbishment was long abandoned.
“Tshwane EFF has been monitoring developments at Caledonian stadium since the announcement of refurbishment in 2017.
The MMC must come clean about how the R40-million was spent on an abandoned project.”
De Bruin said the contract had to be terminated based on poor performance by the appointed service provider over the first period of 24 months.
She said four notices for non-performance were also issued in terms of the joint building contracts committee (JBCC) contract.
“It became apparent that the planned completion date of May 21, 2024, would not be achieved as the contractor did not perform in terms of the agreed JBCC contract conditions.
Only 25% of progress was achieved after 24 months, whereas the agreed progress was supposed to be 65%.
The contractor continuously failed to pay the sub-contractors and local labour on time, and only an average of 1% to 3% was achieved monthly.”
She said the contract had a 36-month construction period.
De Bruin said several interventions were also discussed with the contractor but no success came from the talks.
She said the contractor had a CIDB grading of 8, which meant they were supposed to have a cash flow availability of R8-million a month.
“A bank reference letter was submitted by the contractor to this effect. The value of the average monthly payment towards the end of the contract rarely exceeded R500 000, whereas the average monthly payment was supposed to be R3-million.”
She said despite the setback, a draft tender for the outstanding work was in place and the close-out process of the previous contract was almost complete.
“The department has been in discussion with the Tshwane budget office, the MMC for finance and other stakeholder departments to secure funds to advertise the said tender after the approval of the adjustment budget in early 2024.
If funds are made available, construction could commence in July 2024 with completion shortly after 24 months.”
She said the final cost of completion of the project cannot be accurately determined at this stage because it would be market-related based on the open tender process of Tshwane.
“The supply chain management processes are still underway as well as plans to appoint a new contractor to complete the project.”
The EFF in Tshwane Led by the Regional Chairperson, Fighter Obakeng Ramabodu did an oversight inspection in-loco, which is famously known as Caledonian Stadium, one of the failed projects in Tshwane under the DA Administration. pic.twitter.com/uxtfWLqiwp
— EFF Tshwane Region (@TshwaneEff) January 26, 2023
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