Contractors for the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) will now sign an additional clause that allows the City of Johannesburg to terminate their agreement if they do not meet project deadlines, over-stretch funds or cross fund other projects.
Funzela Ngobeni, MMC for Development Planning, said this came after the agency was forced to terminate four contracts for poor performance. “During investigations, it was found that issues related to cash-flow, which affected production and the quality of work, were evident in all four projects,” he said.
“This made it clear that the contractors over-stretched their resources, and in many instances, used money allocated to JDA to cross-fund other projects.”
The new clause will allow the City to terminate agreements with a contractor who fails to reach project deadlines. Ngobeni believes there is a need to review industry-based contracts, meaning contractual performance and terms of termination based on specific project timelines will become a reality.
Contractors who were found to have cross-funded cost the City an additional R49 million. They have since been removed and new contractors will continue this month. The agency is working to recover funds from the contractors.
In 2015, the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza announced that contractors working at Delta Park School had their contract immediately terminated following an accident that injured two schoolchildren. Contractors had ignored contractual instructions and an employee had been accused of sexual harassment. This joined other accusations of harassment and intimidation.
According to the former MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services Anthony Still, many power outages and burst water pipes can be traced back to contractor fault and digging in Joburg suburbs.
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