Rehabilitation of Limpopo’s road of death delayed
The rehabilitation of the D959 and D3715 roads which commenced in February this year was halted when workers downed tools last Monday.
LIMPOPO – It seems that the sigh of relief over the long-awaited rehabilitation of the D959 and D3715 roads, which eventually started earlier this year, might have been premature, as delayed payment of workers’ salaries and a shortage of material appear to be interfering with progress on the project. These two roads have been in dangerously poor condition for a long time. The potholes on the D959 Road from Louis Trichardt past Madombidzha to the Makhado Air Force Base and the D3715 Road from Madabani to Tshikhodo have endangered the lives of motorists, as well as pedestrians.
It has taken numerous fatal accidents and loud outcries from the local communities over the past few years before the Department of Public Works undertook to effect repairs.
Everyone was overjoyed when MEC Dickson Masemola visited the area in December and announced that the two roads’ repairs were high on the agenda, and that they have put R11,5 million aside for the rehabilitation thereof.
Masakane GVC Construction was appointed to this project and work finally commenced in February, and is supposed to be complete by July this year, but by the look of things, this goal is not likely to be met due to too many delays. Construction workers assigned to the D959 road, downed tools last Monday and refused to continue work unless they were paid their outstanding salaries. The workers went on strike and opened the newly constructed road forcefully to allow motorists to use it, in spite of it not being complete.
One of the employees, who wished to remain anonymous, claims that they haven’t received their salaries for May. “It was a bitter pill to swallow when I discovered that I had not been paid. I checked with my colleagues, only to realise that none of them had been paid either,” he said. Some of the workers apparently only received half of their wages for the month. “We want our full salaries (for May) and outstanding salaries for February too, as per agreement. When we call the contractor, our calls go unanswered. When we phoned the on-site manager, he told us that he wasn’t paid either, so he doesn’t have money to come to the site.” He said his family thought that he might have been paid and misused the money.
On-site manager, Nyiko Chauke, said that he paid the workers on Monday, 7 June, but because the workers are not from the same bank as the company, their salaries don’t reflect in their bank accounts immediately. He denied that he hasn’t paid everyone’s full wages, or that the company still owes any of them outstanding wages since February. When CV asked him about the delay in work on the road for almost two months, he said that he is still waiting for the department’s engineers to inspect the road and give them the go-ahead.
The chairperson of Zoutpansberg Community Development Forum (ZCDF), Patrick Sikhutshi, said the slow pace of the construction of the roads has left the Zoutpansberg community perplexed.
He accused the contractor of not working according to a plan or schedule and seem to be working only for a few days at a time, and then abandoning construction the rest of the time.
He said that the forum contacted the department and the municipality, but that these efforts were fruitless. Sikhutshi further said they have been liaising with the Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure to get an update.
According to him, motorists who use these roads’ vehicles are damaged and that it cannot be allowed to go on like this any longer.
“We want to see the completion of this phase on the D959 road, and continuation of rehabilitation of the R3715 road. We give them two days to sort out this mess. We shall consult with the community again in a few days’ time to decide on the next course of action.”
