Contract to cobwebs: Mamelodi court building unused for 10 years

Almost 10 years after a contract was awarded to build the Mamelodi Magistrate’s Court in Tshwane, the incomplete building stood vacant and unused while contractors waited for the go-ahead to complete the project.

Yesterday, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala conducted a site inspection of the building that formed part of the department’s Operation Siyahlola where the minister will inspect the progress report of facilities that provide essential services.

He met community leaders and councillors behind closed doors before taking the media on a brief tour through the court building.

Holding cells, a walk-in safe and courtroom benches are already installed in the building. The lift is incomplete, only half of the building is tiled and half of the windows are installed.

Some contract workers who agreed to speak anonymously said things were not as they seemed. “There are many break-ins, they steal cables and scaffolding and any metals they can sell,” said one.

“The politics here is too much. The ward councillors, the mafia, they want everything to be theirs.”

The worker said the project mafia purposely delayed the project because they want “all the money”. “They say they want the court to be built by the community as subcontractors,” he said.

The worker said they had been waiting to resume the project since 2019.

Zikalala said the department was prioritising the process of unblocking projects plagued by various challenges causing unforeseen delays.

This was aimed at fast-tracking the progress of essential services for the benefit of communities.

“We cannot at this stage say what was the cause of the delay,” he said.

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