Nkomazi – The appointment of two new contractors to repair incomplete RDP houses in Nkomazi, Mpumalanga, is unjustifiable, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.
The human settlements department should compel the previous contractors to repair work done on the houses for which they had already been paid, and long run off with their profits, DA Mpumalanga MPL James Masango said in a statement.
“It is unacceptable that the taxpayer has to pay more money for poor workmanship because of the department’s inability to appoint credible contractors to build RDP houses. The previous contractors should be the one’s held responsible for the financial burden of the repairs, not the taxpayers,” he said.
While doing oversight visits in Nkomazi last week, the department discovered 163 incomplete houses abandoned by contractors in various parts of Nkomazi.
This week, MEC Violet Siwela announced that she had appointed two new contractors to complete the 163 units as part of the department’s plan to deal with the housing backlog in the province. She had failed to demand action from the contractors who caused the problem in the first place.
“These housing projects began years ago, yet houses remain unfinished, without roofs and windows, while people are forced to live in shacks nearby. During a March oversight visit to the area, the DA discovered that houses built as recently as 2014 were already showing signs of poor workmanship and dilapidation.
“We cannot afford to waste huge amounts of money on repairs when the province’s housing backlog remains at a crisis level. The department must ensure that they appoint accredited contractors that will deliver on their mandate and it is their duty to oversee and monitor these projects,” he said.
Siwela should indicate when these houses would be completed, so that residents had a time-frame to keep government accountable. The previous contractors given the responsibility to build the houses should also be exposed and blacklisted from any further government business.
“The MEC must also indicate how much will be spent to finish the 163 incomplete houses, and how much the previous contractor was paid,” Masango said.
ANA