Work on Port Shepstone Justice Park grinds to a halt
At a cost of more than R285-million, the building was originally scheduled for completion in 2016
The multi-million rand Port Shepstone Justice Park has now become an expensive ‘white elephant’ amid fears that it will fall prey to vandals or simply be left to crumble away.
The state-of-the-art magistrate’s court in Andreasen Street stands deserted with the garden outside unkempt and overgrown with weeds.
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The complex has been under construction since 2014 and is yet to be fully completed despite promises from the Department of Public Works to officially open the facility almost two years ago.
At a cost of more than R285-million, the building was originally scheduled for completion in 2016.
However, financial constraints on the part of the appointed contractor had reportedly forced the project to stall.
The building consists of 19 offices and 16 courts with three components: the admin section, main court complex and prisoners’ quarters.
There is also parking for 255 vehicles, for use by both staff and visitors.
Last year, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia De Lille said the Department of Justice and Correctional Services had R531-million set aside for upgrading courts.
Despite this, there had been no progress on the Port Shepstone project.
Albersville resident Niren Pillay said it was concerning that the court was still not operational despite millions of rands of taxpayers’ money being ploughed into the project.
“The building has become an eyesore, something needs to be done about it.”
Public Works (National) spokesman Thamsanqa Mchunu said the appointed contractor went into voluntary business rescue in June 2018.
According to Mr Mchunu, the contractor submitted a cancellation letter in September that year.
“The contractor only vacated the premises in March last year and that is when the department officially cancelled the contract.”
Mr Mchunu said there was currently an on-going litigation process to resolve the dispute with the contractor.
“The department is now formulating a new tender process to acquire another contractor to complete the balance of the work and repairs.”
In terms of overgrown vegetation, Mr Mchunu confirmed that this would be attended to by his department.
He added however that the clearing of verges outside the property remained the responsibility of the municipality.
“The new tender is expected to be ready for advertisement by April this year. We expect to have a new contractor on site by November. It will be an 18-month contract to finalise everything.”
The contractor was contacted for comment but phone calls went unanswered.
A statement on the company’s website dated January 8 said that the company had been in the process of business rescue since June 2018.
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