MBOMBELA – Construction on the Mpumalanga High Court is 16 months behind schedule.
The impressive R800 million building is almost complete, but there are no roads leading to it. The electricity to the property has not yet been connected and surrounding areas do not have adequate storm-water infrastructure.
Lowvelder has been reporting on the project since it was launched. This timeline depicts what’s been happening.
October 18, 2013: Construction starts – click here for the full report.
Under normal circumstances, construction cannot start on a property that has no electricity supply and surrounding storm-water infrastructure.
Building a giant courthouse on a patch of land with no access roads is unprecedented – in a bad way.
June 13, 2015: Access to the High Court may become a reality.
November 4, 2014: Questions raised about High Court construction.
Temporary High Courts currently function from the Nelspruit and Middelburg Magistrate’s Court buildings.
Read more here: Mpumalanga High Court functional.
On February 24, 2016, the paper asked whether the court will be ready by June.
It was not.
Read the follow-up report here:
August 29, 2016: When will the High Court be ready?
It has since transpired that all the environmental studies that should have preceded the project were not done.
In today’s print edition of Lowvelder, the paper confronts the various government institutions involved. Be sure to get their feedback in the print exclusive report titled “Construction of High Court still not complete.”
An excerpt: “IDT was awaiting budget approvals from their clients.”
None of the departments could confirm when the entire project would be completed.
