Durban — City of uMhlathuze mayor Xolani Ngwezi says construction mafias were among several reasons why the renovation of the Umhlathuze Sports Complex has been delayed.
He took the media on a tour of the Richards Bay stadium on Thursday and gave an update on the progress and said the project should be completed within three months.
The pressure has increased on the municipality as local club Richards Bay FC has upped the ante in recent months about returning to their former stomping grounds.
‘The Natal Rich Boyz’ survived relegation from the South African top flight, having played their home games at the King Zwelithini Stadium in uMlazi.
However, Ngwezi has responded to those calls and explained the reasons behind the delay of over 12 months.
“I’m aware that there have been challenges, business forums looking for work, so we had to be delayed for about a month to address those issues.
“Remember that these are local people and long before the Government of National Unity (GNU), this City believed that no one should be left behind when we do these kinds of projects, so we had to make sure that we cultivate the ground and ensure that the environment is conducive for the implementing agent to continue with the work.
“We are also along the coast, the issues of weather conditions, also forced the project to be delayed. Last year, we also lost about two-and-a-half months when we allowed the president of the country to zone this place off for a few months as a national key point when the SANDF had to descend here for Armed Forces Day,” Ngwezi added.
A few days ago, KZN Public Works and Infrastructure MEC Martin Meyer took a bullish stance against vigilante groups that continue to wreak havoc at a number of projects around the province.
Since their inception in 2014, the ‘construction mafia’ groups are said to have drained billions of rand from the economy by way of demanding ‘protection fees’ or ‘payout pies’.
Ngwezi explained that discussions between him and these ‘business forums’ were often not of a hostile nature, but rather discussions that encouraged collaboration.
However, he reiterated the importance of retaining standards in these partnerships.
“Here in uMhlathuze we don’t allow people to demand cash like you normally hear from outside places.
“But what we believe in is the development of smaller companies, and we believe bigger companies can assist these smaller companies, so it was not that attitude of ‘give us this and we will allow you to work’.”
He added: “And remember construction work has got construction standards. It’s not everything that can be given to smaller companies. Once this stadium is finished, it will be insured by the City so if you allow companies that don’t qualify to do these things, insurance companies will come to check these buildings to ensure surety.”
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