'We are not done yet!'

Date: 19 January 2024 By: Andries van Zyl

"We are not done yet!" In short, this was the message from the contractor responsible for the rebuilding of Stubbs Street in Louis Trichardt. More and more residents are questioning the Makhado Municipality’s reasons for rebuilding this road — a road some say is now worse than it used to be.

Stubbs Street resident Corné Smith is very outspoken about the new paved road. “I am unhappy about the road. The old road had nothing wrong with it - absolutely nothing! Why replace it? There was some unevenness at the intersection (Krogh Street), but that was easily fixable. Between the high school and the intersection, there was not a single pothole, and I should know because I drive that stretch of road several times a day,” said Smith.

Smith mentioned that the money spent on replacing a perfectly good road could have been used better somewhere else. “Louis Botha Street [running parallel to Stubbs Street] is undrivable. In Anderson Street, from Ruh Street past the prison, you cannot drive in a straight line because you have to drive around the potholes. Why did they not use the money to fix these roads?” Smith questioned.

“We did not complain about our street [Stubbs], nor did we ask for a new road,” said Smith. The question is therefore who had then decided to rebuild the road. Obviously, the Makhado Municipality, but for what reason?

“The road now drives like a dirt road. It is bumpy and uneven. I would like to invite your readers to go and drive that road. It is also very noisy. Our bedroom is close to the road, and now the noise of cars driving past at night wakes us up,” Smith added.

Smith said that the municipality’s decision to rebuild the road and replace the tarred surface with paving bricks was a very poor decision. “If they wanted to spend that money correctly, there were better places to spend it,” said Smith.

Residents also questioned why the Makhado Municipality had waited until the start of the rainy season to launch this project (as well as other street rehabilitation projects). “The road almost washed away at one stage as it was not completed. Everything that did wash away ended up in our stormwater-drainage system, blocking it,” said Smith. Residents also complained about building rubble not being removed and, in some cases, shoddy workmanship as some aspects of the contract appear to have been left incomplete.

According to Smith, the whole project was unnecessary. “I do not see why it was done. We are worse off than before,” said Smith.

Luke Enslin, local business owner of Loerie Spar on the corner of Stubbs and Krogh Street, shared Smith's sentiment about the reason behind rebuilding a perfectly good road. His shop had to endure the closing of some access routes to his shop three times: first with the rebuilding of the Stubbs/Krogh Street intersection, then for the rebuilding of the Krogh-to-Anderson section, and although the road reopened, he was again caught off guard last week Friday when his Stubbs Street access was closed to replace the curbs. “I was not informed of this. The next moment, I just saw the road was closed again,” said Enslin. By Wednesday this week, they were still busy fixing the curbs. “It is a huge frustration for both us and our clients. I also wonder how long this new road will last. But then again, it does not help to speculate about it,” said Enslin.

The project for the rebuilding of the Stubbs Street intersection at Krogh Street and the road up to Anderson Street was handed over by the Makhado Municipality at the end of last year - one of five site handovers, with three taking place on 11 October and two on 17 November. All the projects fell under project number 52/2023. These were for the rehabilitation of Rissik Street; rehabilitation of Stubbs Street; rehabilitation of Songozwi Street; rehabilitation of Barnard Street; and rehabilitation of Unica Street. The total value of the five projects is just under R25 million. Different contractors were appointed for the projects, with Tshashu Consulting and Projects being the consulting engineers on all five projects. N&C Civils (NCC) was the appointed contractor for the Stubbs Street rehabilitation project with a contract value of R3.6 million.

Walter Kamera, the project manager from NCC, was quick to respond to residents' complaints after a media enquiry. Firstly, Kamera stated that from the onset, the Stubbs/Krogh Street project and the Stubbs Street project formed one project since both were based on one appointment letter from the municipality; hence they must be treated as one project, not two. This was in response to confusion amongst residents that NCC was awarded 'another' tender after completing the rebuilding of the Stubbs/Krogh Street intersection. The project was split into two phases to alleviate traffic-flow problems.

Kamera also stated categorically that the project was not done as several outstanding activities still needed to be completed. “Outstanding activities include casting of in-situ kerbs at the entrance to Spar (this is due to a delayed site instruction received from the engineers), locking the edges of the paving, removal of all rubble, and general cleaning of the street. We expect the activities to be completed this week, in time for the final inspection with the engineers and Makhado Municipality scheduled on Thursday, 18 January 2024,” said Kamera. Preparation for this final inspection was evident since Monday with the clearing of the road surface, the painting of traffic lines, and the removal of building rubble. The road looked a lot better already over the past week.

As for Enslin’s frustration with his Stubbs Street access being closed, Kamera said that this was a work in progress because of last-minute instructions from the engineers. “Hence, we had to open up the place. In fact, we are almost done with this portion. It's not even part of the original scope of work; we are just trying to assist the nearby businesses for easy access,” said Kamera.

Regarding complaints about incomplete work, such as the sealing of the joints between the paving block and curbs, Kamera said that they were attending to the matter. “Seal work is ongoing, and this portion has not been attended to, as well as many other similar portions. Like I mentioned earlier, we have not handed over the project to the municipality/engineers for inspection,” said Kamera.

Speaking on behalf of the contractor, Kamera could not comment on the rationale behind the Makhado Municipality’s decision to rebuild the road. As contractors, they were merely following the municipality’s instructions. Questions sent to the Makhado Municipality spokesperson Louis Bobodi on Monday morning about the project, however, remained unanswered at the time of our going to press. These questions, among others, included what the municipality’s reason was for rebuilding this section of the road; why the road was not just resealed or re-tarred instead of replacing it with paving blocks; and why the municipality waited until the start of the rainy season to start these projects as rain delays and damage caused by sporadic flooding are common during the latter part of the year in the region.

Viewed: 1315

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

More photos...