Cape Town - Beneficiaries of the Gugulethu Infill Housing Project have demanded answers after a construction company working on the project halted operations this week over alleged non-payment for work completed in January.
The housing project, which stretches over two sites in Gugulethu and Mau Mau in Nyanga, is set to provide 570 homes to qualifying beneficiaries in the community.
Construction company Boon Africa said it closed the site due to non-payment for work completed in January, along with other outstanding payment issues.
“Disputes in regard to payments have been a recurring challenge.
“The most recent payments have just been highlighted due to current discussions surrounding the project,” the company said.
“The houses are almost ready to be handed over, but we are carrying a huge financial burden for months now and cannot continue without knowing when our payments that are overdue will be made.
“We have engaged with the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape province, as well as other stakeholders of the project.
“But constant communications to resolve these outstanding payment issues haven’t received any correspondence.
“We await our payment and intend to continue with the expedition as we always have.”
The City on Wednesday said that it was looking at the assertions made and would respond in due course.
Gugulethu Uprising activist Marc Matebe said beneficiaries of the project were expected to move into their new homes at the end of this month.
“We have received information that the contractor has stopped working because of non-payment.
“The housing beneficiaries were supposed to have moved in at end of April and we sat and negotiated with them to move in at the end of May.
“This project has taken more than six years and only 23 people have moved into their houses to date.
“At least eight people have died waiting on their homes and for this project to be completed.
“We are surprised that the City has not been paying the contractor since January and we would like to know why the contractor hasn’t been paid,” Matebe said.
Provincial Department of Infrastructure spokesperson Muneera Allie said all previous invoice claims from the contractor were honoured and paid.
“The last payment was made during March 2023.
“However, due to increased construction costs, additional funding was applied for.
“The department is currently in the process of attending to the latest payment claims received during April and May 2023.
“At present, 404 units are under construction in this project, with handovers taking place in batches as the units are being completed,” she said.
Meanwhile, residents of Red Hill informal settlement in Simon’s Town are mourning the death of Johnny Klein, who passed away shortly after receiving the keys to his new home last week.
The 72-year-old was among 10 elderly people who received the keys to their new homes in the long-awaited Dido Valley housing development on Wednesday last week, after waiting for 27 years.
Ward 61 councillor Simon Liell Cock said: “We have prioritised moving the old and vulnerable residents first. Unfortunately, the first man to receive the key to his property passed away on the same day. Uncle Johnny was 72 years old and passed away around 8pm.
Although the power to his unit hadn’t been turned on yet, he insisted on staying there and declined to stay with his daughter overnight.
“It’s a bitter-sweet situation - his passing is sad but he was in the home he had so long waited for.”
Cape Times