Durban spends R81‚000 on speed bumps put in wrong place

The eThekwini Municipality has moved to defend an R81‚000 construction bungle which saw four speed bumps “misplaced”.

The speed bumps were installed by a contractor in the wrong place on Glen Anil Road in December last year. eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Tozi Mthethwa said no action would be taken against the contractor for the gaffe.

“No action is required against the contractor. The existing speed humps will remain as they are serving the purpose of regulating speeds along the road‚” she said.

“The construction cost was R81‚000 and this was not a wasteful expenditure because the existing speed humps are assisting in regulating speeds along the road."

Mthethwa said that additional speed humps‚ placed in the correct location‚ will be budgeted for in the 2018/19 financial year.

Ward councillor Peter Graham strenuously disagreed and called the entire operation a “muck-up”.

“The city saying this is not wasteful expenditure is ridiculous because they were put in the wrong place. The City needs to fix their muck-up here‚" said Graham.

He said that the point of the speed bumps was to calm traffic in a residential area and they were instead placed in the industrial zone on the same road.

“I went on site with a representative of the city and with the actual contractor and they provided me with a map or plan of the road where the speed bumps were meant to be. We physically walked up the hill and marked where they needed to be with the specifics of their height and width. A week later I came back and found out they were put in the wrong place‚” he said.

- TimesLIVE