Ekurhuleni reservoir nowhere near complete despite millions spent on project

Millions of rands have been spent on different contractors over the last four years, yet the Xhosa/Zulu Reservoir remains incomplete.

According to Nhlanhla Cebekhulu, the head of communications and media relations for the metro, “the reservoir foundation has 56 piles due to poor founding conditions.

“There was valid extension of time for the project caused by the design change which required an additional five piles that were not originally planned.

“Secondly, the project lost five weeks during Covid-19 shutdown and another three weeks to restart after construction resumption due to compliance with the newly gazetted Occupational Health Safety Regulations.’

In response to an enquiry in November, Cebekhulu said the completion date would be in May 2020.

“The anticipated completion date is now December 18, 2020,” he now says.

Progress of the construction of the new Xhosa/Zulu Reservoir in October.

When work started, the Ekurhuleni Municipality Water and Sanitation Department had allocated R11 million for the project.

And in the Sixth Ordinary Mayoral Committee Meeting for 2017, the metro adjusted the R11 million budget to R48 million for 2017/18.

Asked if there would be any changes to the budget for the project from 2018 to 2019, Cebekhulu responded:

“The initial project contract budget was R47 612 788.71 million.

“This was the contract that expired on September 30, 2018.

“A new contractor was appointed on November 30, 2018, on a R32 510 793.77 million budget.”

The metro says that the budget is now R28 270 255.45 million since awarded to the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). The project began in 2016.

This article first appeared on African Reporter and has been republished with permission.

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