The programme to resolve stalled government construction and infrastructure projects in South Africa is gathering full steam.
Today the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Sihle Zikalala, met with the MEC for Transport and Community Safety in Limpopo, Florence Radzilani, to discuss the delayed and stalled projects in the Province. These include the police stations such as Vuwani, Mankweng and a few others.
The Minister has outlined timelines and project execution plan to ensure that projects are finished on time and within the project scope and costs.
Minister Zikalala has prioritised a coordinated response to addressing the problem of blocked and stalled projects informed by the District Development Model.
Both Minister Zikalala and MEC Radzilani have called for immediate consequence management on project managers who delay project implementation, and termination of poor performing contractors who do not meet timelines to complete projects.
Minister Zikalala announced that the department is in the process of appointing new contractors to work on the Vuwani Police Station Project. The department is currently reviewing all slow moving projects in Limpopo and has resolved that failure to improve will lead to harsher consequences. This will apply to those overseeing the project execution from the government side and contractors assigned to projects.
All contractors working on stalled government projects and still have active contracts have been directed to remedy the problem.
“Delayed projects impact negatively on service delivery by government institutions. When the construction of a police station is delayed, the journey to a safer South Africa led by the South African Police Services, is compromised. Departments use facilities to render services to the community. A project stalled or delayed is service delivery denied and we have resolved that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure must not be associated with poor performance or workmanship by contractors,” said Minister Sihle Zikalala.
MEC Radzilani welcomed the road map unveiled by the Minister to resolve stalled projects in Limpopo saying this is the action the community needed. She has welcomed Minister Zikalala’s intervention into the matter, and indicated that ‘this will bring the much waited relief to communities like Vuwani, whose Police Station had been incomplete for several years’.
Minister Zikalala who is also part of the Presidential Imbizo to be addressed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in Limpopo on 14 July 2023 will also be undertaking various follow-up visits to the province to ensure oversight and timeous implementation of projects.
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