On Monday, a group of unhappy residents protested at the building, which was erected next to the Gugulethu Library in Khutsong South. One of them, Mr Benny Kekana, explained that the project commenced in November 2015, at a projected cost of R28 million. The current mayor, Mr Mogomotsi Sello, was then the MMC (member of the mayoral council) for infrastructure development. He was overseeing the project in January 2017 already. He and the municipality promised that everything related to building the centre was under control. However, problems started when the initial contractor resigned at the end of the same year and the project stopped for six months. A new contractor was appointed to continue the work in 2018. An additional R6.5 million was granted for the project. According to Kekana and the other residents, they initially heard that the centre would include a swimming pool, indoor soccer-, boxing-, netball and basketball facilities and a community hall. They now jokingly refer to the project as a “monument”. “After the election, the swimming pool was suddenly scrapped. During a meeting on the project in 2016, I was told that the swimming pool would not go ahead because of the land instability,” he says. The contractor failed to produce a geo-technical report on the ground’s safety that should have been com-pleted before the initial construction started. 
Despite this oversight, the project continued and was finished more than two years ago. The residents say there was another meeting on the project. There, they were informed that the Council of Geosciences required three drillings to be done on the property. The outcome would determine whether the building was safe to be open to the public. “How is it possible that R40 million can be spent on a project that has no geotechnical report. How can the municipality pay contractors in advance, without making sure the proper work or certification was done?” fumed Kenana and the other residents. They have since asked the municipality for a full report on the money spent on the project. They also want the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to investigate the incident and write a report on the matter. What upsets them even more, is that the municipality had to send back millions in grant money that it had not used in the past two years. They now say they do not have the funds to have the three holes drilled. The cost of the drilling is estimated to be around R350,000. The Herald asked the municipality about the issue on Monday. A spokesperson said they were still investigating the matter and would respond next week. 
