Construction at the Bethelsdorp Comprehensive School has been halted once more, with workers not being paid and SMME contractors barred from reporting for duty.
The latest delay comes just two months after angry parents marched to the site to demand to know when the seven-year project would be completed.
However, the latest promised handover date is now at risk after the public works department allegedly failed to make payments to Yikusasa Building Contractors, the company managing the site.
The school is supposed to be handed over in March.
When contacted, Yikusasa site manager Shaun Thomas referred all questions to a number he provided for his head office.
It was called several times, but the line was never answered.
According to community liaison officer Wendell Cooper, no work has been done for a fortnight.
“I spoke to Shaun. He told me they are now waiting for the new budget, so there is no work being done,” he said.
Workers said they had not received their February salaries.
“Every year during this time, we always get the same excuses that everything will be sorted after April,” one worker said.
“Nothing has been happening on site for more than a week. We were paid on the eighth of last month.”
The owner of an SMME subcontracted by Yikusasa Building Contractors, Charmaine van der Berg, said things had only gone downhill since the last intervention meeting.
The department held a stakeholder meeting after the site confrontation led by the school governing body and SMMEs.
“I should be working now, but there is just no money.
“I do not know what budget they are waiting for because we were given the impression that everything is fine, yet it’s now standing still,” she said.
Van der Berg said she was hired to fence the new school.
School governing body chair Ellen van Wyk said they had been informed that there was now a possibility the school would be handed over at the end of June.
“We are meeting public works on Friday to discuss the demolition of the old school buildings.
“I asked Thomas about the two community officers who have not been paid; all he could say is he does not know when they would be paid because there is no money.
“For us parents, it’s the lies we keep being told for nearly 10 frustrating years. Since the project started, we are still having the same problem,” she said.
The project was launched in June 2017 after 45 years of the school being housed in a temporary structure.
It was originally scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2019.
However, the contractor left with only 11% of the job done, leading to the construction supplies being stolen.
In 2019, the school was announced as one of the 10 schools in the Bay earmarked for infrastructure upgrades.
Education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima and public works spokesperson Lunga Mahlangu had not responded to questions by the time of publication.
The Herald
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