Work stoppages affect COVID-19 patients at Kopanong

VEREENIGING.- “The constant stoppages for the building of COVID-19 Wards at the Kopanong Hospital in Vereeniging shows the failure of the Gauteng Infrastructure Development Department,” the Democratic Alliance (DA) has said.
According to the party, the department has a history of poor implementation of projects, choosing bad contractors which leads to missed deadlines and wasted money.
“Gauteng Premier, David Makhura promised last year that there would be 300 extra beds at the Kopanong Hospital in Vereeniging to assist with the COVID-19 epidemic in the Vaal area, but there has been another work stoppage this week that has further delayed this project,” the DA said.
DA Councillor, Elize Aucamp said that the contractors came back on site on 7 January after not working for a number of weeks, but stopped work again on Tuesday last week.
The project started on 29 June last year using Alternative Building Technology (ABT), which then Health MEC, Bandile Masuku said would be completed by 31 October 2020.
“The provincial government later claimed it would be finished by 30 November, but last week Premier Makhura said that legal action was being taken against the contractor after work had “ground to a halt”. According to a recent presentation to the Gauteng Legislature’s Health Committee, the project is 70% complete and is scheduled to be completed by 31 March this year. This is yet another failure by the Gauteng Infrastructure Development Department, which has a history of poor implementation of projects, choosing bad contractors which leads to missed deadlines and wasted money.”
The DA said the tragedy is that hospitals in the Vaal area are struggling with the influx of COVID-19 patients, putting lives at risk.