Oversight visits at the refurbishment project of Wolmaranstad Wastewater Treat Plant and blocked housing projects at Makwassi Extension 17 and 19 in Maquassi Hills Local Municipality.

The Portfolio Committee on Premier, Finance, Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs chaired by Hon. Aaron Motswana together with the Standing Committee on Provincial Public Accounts Committee chaired by Hon. Job Dliso conducted oversight visits at the refurbishment project of Wolmaranstad Wastewater Treat Plant and blocked housing projects at Makwassi Extension 17 and 19 in Maquassi Hills Local Municipality.

The oversight visits form part of the Legislature’s oversight week in various municipalities under the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda Municipality, and the program is aimed at strengthening oversight and public participation and to promote accountability and transparency in government.

During the program, Members of the Legislature will interact with different provincial departments and their MECs; Mayors; Accounting Officers; and members of the Municipal Public Accounts Committees.

Refurbishment project of Wolmaranstad Wastewater Treat Plant
The refurbishment of the wastewater treatment plant involves the upgrade of the old plant and the construction of the new plant which will improve the capacity to 9 mega litres to accommodate new establishments within the municipality. Reuco Trading was appointed at a cost of R17,9 million and the project commenced on January 2023 and expected to be completed on October 2023. The upgrades include inlet works, site works, clarifies and axil flows pumps that are currently replaced.

Hon. Dliso said although the Joint Committees were impressed with the refurbishments, the municipality should improve on the security at the plant. “There are allegations that there have been elements of cable theft in the plant in the past and this is a concerning matter. The municipality should submit a comprehensive report on the overall project, funds incurred, scope of work and the technical report.

“Furthermore, the municipality should submit a report on the contractor that was previously appointed to maintain the plant as it is alleged that he/she left it in ruins. We also need maintenance plan of the wastewater treatment plant after the completion of the project and how it will be secured with armed security to avoid cable theft in the future,” said Hon. Dliso.

Blocked Housing Projects at Makwassi Ext 17 and 19
The Joint Committees further visited the blocked housing projects at Makwassie Extension 17 and 19 where the Department of Human Settlements led by the District Director in Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District, Mr. Neo Mokoma stated that there were over 3500 house constructions that where blocked due to various reasons. “In the past, we appointed 5 service providers to construct the RDP houses within the municipality but due to various reasons such as COVID19 pandemic, poor workmanship, slow progress and budgetary constraints, the projects could not be completed on anticipated timeframe. Although we engaged the contractors who dragged their feet on the projects, some could not complete the projects on time.

“The department then decided to terminate some contractors at the beginning of March 2023 and after lengthy engagements, about 3 contractors which included TS Construction and Tigane Construction returned to site to complete the projects. There is good progress and we anticipate that they will complete before time,” said Mr. Mokoma.
He also said the department engaged the National Home Builders Registration Council and Housing Development Agency to assess the historically blocked projects and develop a strategy on completing them. “We aim to transfer some projects to new developers that are performing well so that they can complete them in the near future,” said Mr. Mokoma.

Hon. Aaron Motswana said the Joint Committees are impressed with the efforts of the department to develop a plan on completing the blocked housing projects. “Although we are satisfied with how the department is dealing with these historical issues, it needs to implement consequence management on those terminated and underperforming contractors and recuperate the funds lost.

“Whilst the projects are continuing, the department must litigate and ensure that the dignity of government is restored as our people have suffered a lot due to those contractors. The department must submit a comprehensive report all the historically blocked housing projects, amounts incurred, contractors implicated and action plan on how it will litigate them to recover the funds lost,” said Hon. Motswana.