Durban - Construction workers erecting a fence at Burman Bush Nature Reserve in Morningside have downed tools over a pay dispute.
The workers alleged that they had not been paid for the past two months.
A source, who spoke to The Mercury on condition of anonymity,
said the workers were facing financial hardship.
“The workers are battling to make ends meet and they haven’t been
paid for the past two months. When they confront the contractors, they’re told the municipality hasn’t paid the contractors.
“The project is at a standstill as they demand their salaries before continuing with the work,” said the source.
The fencing forms part of a multimillion-rand project which began in May this year, to upgrade the reserve.
The safety upgrades come after musician Simon Milliken was killed in the reserve in August last year.
The 60-year-old British-born musician bled to death after being stabbed and robbed. The murder came after similar muggings in the reserve.
The local ward councillor, Ernest Smith, said that he was aware of
the project coming to a standstill and of the allegation that workers had not been paid.
“There’s an internal process that is in action that we’re following to investigate this matter,” said Smith.
He declined to comment further.
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the council put out a tender for the fencing of the nature reserve to the value of R12million.
The project was awarded to six contractors at R2m each.
Mayisela said after the city inquired about the salary dispute, as the issue fell outside the municipality’s responsibility, it found that the contractors had not submitted all their invoices to the city as they were having a dispute with the fencing supplier.
“As previously stated, this is not for the council to interfere in. However, the contractors did experience some shortfalls themselves in delivering the fencing with regards to the timeline, and consequently incurred penalties.
“These contractors are not council employees and their payments are made in terms of the contract conditions of payment set by the finance accounts payable section and not the parks department itself,” said Mayisela.
The contractors could not be reached for comment.