The National Department of Public Works would like to express its horror and extreme sense of regret with regard to senseless and callous mutilation and murder of innocent children in Diepsloot as reported in the media. The department would like to also indicate that the construction of the permanent Diepsloot Police station is currently underway. The station is scheduled to be completed in August 2014.
Construction of the permanent police station was unduly delayed by the problems experienced by the original contractor and the subsequent cancellation of the contract.
Construction of the Diepsloot police station started in March 2008 and in June 2010, the department detected that the contractor was experiencing serious cash flow problems. Workers were not being paid and materials were not being paid for.
Once the above indicators were detected, notwithstanding the fact that the subcontracting arrangements are not the department’s responsibility, the department issued the main contractor with warning letters. Site instructions were issued, requiring an accelerated programme for the ordering of materials and appointment and payment of subcontractors to proceed with the delayed works. This went on for about three months, and work came to a halt.
When DPW tried to cancel the contract in September 2010, it was found that creditors had approached court and the company had been put under judicial management. That process of cancellation of the contract had to be halted to allow the court process to run its course.
After the conclusion of the court process, the contract was eventually cancelled in June 2011. A new tender process was undertaken to find a suitable alternative contractor to finish the job. In February 2013, a new contractor was appointed and the site was handed over in March 2013.
Construction work is currently going on and the police station is scheduled to be completed in August 2014. It must be pointed out that the police are currently present and fully operational in Diepsloot, being accommodated in temporary structures.
To avoid the recurrence of these problems, the department is overhauling its procurement system which include inter alia
- Credit verification with the banks
- Evaluating the extent to which a contractor is committed in other works to avoid over committing them
- Evaluation of subcontractors agreements with main contracts and also putting in place a system to continuously monitor that the main contractor are paying their subcontractors on time.
Contact:
Thami Mchunu
Cell:079 519 6997
