eMBALENHLE – Workers were left stranded and unpaid when the two road construction companies for whom they worked, were sacked.
These companies were contracted to Govan Mbeki municipality to fix the Ext 1-road and Albert Luthuli Drive in eMbalenhle.
The municipality has recently terminated its contract with these companies.
Rehabilitation of these two roads began two years ago, but it is still not completed.
The people employed to do the work were chosen from the community after meetings were held and community liaison officers were elected.
Community members said councillors of Wards 12 and 19 introduced them to the first company.
GMM has now taken over the construction of these roads and is using municipal employees to do the job. This does not sit well with the axed contract workers.
“We have stopped the municipality from fixing these roads because we want our money and jobs. We were last paid in October. These companies just disappeared without notifying us,” said Mr Vusi Maseko who worked as the CLO for the Abert Luthuli Drive-project.
“We want to put it on record that the performance of these companies was none of our business because we were working hard everyday, even during the rainy season,” he explained.
The workers claim the councillors have told them at a meeting on 8 April that there is no money left for the project and that the municipality is taking over.
“The Ward 19 councillor warned us not to interfere with the project or she will call the police to arrest us,” said Mr Sibusiso Mathebula, a CLO at Ward 19.
“Our aim is not to stop the project but to seek the attention of the municipality to sit with us and come up with a solution on how and when are we going to get our outstanding payment.”
Ms Lindiwe Sithole, the councillor for Ward 19, confirmed that she threatened to involve the police should these employees of the companies whose contracts were terminated try to stop service delivery.
She said the meeting was called by her ward community members who are concerned about the state of the road.
“As a councillor, I’m concerned that these workers were not paid by their companies, but at the same time I have to make sure that service delivery to the residents is implemented.
“I told them that to stop the municipality from repairing the road is not a solution. We need to get the Project Unit Management office to come and address their grievances,” said Ms Sithole.
Mr Lucky Mhlongo, municipal spokesman said the municipality has not lost anything because it paid the contracting companies according to the work done.
Mr Mhlongo did not want to dwell on the competency of the said companies and whether the municipality will be responsible for the payment of those former employees of the two companies.
