WORKERS have downed tools following a dispute over the lack of payment by contractor Khulane Quality Construction which won a R114 million tender for a 13.6km upgrade of the D4382 road near the Kruger National Park.
The project is between Belfast, Somerset, and Justicia in the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality in the Ehlanzeni District.
Barely eight months after the start of the construction of the tar road, which came in response to a storm of protests by the Belfast and neighbouring communities, it emerged that the project may be far from complete, as disgruntled workers decided to down tools. They claim the contractor has failed to to pay them salaries.
According to the subcontractors, a meeting was held on Wednesday last week. The contractor, Gladness Mkhonto-Msiska did not show up but instead sent her manager to relay the message that she would not be able to pay them.
A source said: “We have been working here for six months but only received one payment. Our trucks are now owning more dealerships a lot of money and they keep adding more arrears.
“We started this road project D8342 on March 24, 2024, and we only invoiced the contractor for the first two months we worked from the time we started (March 24 to May 25, 2024).
“We expected payments but none came until we closed the site on June 10. She then paid us 60% of the two invoices we had sent to her for the time we worked since March 24. On July 3, she promised to pay the outstanding 40% and the June invoice, but nothing happened.
“We continued to work without our payments until August 20 when we demanded the outstanding 40% payments from the previous invoices.
“The June and July invoices are still not paid, but now she sent her manager to deny that she owes us 40% of the previous payments from the April and May invoices.”
The subcontractor alleged that the truck drivers stole gravel sand from the roadbed and therefore would not compensate them.
“She said she would only pay the June invoice which only had seven days of work. We have since decided to down tools until we get our money.”
The spokesperson for the Mpumalanga transport department, Bongani Dhlamini, told the publication that the department, which had invested millions of rand of taxpayers’ money, was not aware of the strike, and presumed that the contractor “might have resolved the issue before it got out of hand”.
He said: “The payment issues with the plant owners/ subcontractors are due to the rate demanded by the plant owners exceeding what the main contractor allowed for in their bid.
“Negotiations still need to be continued to conclude the matter because it was a competitive open tender and the main contractor’s rates may not be revised upwards as it would be un-procedural in terms of government procurement processes.”
The department added that the main contractor only received payment from the department for work done.
“It would not be wise for the main contractor to pay for gravel that was not delivered or utilised on the project because they would not be paid for such.
“It must be noted that all negotiations and agreements between the main contractor, subcontractors, and labour do not involve the department,” said Dhlamini.
Dhlamini said the project steering committee, which included three ward councillors, provided the necessary oversight to ensure there was fairness in the participation of labour, local SMMEs, and suppliers.
The Belfast, Somerset, and Justicia road project has been rocked by allegations of poor quality construction and “shoddy” work by residents who have seen little if no progress since the project was begun six months ago.
In July, the contractor proposed to divert the road project meant to pass through the Somerset community to Justicia.
The Community Liaison Officer, Calvin Mhlongo, informed the community about the contractor, Khulane’s, proposal containing a recovery plan to divert the project from the Belfast area where the construction of the D4382 road is under way to skip Somerset and be redirected to Justicia.
The community rejected the proposal and warned that they would engage in a protest if the contractor pressed ahead with the plan.
At the time, Dlamini conceded that the project was behind schedule and the contractor had to come up with a catch-up plan.
In November last year during a sod-turning ceremony for the upgrading of the D4382 road, the then MEC, Mandla Ndlovu, promised the community that the project would be completed within 22 months. However, the 13.6km tar road project is now at a standstill.