A contractor behind the delayed construction of a R120m “smart” school in Bekkersdal may be given yet another lifeline — despite missing two completion deadlines.
According to the Gauteng department of infrastructure development the contractor has asked for another chance despite missing two deadlines to complete the Simunye Secondary School.
The company was given a notice of termination by the project manager after failing to meet the June second deadline extension but has now submitted a fresh turnaround plan.
The smart school project was meant to be completed in October 2023 but has been marred by several delays, largely due to poor performance on the part of the contractor, TimesLIVE Premium reported earlier this year.
Other reasons included community disruptions, cash flow issues and an armed robbery late last year in which building materials and office equipment were stolen and loaded onto three trucks during load-shedding.
The provincial infrastructure department confirmed it had served the company with a letter detailing its intention to terminate the project.
Spokesperson Victor Moreriane confirmed the contractor had missed another deadline but had asked for another chance.
“We issued an intention to terminate because of the fact that the contractor missed two deadlines. The contractor was then ... offered a 14-day period to respond and he has responded [before] the deadline for submission which was on Monday,” he said.
He added that while the company cited similar reasons for missing the latest deadline: “This time, the contractor has made sure that material is available and has also brought additional capacity on board. That's the information that was collected by the technical team with him on site.”
Moreriane was unable to provide details on the contractor's submission, citing confidentiality, but said the company was expected to provide a turnaround plan detailing the steps it will take to “fix the situation”.
Once this is received, the department will send a technical team to the construction site to “look at everything the contractor is doing to fix the situation”.
The new state-of-the-art school, once completed, will boast sports grounds, laboratories, a library, classrooms, a tennis court and an assembly hall. It will accommodate about 1,500 pupils.
The technical team will then put together a report for the head of the department who will make a decision.
“The HOD will take a decision to say 'this is the right contractor [and he can still] stay on to complete [the project] or we'll terminate because they're not able to complete.
"[So] they've just submitted a turnaround plan and we are now going through that [to see] if it works or not. If we are convinced that it will work, we'll give them an opportunity to finalise the project.
“If we think that whatever they are doing, and based on their history, it won't work we're going to terminate. That is the outstanding decision ... we have not taken that decision.”
Moreriane said the department was “disappointed” with the contractor's performance, given that they were an “experienced contractor” expected to have “technical and financial muscle” to complete the project on time and had a good track record with the department.
While the contractor may be given another lifeline, this will not be without consequences as Moreriane confirmed that they would be red-flagged by the department.
“All the contractors that are not meeting timelines, we are red-flagging them. What that means is that in the system we are able to say this is a problematic contractor. We'll definitely red-flag them,” he said.
A decision is expected to be announced next week.
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